Bulbasaur holds a place no other Pokémon can claim: it's #001, the first entry in the Pokédex and the card millions of players opened first. That "where it all began" status is the foundation of its collectibility — Bulbasaur has been printed since the 1999 Base Set and has appeared in dozens of sets across 28 cards tracked here, from vintage holos to the painterly Illustration Rares of the Scarlet & Violet era.
The story of the line. Bulbasaur is the rare starter that never headlined the meta, so its cards trade on nostalgia and artwork rather than competitive history. The modern era has been kind to it: the Stellar Crown #143 Illustration Rare leads the verified market at around $101 raw, with the Scarlet & Violet 151 #166 print close behind near $80 — both riding the wave of collectors revisiting the original Kanto roster. Vintage e-Card prints like Expedition #95 (~$43) round out the affordable middle.
The grail. The single most coveted Bulbasaur isn't something you'll pull from a pack. The Snap Bulbasaur, a 1999 Japanese promo awarded to roughly twenty winners of a Pokémon Snap photo contest through CoroCoro magazine, is one of the rarest cards in the hobby — the lone PSA 9 sold for about $200,000 in 2025. It's a trophy, not a target, but no honest Bulbasaur ranking can leave it out.
What drives value and how to collect. For most collectors Bulbasaur is an accessible, rewarding line: a few modern chase cards in the $80–$100 range, a deep bench of vintage prints under $50, and a famous grail at the very top. If you want the line's highlights, chase the Stellar Crown and 151 Illustration Rares for modern appeal and an Expedition holo for vintage flavor. Grading is worth it only on clean vintage or high-end modern; the bulk is best enjoyed raw, in a binder, as the start of the most iconic line in the franchise.
