Koga's Pidgey

Koga's Pidgey is card 80 of 132 in Gym Challenge, released in October 2000, a Common. It is a Basic Colorless-type with 50 HP.

As a Basic Pokémon, Pidgey needs no prior evolution to put into play, which made it a practical card in the era's decks.

Koga is the Poison-type Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, a ninja who later rises to the Elite Four. Koga's Pidgey is part of that themed lineup.

Illustrated by Ken Sugimori. Sugimori is the lead character designer of Pokémon itself, so his card art carries the tight, on-model look that defined how the creatures appear in the games.

The first normal-flying Pokémon collectors meet in the games. Brown sparrow silhouette. Vintage Pidgey is a budget collector entry point. PSA 10 prints from Base Set are inexpensive and a good first grading submission.

Koga's Pidgey is a Common, so raw copies trade for very little and most of the print run survives. The only real value is in pristine, high-grade copies, where even a Common can reach low triple digits in 1st Edition PSA 10. See the live price above for the current figure by grade.

Gym Challenge shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The trainer-prefix naming runs across the set, and the 1st Edition Koga's Pidgey carries the Edition 1 stamp and a premium over Unlimited in matching grade.

Koga's Pidgey is the most forgiving tier to grade in the set. Centering on the framed border is the usual cap, and the soft Wizards-era cardstock picks up edge whitening easily, but high print runs keep clean copies affordable.

Raw copies of Koga's Pidgey are inexpensive enough that grading rarely pays unless you have a clearly pack-fresh example. For set completion, a clean sleeved Koga's Pidgey is the practical move.