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Pokémon 151 came out on 22 September 2023 and has never stopped being in demand, because it is the set that walks back through original Kanto. Charizard ex #199 leads at 370.64 €, but the more interesting fact is elsewhere: in this set even the Illustration Rares of the basic Pokémon are worth tens of euro, which does not happen in an ordinary set.
We ran every card through the DarkDex pricing engine and sorted by value. Real single-card prices, Near Mint, lowest across sellers, updated on 30 July 2026. Graded copies excluded.
In short. The set is led by Charizard ex (#199) at 370.64 €, followed by Blastoise ex (#200) at 109.64 € and Zapdos ex (#202) at 109.03 €. Below the podium an unusual band begins: ten Illustration Rares of Kanto Pokémon between 29 and 72 euro. Prices as of 30 July 2026.
The ranking: the 20 most expensive cards
This is the complete ranking down to 14 euro: every card in the set worth more is here.
Charizard ex€370.64
Blastoise ex€109.64
Zapdos ex€109.03
Venusaur ex€101.57
Alakazam ex€75.61
Charmander€72.37
Pikachu€68.82
Charizard ex€56.13
Squirtle€53.98
Bulbasaur€45.64
Psyduck€39.12
Charmeleon€38.52
Dragonair€35.52
Mew ex€35.01
Wartortle€35.00
Poliwhirl€30.10
Ivysaur€29.40
Blastoise ex€20.27
Erika's Invitation€15.21
Giovanni's Charisma€14.21Charizard ex is worth 3.4 times the second card, and then the ranking flattens: from second to fourth place there are eight euro of difference in total, and from sixth to seventeenth it slides from 72 to 29 euro with no jumps. Add your cards to DarkDex and keep the value current without re-checking listings by hand.
The chase cards of Pokémon 151
The chase cards are the five Special Illustration Rares at the top: Charizard ex (#199), Blastoise ex (#200), Zapdos ex (#202), Venusaur ex (#198) and Alakazam ex (#201). They are the full-page illustrations of the first generation's signature Pokémon, and they are the cards people open boxes for.
After them, and this is what makes the set unusual, comes a block of ten Illustration Rares of Kanto Pokémon: Charmander at 72.37 €, Pikachu at 68.82 €, Squirtle at 53.98 €, Bulbasaur at 45.64 €, Psyduck at 39.12 €, Charmeleon at 38.52 €, Dragonair at 35.52 €, Wartortle at 35.00 €, Poliwhirl at 30.10 € and Ivysaur at 29.40 €. In any other set, cards of that rarity sit under ten euro. Here they fill half the ranking.
At the bottom of the top 20 sit two Trainer Special Illustration Rares, Erika's Invitation (#203) at 15.21 € and Giovanni's Charisma (#204) at 14.21 €. They share their rarity with Charizard ex #199 and cost a twenty-fifth as much: rarity on its own says almost nothing about price.
How much is Charizard ex from Pokémon 151 worth
Charizard ex #199 is worth 370.64 € Near Mint, with 45 active sellers: a deep market, so a solid price.
Charizard exists in more than one printing in this set, and the comparison is the most useful thing to understand:
- Charizard ex #183, Ultra Rare: 56.13 €
- Charizard ex #199, Special Illustration Rare: 370.64 €
Same Pokémon, same set, 6.6 times apart. Value does not live in the name on the card but in the printing: collector number, rarity and illustration treatment. That is why a collection has to be counted card by card, with the right variant, and not by Pokémon.
The same goes for Blastoise, which appears twice in the top 20: #200 Special Illustration Rare at 109.64 € and #184 Ultra Rare at 20.27 €. And for Mew, Pokémon number 151 and the set's namesake: #193 Ultra Rare at 35.01 €, while its #205 printing sits under thirteen euro.
How much is Pikachu from Pokémon 151 worth
Pikachu #173, Illustration Rare, is worth 68.82 € Near Mint. It is one of the cases where the set breaks the usual rules: an Illustration Rare of a basic Pokémon worth as much as an Ultra Rare from a recent set.
