Charmander

Charmander sits at #26 in Obsidian Flames, released in August 2023. Obsidian Flames is part of the modern English Pokémon TCG era and uses the standard contemporary card frame and rarity tiers. Illustration by DOM.

The flavor text on the card reads: "From the time it is born, a flame burns at the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame were to go out." Pokédex entries from this era are short and often quirky, written by the original Japanese localization team for a specific stat-block layout that no longer exists in modern cards.

The fire starter. A small bipedal reptile with a tail-flame that signals its health. Famous for being the most-picked starter in the original generation. Base Set Charmander has outsized collector interest because of its connection to Charizard. PSA 10 examples are surprisingly difficult given the soft cardstock of the era.

Obsidian Flames shipped in Holofoil, Reverse Holo, ex, Full Art, Special Illustration, and Hyper Rare. The Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare (#215) is the marquee modern chase from the set and a defining card of the early Scarlet & Violet era.

Modern Commons grade easily and trade thinly in graded condition. Raw pack-fresh copies are the practical buy for set completion. PSA 10 submissions on a Common from a modern set rarely return enough premium over raw to justify the service fee.

Raw copies of this card are inexpensive enough that the grading math rarely justifies submission unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completionists, picking up a clean raw copy and sleeving it is the practical move.