The most valuable Venusaur Pokemon cards in 2023 have a strong following among collectors and fans.
While Charizard cards usually make headlines with their astronomical prices, Venusaur cards from across the Trading Card Game’s history regularly sell for very high prices.
Venusaur isn’t as popular as Charizard or Blastoise, but plenty of people hold the venerable Grass-type Pokemon in particular regard. Others find its numerous iterations over the years create a worthy challenge to collect ‘em all.
We’ve found the ten most valuable Venusaur cards by checking out the average sale prices on TCG Player’s website. While you may find alternative prices for these cards elsewhere, these are the prices you should expect to buy or sell these Venusaur cards for.
It’s worth noting that we’ve only included English-language cards that are playable in the Trading Card Game (TCG).
You may find that, sometimes, oversized promotional cards can sell for high prices, but as they’re not playable in the game, we haven’t included them here.
Japanese cards also can fetch higher prices, as the Pokemon Company printed them earlier than English-language cards, but are unlikely to prove useful or of interest to many fans.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the most valuable Venusaur cards!
1. Venusaur – Base Set, 1st Edition ($405)
The first ever printed Venusaur card was part of the 1999 Base Set. Marked with a ‘1st Edition’ logo on the left of the card, this is the oldest and most valuable Venusaur card available.
Auction prices vary, but you can expect up to $18,500 for a PSA 10 condition 1st Edition Venusaur. However, to fetch this price, the card must have no defects, a challenging prospect when you consider that these cards are now a quarter of a century old!
Prices for this Venusaur card are nowhere near what we’ve seen for Charizard or even Blastoise, but canny collectors shouldn’t ignore this valuable card.
Especially as the market price for a loose card is around the $405; despite costing hundreds of dollars, if you snag yourself a card in good condition at that price and then grade it, you may find it being worth many times what you pay for it!
This particular edition is notable for being ‘Shadowless’ too; this means that the border surrounding the illustration of the Pokemon has no shadow, which is a style only found on the earliest cards. So that’s definitely something to look out for too!
Similar cards with shadowed art or the Poke Ball symbol can also sell for thousands if highly graded or in particularly good visual condition, but if you’re looking for the most valuable Venusaur card, keep an eye out for that ‘1st Edition’ logo and the lack of shadow on the border of the art!
2. Venusaur EX – Fire Red and Leaf Green ($300)
The Fire Red & Leaf Green expansion, which capitalised on the hype from the GBA remakes of the very first Pokemon games, introduced EX cards, bringing us the first Venusaur EX card.
Much like a Base Set Venusaur, the value of the Venusaur EX can vary wildly depending on whether or not it’s graded, as well as its actual grade.
TCG Player’s sales data shows that the Venusaur EX has a current average price of around $300, but we’ve seen a PSA 10 2004 Venusaur EX sell for around $940 too.
For those who think FireRed and LeafGreen were the peak of Pokemon games, this is an affordable way to celebrate this beloved era of Pokemon.
All the cards from this expansion featured Pokemon from the original 151 lineup; we’ve since seen these Pokemon revisited once more in the Scarlet & Violet 151 set too, proving that there’s still a lot of excitement and nostalgia for the games that kickstarted the entire Pokemon phenomenon!
3. Erika’s Venusaur – Gym Challenge ($170)
Erika’s Venusaur is part of the Gym Challenge expansion, where every Pokemon Card was associated with a trainer, usually, the Gym Leaders you encountered in Pokemon Red & Blue.
Each of these cards was marked with the named Trainer’s portrait in the bottom-right corner of the card; in this case, the fourth Gym Leader, Erika, is featured.
Erika’s Venusaur features a brand new move set, albeit with a lower HP stat. Its artwork features the Pokemon in a more aggressive stance against a dark background.
As the second Venusaur card printed after the Base Set Venusaur (barring reprints in Base Set 2), it fetches a high price among collectors.
We’ve seen graded copies selling for as much as $3,000.
However, if you’re not fussy about it being pristine, or if you aren’t blessed with the kind of wealth that would make a multi-thousand dollar card purchase seem perfectly normal, you’ll be pleased to know that the current market price for an Erika’s Venusaur card is around $170.
Which, while definitely not to be sniffed at, is much more reasonable than the higher values this card can sell for!
4. Venusaur – Expedition ($110)
Introduced in the first e-Card expansion of the Pokemon TCG, Expedition Venusaur was found in the 2002 Expedition Base Set.
Higher graded versions of the card can command prices of up to $450, but thankfully, the average price for a non-graded card is around $110.
Expedition Venusaur was scannable with the Nintendo e-Reader accessory, used to unlock various Game Boy Advance content and reveal a hidden move for the card (which was illegal in tournament play).
