Just my opinion, but I can’t think of a card that I could be convinced is the 2nd best set card. 1st edition Lugia from Genesis is a special card. Lugia is the Charizard of the 2nd generation. My father and I went to Books a Million every Tuesday night when I was 9/10 years old. It was Pokemon night. I always did my best to make good trades. My father also helped… even securing me the original Japanese Ancient Mew 1, and a Japanese Birthday Pikachu by trading some oil paintings to a Books a Million employee who showed us his talent of snorting pixi sticks… Anyway I had a great collection… but there was this other kid and his dad who were very solid collectors… I remember the exact spot in the store when I sat down to see his new cards since last week… There it was… I had never seen it… a Lugia… this is the only time I can remember being mesmerized and even jealous… I ended up trading him a few cards for it… but once his father found out we had to trade back… this card has always been legendary. It is a beast… there was even a movie with Lugia staring as the beast he is! Anyway that’s my story with Neo Genesis Lugia. After seeing a PSA 9 1st edition just sell for nearly $2,300 I can see it going much higher to where it will be 2nd only to Charizard as a set card. Just my thoughts! What say you all? Any stories are appreciated.
-T
1st ed blastoise? haha
What about Ho-oh from Neo Revelation? The mascot of Pokemon Gold. And It has got a much better artwork than the Neo Genesis Lugia. These two cards should be fairly equal in my opinion, although Lugia is much more expensive at the moment obviously.
I somewhat agree but I still think cards like 1st Ed blastoise for me still come ahead in the 1st gen as a kid I saw it close to charizard and would of been just as happy tbh if I had pulled the blastoise
You beat me to it. I was just about to say that I always much preferred Ho-oh personally. My preference for the artwork was basically the single reason I liked it the Pokemon as a whole better than Lugia. And it made me fall in love with every artwork Kimiya Masago has ever done.
STILL I’d have to partially agree with OP that it is the most iconic card outside of Base. If we take Base into consideration, Lugia comes only fourth or maybe even fifth (after Zard, Venusaur, Blastoise and arguably Mewtwo). But that’s just my humble opinion.
Saw that auction as well it went insane near the end. I passed up an opportunity to by a psa 9 1st edition just a little over a couple of weeks ago for 950$. Kicking myself because I wouldn’t go higher than 900$.
Great card but Blastoise beats it for me 
And I passed up on a PSA 9 Lugia when it was $599 2 months ago lol I have 2 8s now. And everyone bringing up Blastoise and Venusaur… yes fair point. I think they are up there… but there’s only 1 king of gen 1 and that’s Charizard. And Gen 2, only a year later… we are still talking 20 years ago! There is one king in my opinion, and the markets as well, and that’s Lugia. Ho-oh came a little late to the party for me… I was getting out of Pokemon right after Neo Genesis so I missed out on the other bird… Anytime you also have a major movie about you… you gain some credibility as well. I think 8, 9, and 10 Lugia will outpace the 8, 9, 10 blastoise however… And I’m a Blastoise guy… I chose the Blue Version for gameboy and chose Squirtle in the game… but there was something special with Lugia that Blastoise didn’t have.
A PSA9 1st edition Ho-oh sold for around 600 USD about a week ago in auction, so maybe it will catch up with Lugia? And it was not the popular holo bleed version. It is true that the second movie was about Lugia, but do not forget that Ho-oh appeared in the very first episode of the anime! In a way that makes Ho-oh more mysterious and mythical.
It’s true… I remember that scene. I don’t think it’ll be on par with Lugia… but there’s a definite argument that it should be in the top for Neo cards.
I wonder how different it would be if Lugia was an easier grade. That’s not to say that Base 1st Blastoise or whatever other card is a walkthrough free 10 like, say, a lot of new back Japanese cards are, but Lugia 1st has a SIGNIFICANT amount of 8s in the pop because it’s Neo Genesis and Lugia has a large amount of holofoil prone to scratches and lines.
Also, I understand the Ho-Oh appreciation and am inclined to agree but I think Lugia is much more popular overall. Did Ho-Oh have a movie in 2000?
'Scuse me, big boi coming through.
Basse Set Venusaur has always been my favorite card.
