Charizard collectors are nuts and everyone knows this. Let’s talk about it… **Side note to preface: Charizard is no where near my favorite Pokemon but I respect him and everything he has done for the hobby and love him just like I love all Pokemon**
Just wanted to start a thread about everyone’s favorite orange lizard in a different light than he is usually talked about. I’ve been in the Pokemon collecting scene for a long time and there is one constant that has never changed: Charizard collectors are crazy and will buy anything with that big goofy lizard on it. Almost any set that has a Charizard in it leaves its mark on the financial world with Charizard being the most expensive card in the set… Most of the time it isn’t even close, often with a 5-20x multiplier attached to it. I want to note that I’m fully aware of his specific popularity and how demand and supply work to drive a price up. I’m not a new investor or collector asking a redundant question. I’m just more curious on why Charizard collectors seem to pay whatever price it takes to get the card they want and most other Pokemon specific collectors don’t seem to be that nuts. Yes - I understand demand is not as high for other Pokemon and therefore the other collectors don’t need to pay $500 for a Caterpie due to many factors like demand and rarity (Charizard is almost always a rare at minimum).
This post is just to stir up the Charizard collectors to defend their craziness and maybe to ask this question: If Caterpie or another “non-notable” Pokemon was just as rare and sought after - would the price of it be just as high as the lizard king himself?
Follow up question: Do you think that Charizard collectors are actually as crazy as I’m making them out to be? To me I picture them with wide eyes and drooling and forking over the entirety of their wallet every time they see him on anything… cards, posters, pillows, rare and elusive charizard tooth brush (I made this up - don’t go looking for it on eBay Charizard collector reading this right now)… HAHA.
I love all Pokemon equally. I do play a little bit of favorites but I always want to pay “market” value for a card and I think Charizard has exceeded what his “market” value should be in my opinion. And no - I’m not referring to base set 1st edition.
Would love to hear what the community thinks. I don’t post often but wanted to start up a bit of controversy and conversation for fun. Maybe some people can learn a thing or two from this as well.
I understand where you are coming from. It’s bit complicated. Charizard was my number one favorite Pokemon as a kid so I understand the nostalgia that people have for it and people pay for nostalgia to get the feeling they got as a kid wanting the Base Set Charizard. And I also think Charizard has one of the best Pokemon designs in gen 1. Later other Pokemon have passed Charizard on the list of my favorites but it’s still in my top 10.
I kinda regret selling my best Charizards years ago as I had an English Gold Star, Shining, and so on. I wish I kept them but I was a poor student back then and realized that Charizard is too expensive for me to collect (which seems ridiculous now especially as older Zards have risen a lot). This was about 7 years ago.
I still buy some Charizards today because I love to collect my favorite Pokemon, but only if they fit my budget and if I like the art. I’m not crazy about getting all of them and I know it’s unrealistic for me anyways. So I kinda understand the frustration especially with newer Charizards hitting $200 (and up when graded).
I don’t really see any “crazy” Charizard collectors, Charizard cards are just on average more expensive than other cards I don’t think I have ever seen someone offer a crazy figure for a certain Charizard card over the normal market value.
On the other hand I have seen miscut, OC and other niche categories with people offering WAY over market value for a copy for their particular collecting flavour.
A lot of Charizard collectors are just in it for the ‘investment’ so to them paying multiples over market for a particular niche Zard would be unconscionable as it would be hard to flip it for those sweet Charizard gainz later on.
In the first generation I had a few favorite Pokemon. Mostly fire types. And Charizard was one of them. I think the anime had a lot to do with it. And even though he’s a flying/fire type, the dude is basically a fire breathing dragon. A dinosaur! That’s so bad ass! So when I saw other trainers Charizards come out like Rocket and Blaine’s Charizard, that blew my freaking mind! Blaine’s charizard is my favorite and I want to get as many as I can!
Charizard has always been the chase card for me when the TCG came out in the US. I never got one out of a pack back then and no one would trade it so it was like the unobtainable card that we all wanted because it was a fire breathing dragon (but actually lizard). Kids love dragons and the bottom line is Arita hit a home-run with the base set artwork. That nostalgia carried over as an adult and now that I can afford the Charizard he is the most satisfying to collect for me personally as it fulfills a feeling I missed out on as a kid.
Charizard is the Michael Jordan of Pokemon. The most common versions fly off the shelves and the more scarce ones fetch a premium.
It’s a safe bet because some people only collect “the best” player or character. If we hit a downturn and all of the Drifloon and Lopunny’s stop selling, you can bet there will still be lots of people interested in purchasing a Charizard.
This is actually a more complicated question than most people think because there’s actually many possible reasons. It was the strongest card with the most nostalgia going back to base set and was the card everyone wanted as a kid. This has carried over to future sets to some degree. In addition it is a target for flippers because they know it has the highest demand and a premium attached. I don’t see this ever changing in the near future. What Pokemon would take it’s place? Pikachu, Blastoise, Rayquaza? Charizard will always be Charizard and it’s like asking why mantle, Gretzky, Jordan, Brady collectors are crazy and pay a premium for those cards.
It’s iconic. It’s the creme de la creme of pokemon. It’s the card a non pokemon card collector would also choose to buy, much like if a pokemon card collector were to buy/invest in 1 yugioh card, they are likely to buy the iconic blue eyes white dragon.
Charizard was thee instantaneous chase card to have if you were a kid first experiencing Pokemon. But why? I think a lot of it has to do with the potent power Charizard represents among other attributes.
Charizard is red. Red is an aggressive, attention grabbing, provocative color that is psychologically attractive to humans in many ways. A quick internet search will yield you some interesting results on the subject of color. Here’s one of the first one’s I pulled up. Also search color theory and the colors orange and yellow as I suppose Charizard is technically orange.
Charizard is a dragon. Dragons in general are an interesting subject. We have a long history and fascination with the concept and its roots are deep. It’s a rabbit hole so have fun.
Charizard has high HP and attack in the TCG making it appealing from a strength perspective alone, even if it wasn’t practical in a real game.
I could go on but there’s no one reason. It’s the perfect storm.
