Raichu

Raichu is card 29 of 62 in Fossil, released in October 1999, a Rare. It is a Stage 1 Lightning-type with 90 HP.

As a Stage 1, it evolves from Pikachu, which places Raichu deeper in its line and means most collectors hold it alongside the cards it evolves from.

Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. Arita painted the Base Set Charizard and much of the early holo run, and his work has a painterly weight that set the visual tone of the Wizards era.

The Pokédex entry printed on Raichu reads: "Its long tail serves as a ground to protect itself from its own high voltage power."

The fully evolved Pikachu. Larger, orange-yellow body, with a long tail. Rare in the wild; usually requires a Thunder Stone evolution. Base Set holo Raichu is one of the famous "where is mine" cards. Its print run had inconsistent centering, and a famously rare prerelease variant exists.

Based on recent eBay sales, raw copies trade from $7.99 to $17 depending on the print and a PSA 10 runs from $265 to $550. The 1st Edition print is the most valuable, with a PSA 10 near $550. The table on this page breaks the price down by print and grade, updated 2026-05-27.

Fossil shipped in 1st Edition and Unlimited, with no Shadowless print. The Edition 1 stamp under the artwork separates the scarcer 1st Edition Raichu from the Unlimited copy.

Raichu grades on centering and edges more than surface. The card was played and traded more freely than the holos, so a clean, well-centered Raichu is worth more than collectors assume.

For Raichu, 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 Raichu can make sense.