Cleffa · Neo Genesis, what to know.
About the Cleffa card
Cleffa sits at #20 in Neo Genesis, the eighth of the Wizards of the Coast print runs. Illustration by Kagemaru Himeno. Himeno is one of the most-recognized vintage TCG illustrators. Her work shows up more in Neo-era and later sets, but earlier appearances carry a small premium with art-focused collectors.
The flavor text on the card reads: "Because of its unusual, star-like silhouette, people believe that it came here on a meteor." 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.
About Cleffa in the Pokémon world
The baby pre-evolution of Clefairy. Cute small-Pokémon card with niche demand.
Print variants and how to spot them
Neo Genesis shipped in 1st Edition (stamped) and Unlimited prints. The 1st Edition stamp convention is identical to earlier Wizards sets. No Shadowless variant exists for the Neo era and no widely-recognized error prints.
Grading and condition
For graded buyers, non-holo Rares are less punishing on surface but no easier on centering. PSA 10 populations for Wizards-era Rares are smaller than the Rare Holo populations in some cases because the cards were less protected and more frequently played. Edge whitening from sleeves is the typical grade-cap on raw copies.
If you are buying this card
For raw purchases of this card, verify centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface scratches under angled light. Non-holo Rares from the Wizards era are cheap enough that PSA 10 submissions usually do not break the math if you have a clean candidate.
