PSA 10 1st Ed Base Venusaur Sells for $75,640

1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition Holo Venusaur isn’t just another nostalgic pull from childhood binders. In high grade, it has become one of the key pillars of the vintage Pokémon market, sitting just behind Charizard in many collectors’ hierarchies.

On February 16, 2026, Goldin auctioned a standout copy:

Card: 1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition Rare Holo Venusaur
Card number: #15
Set: Base Set (English), 1st Edition
Character: Venusaur
Stamp/variant: 1st Edition, Holographic
Grade: PSA GEM MT 10 (PSA’s highest standard grade)
Special note: Labeled as from the Logan Paul Break
Auction house: Goldin
Sale date (UTC): 2026-02-16
Sale price: $75,640

For context, this is a non-autographed, non-serial-numbered, pack-pulled vintage holo. Its value is driven almost entirely by:

The importance of 1999 Base Set 1st Edition in hobby history
The starter evolution trio status (Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur)
The very low supply of true PSA 10s for a 1999 card with heavy holo-foil
The additional story attached to the Logan Paul Break provenance

Why this Venusaur matters

A key card in the original English Pokémon run

The 1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition is widely treated as the “rookie era” for English Pokémon TCG cards. While TCGs don’t have traditional rookie cards like sports, collectors often treat 1st Edition Base holos as the flagship first appearance for many iconic Pokémon.

Within that set, the main anchors are:

Charizard (#4)
Blastoise (#2)
Venusaur (#15)

Venusaur may trail Charizard in raw demand, but it’s still a marquee holo. It’s the final evolution of the original starter Bulbasaur and is one of the big three cover cards from the Game Boy era, which helps its long-term recognition.

In the hobby language, this Venusaur is a key issue: a central, high-demand card from a historically important set. It isn’t a short print or numbered parallel; its scarcity comes from age, condition sensitivity, and long-term collector interest.

PSA 10: why the grade matters

The card in this sale is graded PSA GEM MT 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). A PSA 10 indicates:

Sharp corners
Clean edges
Strong centering (within PSA’s tolerance for a 10)
No visible print lines or holo scratches under normal viewing

For 1999 holofoil cards, that level of preservation is extremely hard to achieve. Many Base Set cards were heavily played by kids in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so truly pack-fresh, perfectly centered examples are rare.

Collectors often look at the pop report (population report), which is the grading company’s public data on how many copies exist in each grade. While exact numbers can change as new cards are graded or regraded, PSA 10 population for 1st Edition Base holos tends to be a small fraction of total submissions. Venusaur fits that pattern: a relatively small pool of PSA 10s compared with the much larger number of PSA 9s and lower grades.

Price context: how $75,640 fits into the market

This Goldin sale closed at $75,640. To understand what that means, it helps to put it against recent comps—short for “comparables,” or similar recent sales.

Because exact live sales data is constantly changing and can vary by platform, what follows focuses on general ranges and relationships seen across major marketplaces and auction houses, rather than exact day-by-day prices.

PSA 10 vs PSA 9 and lower

Historically, for 1st Edition Base Venusaur:

PSA 9 copies have tended to sell for a significant discount to PSA 10s. It’s common for a 10 to command a multiple of the 9 price, sometimes several times higher.
PSA 8 and below are often collected more for nostalgia than for investment-level scarcity. Prices are substantially lower and much more accessible to most collectors.

PSA 10s occupy the premium tier: they’re the target for high-end collectors looking for top registry sets (PSA’s ranked sets by grade) and for buyers who prioritize condition above everything else.

Within that context, a $75,640 result is a strong, high-end outcome that aligns Venusaur with other blue-chip vintage Pokémon cards, while still sitting well below the top-of-market 1st Edition Base Charizard PSA 10 sales that have reached into the mid- to high-six-figure range in past years.

Relative to historic Venusaur sales

Over the past few hobby cycles, 1st Edition Base Venusaur PSA 10 pricing has experienced:

A sharp run-up during the broad Pokémon surge
A cooling period as the market corrected
A gradual settling into a narrower band where serious collectors and long-term holders tend to transact

This $75,640 sale sits on the upper end of that settled band, reflecting:

Strong demand for the 1st Edition Base set
The high grade
And, importantly, the Logan Paul Break association, which adds a unique narrative.

The “Logan Paul Break” effect

This card is specifically notated as coming from a Logan Paul Break. Breaks are live events where a sealed box or case is opened on camera and the packs are distributed to buyers. In this case, Logan Paul’s breaks of 1st Edition Base Set attracted enormous mainstream attention.

While provenance (the story of where a card came from) is still an evolving factor in the trading card hobby, certain high-profile sources can matter to some buyers. Being able to say a card came from a headline-making break can:

Differentiate it from anonymous copies of the same card
Add a media and pop culture layer to what is already a premium collectible

Not every collector will pay extra for this kind of story, but in high-end auctions it can influence bidding, especially among buyers who value both hobby history and mainstream visibility.

Where this card sits in the broader Pokémon market

Era and scarcity

This Venusaur is from what many collectors call the vintage Pokémon era (late 1990s to early 2000s English sets). Compared with modern print runs, 1st Edition Base Set was printed in far lower quantities, and a large share of those cards were played with or poorly stored.

Key factors that support long-term interest in this card type include:

Historical importance: First English set, first holo Venusaur
Iconic status: One of the three original fully evolved starters
Grade scarcity: A relatively low count of PSA 10s

Relationship to Charizard and Blastoise

Collectors often think of 1st Edition Base holos in tiers:

Charizard – the flagship chase card
Blastoise and Venusaur – major anchors just behind Charizard
Other holos – important, but generally below the trio in value

Venusaur’s value tends to move somewhat in step with the broader 1st Edition Base market and especially with Charizard trends. When confidence and activity pick up around that set, Venusaur usually benefits.

What collectors can take away from this sale

For newcomers, returning collectors, and small sellers, this $75,640 Goldin result offers a few useful lessons:

Condition drives value. The difference between a lightly played raw Venusaur and a PSA 10 can be enormous. Even within graded cards, 9 vs 10 is a major gap.
Set and era matter. Not all Venusaur cards are equal. 1st Edition Base is treated very differently from unlimited Base, later reprints, or modern sets.
Provenance can matter at the top end. While most cards trade purely on grade and eye appeal, high-profile sources like the Logan Paul Break can sometimes influence bidding in premium auctions.
Use comps as context, not certainty. Recent sales can help set expectations, but individual results can vary by auction house, timing, and who’s bidding.

As always, collectors should focus on the cards they genuinely like, understand why certain copies command premiums, and treat price histories as information—not as guarantees about what will happen next.

For figoca readers tracking vintage Pokémon, this Goldin sale is another data point confirming that PSA 10 1st Edition Base Venusaur remains a respected, high-tier piece in the original English Pokémon landscape, especially when paired with a notable story like the Logan Paul Break.