Kadabra

Kadabra sits at #49 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, Kadabra evolves from Abra, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.

The flavor text on the card reads: "It emits special alpha waves from its body that induce headaches even to those just nearby." 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 Abra stage. Notably absent from the TCG for decades due to a real-world legal dispute. Returned in 2023. Kadabra appears in Base Set then disappeared from the TCG until late 2023. The Base Set print is the only Wizards-era Kadabra and has unique cross-era collector interest because of the absence.

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.