Gengar

Gengar sits at #20 in Fossil, the third of the Wizards of the Coast print runs. Illustration by Keiji Kinebuchi. Kinebuchi contributed a smaller body of Wizards-era cards but is responsible for several memorable holos. His style runs warmer and more textured than the Sugimori work alongside it. In the games, Gengar evolves from Haunter, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.

The flavor text on the card reads: "Under a full moon, this Pokémon likes to mimic the shadows of people and laugh at their fright." 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 fully evolved Gastly line via trade. Wide-grinning Ghost-Poison silhouette. One of the most beloved Pokémon designs. Fossil holo Gengar is one of the most-collected Fossil holos. PSA 10 examples have appreciated dramatically over the last three years.

Fossil shipped in two print waves: 1st Edition (stamped) and Unlimited. There is no Shadowless equivalent for this set, and no widely-recognized error print on the scale of Jungle's No Symbol issue. Variant identification on Fossil is simpler than Base Set, but PSA 10 1st Edition populations are noticeably lower than the Base Set equivalents.

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.

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.