The PSA 10/9 Venusaur is pop 132/447 while Lugia’s PSA 10/9 pop is 40/278. Lugia would not be selling for more if the supply were the same. I could make the same argument with a few other cards from Gen 1 too (that their population is the thing that keeps their price down relative to the Lugia). Base Blastoise, Base Venusaur, and Fossil Dragonite are the main ones that come to mind.
I agree that Neo Genesis Lugia is the Base Set Charizard of the Neo series / the 2nd generation, but I wouldn’t say this automatically makes it the “#2 rookie card of all-time.”
Having said that, I agree that Neo Genesis Lugia is a special card. I actually owned (still do) a Japanese one from around the time it came out in 1999/2000. That was right around when I stopped collecting as a kid (I stopped around English Team Rocket but that also gave me time to acquire the Japanese cards versions of Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and Neo Genesis). I remember thinking the Lugia was such a cool card. Just really beautiful looking and really stood out. The fact that it used 3 different types of energy cards for one attack (which I think was the first of its kind) also really stood out to me.
Honestly this is a hard question. Even as someone who loves Gen 2 significantly more than Gen 1, I dont think anything from it could overall meet a match with Charizard in terms of popularity. Lugia was for sure top tier, but none of the starters or even ho oh held a candle to it just because of how much of a heavy hitter it was at the time.
However, if were talking what i would like to see as second to Charizard as opposed to which is factually second, most would already know what pokemon im choosing 
And an extra game: XD Gales of Darkness. I also remember that for my birthday I wanted Pokemon Soul Silver but ended up getting Heart Gold because Silver had sold out. Lugia was definitely pushed as a mascot much more. But I’m glad I got Heart Gold because it made me appreciate Ho-oh much more in the end. They’re both some of my favourite Pokemon, but Lugia edges it for me, partly because of that great movie
Did it seriously just sell for that much? There’s one here for less than $1500 if anybody’s interested lol: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-PSA-9-Neo-Genesis-1st-Edition-Holo-Lugia/164175175464?hash=item26399a5f28:g:uj8AAOSwwRpenEFH
The fat toad is the best of the base set starter artworks and I still need to get around to getting a Shadowless 9 for myself. I agree on the population part as per my post above.
I also agree with the three types of attacks thing. For my friends and myself in elementary school that card was Rayquaza C Lv. X from Supreme Victors. The different types of energy in the attacks and the fact that it did 200 damage was so impressive. It was sort of our chase card even though it was a tin promo. I should mention that none of us knew how to play the actual card game, but as kids we liked the “powerful” cards. I never would have thought that my biggest wants were lousy trainer cards now… lol.
I appreciate your love for Neo Lugia. But let’s not confuse nostalgia with an objectively verifiable successor to Base Charizard. I think that much of your opinion on that card is shaped by the experience you made as a child, and in your heart it will always be more special than other cards. But the fact that in this thread alone we have 3 or more people who consider a different card to be a potential Charizard the 2nd, shows me that there is no true successor.
Just a little sidenote… did anyone else think Genesis Lugia was a Sugimori artwork? I actually just realized a few months ago it was drawn by Hironobu Yoshida. Looks so much like a classic Sugimori to me.
lol! and thanks for the link mimighster… I asked him for more pictures… can never be too cautious with those pesky 2 certs…
While I do agree that there are varying opinions, I remember in an old magazine from early 2000s that showcased the hottest cards of the time and the two main cards that were featured were Charizard and Lugia. I would also agree that the most iconic Pokémon from generation 2 across the board was Lugia for most people, as Charizard was in generation 1.
Back in my childhood the majority of people bought Pokémon Red version and chose Charmander as their starter. In generation 2, I know for me and my friends we all wanted silver version and I would go so far as to say that Lugia is more popular and iconic than Ho-oh as well as the three starters. Personally, I LOVED Feraligatr from generation 2 as it is my all-time favorite starter and Tyranitar was epic as well, but none of them come close to the overall appeal of Lugia.
Coupled with this ‘opinion’ as well as its difficulty to pull, I would say that it is a fair statement to somewhat compare it to Charizard, though as we all know no Pokémon will likely ever reach the overall appeal as it.
I thought it was Sugimori as well… I was going through my cards trying to guess the illustrators by style and I guessed Sugimori when I got to my Lugia… He has very heavy line weight with his outlines and his expressions are always a little creepy… I mean even Clefairy’s face is terrifying