Dark Vileplume · Team Rocket, what to know.
About the Dark Vileplume card
Dark Vileplume is card 30 of 83 in Team Rocket, released in April 2000, a Rare. It is a Stage 2 Grass-type with 60 HP.
As a Stage 2, it evolves from Dark Gloom, which places Dark Vileplume deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.
Team Rocket darkened Vileplume under its control for the set's villain arc, a grittier repaint of the familiar Pokémon with an altered attack profile.
Illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno. Himeno is one of the most-recognized vintage illustrators, with a softer, more textured style that shows up across the Jungle and Neo runs.
The card's flavor text gives Vileplume a line of lore: "Perhaps because of their strong-smelling pollen, other Pokémon do not approach areas where Vileplumes live."
About Vileplume in the Pokémon world
The Grass-Poison final form of the Oddish line via Leaf Stone. Large red flower top. Jungle holo Vileplume was a tournament staple in 1999. PSA 10 1st Edition copies are scarcer than the population reports suggest because of how heavily it was played.
What is Dark Vileplume worth?
Dark Vileplume is a non-holo Rare. In Team Rocket, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Dark Vileplume 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
Team Rocket shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The 1st Edition Dark Vileplume carries the Edition 1 stamp under the artwork and trades above the Unlimited copy in matching grade. The set is also home to Dark Raichu, the first Secret Rare ever printed.
Grading and condition
Dark Vileplume grades on centering and edges more than surface. The card was played and traded more freely than the holos, so a clean, well-centered Dark Vileplume is worth more than collectors assume.
If you are collecting Dark Vileplume
For Dark Vileplume, 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 Dark Vileplume can make sense.
Three prints, three markets.
Edition 1 stamp under the artwork. Trades above Unlimited in matching grade.
No stamp. The standard, more affordable print.
