Vileplume

Vileplume sits at #69 in Expedition Base Set, the thirteenth of the Wizards of the Coast print runs. Illustration by Miki Tanaka. In the games, Vileplume evolves from Gloom, which makes it a late-stage card in the line.

The Grass-Poison final form of the Oddish line via Leaf Stone. Large red flower top. Jungle holo Vileplume was a tournament staple in 1999. PSA 10 1st Edition copies are scarcer than the population reports suggest because of how heavily it was played.

Expedition shipped in Standard and Reverse Holo prints. The defining feature is the dot-code strip printed on the bottom of each card, designed to be scanned with the Nintendo e-Reader peripheral for bonus minigames. Functional collector value of the dot codes is minimal today, but they make Expedition cards visually distinct.

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.