Every Base Set starter got the holofoil treatment in 1999, but only one of them ended up living forever in Charizard's shadow - and it wasn't Blastoise's fault.
A starter with real firepower
Base Set Blastoise, reportedly card 2/102, was one of the strongest holo rares in the original 1999 print run, prized by early players for its Hydro Pump attack. On pure gameplay terms and print rarity, it stood shoulder to shoulder with Charizard and Venusaur as one of the set's three signature starter holos.
Why it never caught the same wave
Charizard's dragon-adjacent design and its prominence in early Pokemon marketing gave it a cultural pull that Blastoise, a comparatively understated Water-type turtle, never replicated. That gap in attention has stuck for over two decades, even though the underlying scarcity of the two cards is broadly similar.
Still a Base Set cornerstone
Collectors chasing a complete, high-grade Base Set holo run can't skip Blastoise, and its reported market prices reflect that - consistently strong, if generally trailing Charizard's headline numbers. For anyone building a starter-trio collection, it's arguably the most underrated of the three.
Frequently asked questions
What number is Blastoise in the Base Set?
Base Set Blastoise is reportedly card number 2 out of 102 in the original 1999 Base Set, one of the set's holofoil rares.
Why is Blastoise less famous than Charizard from the same set?
Charizard's rarity as a Fire-type dragon-like Pokemon and its outsized presence in the anime's marketing gave it a cultural head start that Blastoise, as a quieter Water-type starter, never quite matched, even though both were holo rares of similar print scarcity.
Is Base Set Blastoise valuable today?
It's consistently one of the more valuable Base Set holos, with graded near-mint and higher copies reportedly trading for hundreds to low thousands of dollars depending on grade and print variant, just generally behind Charizard's prices.