Venusaur · Expedition Base Set, what to know.
About the Venusaur card
Numbered 67 of 165 in Expedition Base Set, released in September 2002, Venusaur is a Rare, a Stage 2 Grass-type carrying 100 HP.
It evolves from Ivysaur, so Venusaur is a later-stage card that set-builders usually slot into a full evolution run rather than buy alone.
Illustrated by Atsuko Nishida. Nishida is the original designer of Pikachu and many Gen 1 Pokémon, and her card work has a soft, rounded warmth that suits the friendlier creatures.
About Venusaur in the Pokémon world
The fully evolved grass starter. A heavy-set quadruped with a large pink flower on its back. Tank archetype in the games. The grass Charizard equivalent in Base Set. Holo run dominates collector demand and Venusaur is the value play of the original three starters, with 1st Edition prices appreciating faster than Blastoise over the last 18 months.
What is Venusaur worth?
Venusaur is a non-holo Rare. In Expedition Base Set, value concentrates in the holo rares, so a Venusaur 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 Venusaur before pricing it, since variant and rarity set the market more than the card name alone.
Grading and condition
Non-holo Rares like Venusaur are easier on surface but no kinder on centering. Wizards-era cards were less protected than the holos, so high-grade Venusaur survivors can be scarcer than expected, with edge whitening the usual cap.
If you are collecting Venusaur
For Venusaur, 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 Venusaur can make sense.
