Ivysaur

Ivysaur sits at #47 in Legendary Collection, the twelfth of the Wizards of the Coast print runs. Illustration by Ken Sugimori. Sugimori is the lead character designer of the Pokémon franchise itself. His TCG illustrations carry a tighter, more on-model feel because they are by the same hand that defined how the Pokémon look in the games. In the games, Ivysaur evolves from Bulbasaur, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.

The flavor text on the card reads: "When the bulb on its back grows large, the Pokémon seems to lose the ability to stand on its hind legs." 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 middle stage of the Bulbasaur line. The bud on its back has swollen and begun to open. The transitional stage in a line collectors usually buy as a set. Almost always purchased as part of a Bulbasaur to Venusaur evolution run rather than as a standalone, which keeps prices honest.

Legendary Collection shipped in Standard and Reverse Holo prints. The Reverse Holo treatment was new with this set: foil applied to the card background rather than the artwork window. There is no 1st Edition, since Wizards retired the stamp by this point in the production timeline.

Uncommons grade more forgivingly than Rare Holos but the same centering and edge requirements apply. Raw copies in pack-fresh condition are easy to find. A PSA 10 submission on a clean Uncommon is a low-cost way to learn how the grading process scores Wizards-era cardstock.

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.