The reason is that its illustration became one of the most recognisable in the series, and demand comes from outside competitive play too. People searching for "Pikachu 151" are usually not looking for a tournament card, they are looking for that artwork.
The best cards in Pokémon 151
Split by budget, the set offers three clear bands:
- under 35 euro: Poliwhirl (#176), Ivysaur (#167), Blastoise ex (#184) and the two Trainer Special Illustration Rares, all between 14 and 30 euro
- under 50 euro: Bulbasaur (#166) at 45.64 €, Psyduck (#175) at 39.12 €, Charmeleon (#169) at 38.52 €, Dragonair (#181) at 35.52 € and Wartortle (#171) at 35.00 €, Kanto illustrations at entry price
- between 50 and 110 euro: Charmander (#168), Pikachu (#173), Squirtle (#170) and the three Special Illustration Rares of the evolved starters
- above 300 euro: only Charizard ex (#199), the card that defines the set
The best ratio of recognition to price is Squirtle #170 at 53.98 €: the same family of illustrations as the cards at the top, at a seventh of Charizard's price. On a tighter budget, Ivysaur #167 at 29.40 € does the same job.
Why even the Illustration Rares cost money in 151
A normal set concentrates value in the highest rarities and leaves the rest at a few euro. In 151 something different happens: ten Illustration Rares sit between 29 and 72 euro, filling half the top 20. The explanation is not rarity but subject. Those cards portray the Pokémon anyone who played the first game recognises, and demand does not come only from people collecting the set: it comes from anyone who wants that specific creature in a good illustration.
For collectors that means 151 is an expensive set to complete, because it has no cheap tail: even the bottom of the ranking costs money.
About that 10,000 euro card
If you look around for the most expensive 151 cards you may find absurd figures, such as a Bulbasaur #001 at ten thousand euro. That card was in our scan, with one single offer, twenty-seven times the price of the set's second card.
We excluded it, and the rule is the one we always apply: a price with one seller is not a market price, it is that seller's asking price. Rankings that include it are spectacular and useless. Every number in this article has dozens of sellers behind it.
How many cards are in Pokémon 151
The set has 165 official cards and reaches 207 counting the secrets. In our scan 208 singles had at least one Near Mint offer, so market coverage on this set has no gaps.
What it costs to complete Pokémon 151
We added up the cheapest Near Mint copy available for each of the set's 207 singles: 1,574 € in total, of which 589 € is the top three cards (37%).
The set is more balanced than the top of the ranking suggests. The median card costs 11 cents and 160 of the 207 cards are under one euro, but the middle band carries weight: without the top three, the rest costs 985 €, and almost all of it sits in the Illustration Rares discussed above.
Put usefully: 151 costs less to complete than Prismatic Evolutions (2,544 €) despite having 27 more cards, because its top card is half the price of Umbreon ex. It is more expensive in the middle, where cards that other sets give away cost fifty euro here.
Two caveats on the number: it is the sum of minimum prices from different sellers, so shipping gets added in practice, and it only counts cards with a Near Mint offer. A theoretical floor, not a quote.
Is Pokémon 151 worth buying today
This is not investment advice, but two measured facts help you decide. First: the set came out almost three years ago and the prices above are today's, not launch prices, so you are not looking at a release bubble. Second: demand for this set does not come from competitive play but from its subjects, and the Kanto Pokémon do not go out of fashion at the next rotation.
The real risk with a set like this is not the price, it is buying the wrong printing. Charizard ex exists at 56 and at 370 euro in the same set, and the difference is two digits in the collector number.
Heads up. Prices move constantly. The numbers above are a snapshot of the market on 30 July 2026.
How to keep an eye on them
On DarkDex you add your 151 cards to your collection and the value updates itself, with price history and the portfolio total. The two Charizard ex printings stay counted separately, as they should.
To understand how a whole collection is valued, read how much your Pokémon collection is worth. The same ranking for another back-catalogue set is in the most expensive Prismatic Evolutions cards.