Charmander

Charmander sits at #23 in Vivid Voltage, released in November 2020. Vivid Voltage is part of the modern English Pokémon TCG era and uses the standard contemporary card frame and rarity tiers. Illustration by MAHOU.

The flavor text on the card reads: "It has a preference for hot things. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail." 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.

Vivid Voltage shipped in Holofoil, Reverse Holo, Full Art (V and VMAX), and Rainbow Rare. The Rainbow Pikachu VMAX (#188) is the defining Rainbow Rare pull from the set and one of the most iconic modern Pokémon cards.

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.