Rocket's Moltres

Rocket's Moltres is card 12 of 132 in Gym Heroes, released in August 2000, a Rare Holo. It is a Basic Fire-type with 60 HP.

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

This is a Team Rocket card, a member of the criminal organization's roster in the Gym Challenge set. Rocket's Moltres 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.

A Legendary Fire-Flying bird. The Fire of the three Legendary birds. Fossil holo Moltres completes the Legendary bird trio. Steady collector demand.

Rocket's Moltres is a holo rare, one of the cards that holds Gym Heroes's value. The print variant decides most of it: a 1st Edition copy in high grade commands a large premium over a Shadowless or Unlimited one. In top-grade 1st Edition, Gym Heroes holos range from the mid hundreds for the lesser cards up to Sabrina's Gengar at the top; raw and Unlimited copies trade for a fraction of that. The live market price above shows the current figure by grade.

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

Rocket's Moltres lives and dies on its holo surface in grading. The fire foil catches light at angles that hide hairlines in a flat photo, so tilt it under a lamp, then measure the borders, where Wizards-era centering is the second-most-common grade cap.

Buying Rocket's Moltres well means pricing the exact print and grade, not the card name. The 1st Edition Rocket's Moltres trades above the Unlimited copy, so confirm the stamp before you agree a number. Always see the holo surface in good light first.