Pokemon cards in this expansion were completely redesigned to accommodate the accessory, giving this era of cards a unique design we likely won’t ever see again.
This card was one of three different Venusaur e-Cards.
One is the more common non-Holo Venusaur Expedition, while the slightly less valuable Dark Venusaur card was only available as part of the Pokemon TCG Players Guide for Game Boy.
5. Venusaur – Wizards of the Coast Black Star Promo ($100)
This unique Venusaur card was created for the Game Boy Color Pokemon TCG game and later printed as a physical card.
However, the only way to acquire this promotional Venusaur card was by buying the Pokemon TCG Official Players Guide, which included the Venusaur card for free.
This unusual method of acquiring this card means perfect condition prints are nearly impossible to find.
While PSA 9 graded cards are regularly sold for up to $320, there have been no listed sales of PSA 10 grades in recent years.
However, despite its rarity in pristine condition, this card is readily available if you’re not dead set on perfection!
The current asking price for this card is an average of around $100, so it is out there for a relatively reasonable cost if you must have it for your collection.
6. Venusaur – Base Set ($90)
You may be thinking that you’ve seen this card before, and of course you’d be right!
Well, sort of.
Though it has mechanically the same abilities and stats as the Shadowless Base Set card in our number one spot, this card does have a few cosmetic differences that make it a lot more affordable to collect.
For example, there’s the drop shadow around the illustration box that is missing from the most valuable Venusaur card on this list.
There’s also slight variations in colouring of the illustration itself, which is much more noticeable when seeing the two cards side by side.
Given that the average asking price for this version of the card is around $90, it’s a much more attractive (and cheaper!) prospect when considering adding a classic, old school Venusaur to your collection.
7. Venusaur EX – XY Promo ($75)
This Venusaur EX card was Included in a box set that was released to celebrate Pokemon’s 20th anniversary.
Though its current average price is $75, astonishingly it’s seen PSA 10 graded cards sold for over $1000; in fact, one recently sold for $2,280!
It’s a visually spectacular card, of course, arguably the most striking card, in terms of its art, on this list.
As it was available in a boxed collection, it seems to be much more prevalent in terms of its rarity, but this Venusaur EX’s price has skyrocketed over the years, unlike many other promo cards, which have depreciated in value.
You’ll note that this is also a Basic Pokemon, making it much more attractive to use in-game than the usual Stage 2 Venusaur cards, even if its stats and attacks aren’t anything special in the current meta!
8. Venusaur – Legendary Collection ($65)
The 2002 Legendary Collection featured reprints of many Base Set Pokemon cards, so you’ll be forgiven if you think this card’s art, stats, ability and attack are familiar!
Of course, despite the differences in printing quality and a lack of certain symbols, this Venusaur is identical to the Base Set cards; so if those slight variations don’t bother you, this is one of the most cost effective ways to get your hands on an ‘original’ Venusaur.
Given how much the Pokemon TCG has, appropriately, evolved over the last few decades, you won’t find these being used in decks in the present day, but of course that’s generally not why fans get hold of them; they’ll be to add to a collection, stored or on display.
It won’t break the bank to acquire one either, given that this particular Venusaur sells for an average price of $65, though of course that can significantly rise if you want a graded copy.
9. Venusaur – Base Set 2 ($64)
Base Set 2 featured reprints of cards from Base Set 1, along with the Jungle expansion, including Venusaur.
This version differed slightly from its original printing, featuring a drop shadow under the art and a Poke Ball symbol on the right.
With these differences, the Base Set 2 Venusaur is worth less than the original printing, but the cards remain functionally the same; to the untrained eye, they look identical.
Though, if you’re looking for a ‘perfect’ PSA 10 grade card, you can buy a Base Set 2 Venusaur for roughly $815.
However, the average asking price for the card is around $64, making it much more reasonable, not to mention affordable, to add to your collection.
10. Venusaur – Regional Championship Card ($52)
Awarded to winners of the Pokemon TCG Regional Championships back in 2006, it’s likely that this is one of the scarcest cards on this list, in terms of it’s wider availability; it is worth noting, however, that it’s a reprint of an identical card from the EX Crystal Guardians set, though of course the original card doesn’t feature the tournament logo!
Though this would have been quite the prize back in 2006, its stats are undoubtedly not competitive these days!
It certainly wouldn’t be a card that’d help you win a tournament, that’s for sure.
In any case, this particular card currently sells for around $52; it’s definitely a unique card for collectors, regardless of its condition. Of course, if you do want to get a graded copy, you’ll pay an awful lot more for the privilege!
