Standard
How to spot it: Holo or non-holo per the card, with the regular foil placement.
The common, affordable version.
01Card Stats
Basic (evolves into Ivysaur)
HP
40
TypeGrass
RarityCommon
IllustratorMitsuhiro Arita
WeaknessFire ×2
Retreat●
SetLegendary Collection
Released2002
02Editions and Print Runs
The 2002 Legendary Collection reissued classic Wizards-era cards and, famously, gave every card a reverse-holo parallel. There is a standard version and a much scarcer reverse-holo version.
Reverse Holo (parallel)
How to spot it: Foil applied across the entire card body instead of just the art window.
The valuable version. The full-body foil scratches and "whitens" very easily, so high-grade copies are genuinely scarce.
04Variants and Foiling
- Rarity tiers
- Common, Reverse Holo (parallel)
- Foiling
- Standard non-holo Common plus the valuable reverse-holo parallel (full-body foil that scratches easily).
- Alt art / specials
- No alternate artwork; standard-vs-reverse-holo and condition drive the value.
05Language and Regional Versions
- English
- Standard English release.
- Japanese
- Released in the equivalent Japanese set.
- European
- Localized European prints exist with translated text.
- Other
- No documented language-exclusive errors of note.
06Current Market Value
| Standard | A few dollars |
|---|---|
| Reverse Holo | ~$325 raw (near-mint) |
| Graded | Roughly $350–$450 (PSA 9 ~$394; CGC 9 ~$456) |
Verified against recent market data (May 2026). As with the rest of Legendary Collection, the reverse holo is the prize.
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07Why Collectors Want It
- A "Common" whose reverse-holo parallel trades in the hundreds — a favorite example of how Legendary Collection scrambled the usual rarity logic.
- Full-body foil is scratch-prone, so high grades are scarce.
- Completes the Bulbasaur line within the prized Legendary Collection set.
- Strong, steady collector demand for the reverse-holo version.
- Affordable in standard form, aspirational in reverse holo.
08Competitive Playability
Tier: None (collectible)
Collectible only — the reverse-holo rarity is the entire story, not the card’s modest attacks.
09Card Moves and Abilities
Leech Seed
Unless all damage from this attack is prevented, you may remove 1 damage counter from Bulbasaur.
- Weakness
- Fire ×2
- Retreat cost
- 1
10Grading and Population
PSA 10 estimate: Reverse-holo gem-mint copies are scarce due to the easily-marked full-body foil.
PSA 9 has sold around $394 and CGC 9 around $456; grade is the main value driver.
Other graders: PSA, CGC and BGS all grade these.