Butterfree · Expedition Base Set, what to know.
About the Butterfree card
Butterfree is card 38 of 165 in Expedition Base Set, released in September 2002, a Rare. It is a Stage 2 Grass-type with 80 HP.
As a Stage 2, it evolves from Metapod, which places Butterfree deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.
Illustrated by Sumiyoshi Kizuki.
About Butterfree in the Pokémon world
The bug-flying final form of the Caterpie line. Compound eyes, large purple wings, a butterfly silhouette. Jungle holo Butterfree has a small but loyal collector following. PSA 10 examples are reasonably accessible.
What is Butterfree worth?
Butterfree is a non-holo Rare. In Expedition Base Set, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Butterfree trades modestly, though a clean, well-centered 1st Edition copy in PSA 10 is scarcer than the print run suggests and carries a real premium. Check the live price above for the figure by grade.
Print variants and how to spot them
Confirm the print and finish on Butterfree before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.
Grading and condition
On Butterfree, look at the corners and the framed border first. Non-holo Rares took more handling than the chase holos, so a sharp, centered copy of Butterfree in a true PSA 10 is harder to find than the print run suggests.
If you are collecting Butterfree
For Butterfree, check centering by eye, edge whitening on all four sides, and surface under angled light. Non-holo Rares from this era are cheap enough that a PSA 10 submission on a clean Butterfree can make sense.
