Charizard
Quick take
- Secret rare (136/135), the shiny variant of Charizard from Plasma Storm
- Top rarity tier of the Black & White era, before SIR and Hyper Rare existed
- Notorious for paint chipping on the gold border and centering issues
- Shiny blue color treatment instead of the standard orange Charizard
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Plasma Storm
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 136/135 · $1150.00 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyThe shiny Charizard that closed out the Black & White era
Plasma Storm 136/135 is a secret rare, the over-numbered slot that sits past the set's listed 135 cards. It is the shiny version of Charizard, so the dragon shows up in cool blue instead of the usual orange. Ayaka Yoshida drew it. The card carries a gold border with a full holo background.
“Secret rare (136/135), the shiny variant of Charizard from Plasma Storm”
Secret rares were the top tier of the BW era. There was no SIR, no Hyper Rare, no alternate art back then. A shiny Charizard secret rare was about as high as the chase went in 2013. That history is a big part of why this one still moves. It is a Charizard, it is shiny, and it sits at the ceiling of its set.
The card has a second reputation. It is genuinely hard to grade clean. Paint chipping along the gold border and shaky centering are common, which makes high-grade copies scarcer than the raw pull rate alone would suggest.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This sits at or near the top of Plasma Storm for singles. Charizard, shiny, and secret rare is a stack of demand drivers that lands a card in the upper range of its set, and this one does. Raw copies are a strong three-figure card, and graded gem-mint examples push well above that.
It has tracked the broader late-vintage Charizard market. A long climb through the 2020 to 2021 boom, then a settling period. It holds value better than most BW secret rares because the Charizard name keeps demand steady even when the wider market cools.
Charizard secret rares from the BW era have a durable floor. The grading difficulty cuts both ways. It suppresses the supply of high grades, which supports prices for the copies that do grade well, but it also means raw buyers are gambling on a card that often misses gem. For a master set builder, treat this as a long-hold anchor piece rather than a flip.
The graded premium is steep here, steeper than on most BW cards, because clean gem-mint copies are hard to come by. Border chipping and off-center cuts knock a lot of submissions down a grade or two, so the jump from a high near-mint grade to gem-mint is large.
Plasma Storm predates the Scarlet & Violet rarity ladder, so the modern Double Rare and SIR odds do not apply here. As a BW-era secret rare, this Charizard was a deep chase out of packs, the kind of card most people opened a box or two without seeing. Practical scarcity today is driven less by the original pull rate and more by how few copies grade well. Border paint chipping and centering problems thin out the high-grade population sharply.
Within Plasma Storm it is the headline secret rare and the most chased single in the set. Against the wider BW era, it ranks among the more desirable Charizard secret rares because of the shiny treatment.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Ayaka Yoshida has illustrated cards across multiple Pokemon TCG eras. For collectors, this Plasma Storm Charizard is one of the more recognizable entries tied to the name, partly because shiny Charizard art draws so much attention on its own.
Charizard appears in its shiny blue coloring rather than the usual orange, mid-roar with wings spread. Fire fills the frame around it, and the whole scene sits on a full holographic background inside a gold border. The flavor text leans into the gimmick, noting this differently-colored Charizard is very hard to find.
Gold-bordered secret rare with full holographic foil. Stage 2 Fire-type with 160 HP, carrying Split Bomb and Scorching Fire as its attacks, with a Water weakness. The over-numbered 136/135 print slot marks it as the secret card beyond the set's main 135.
The shiny color flip is the hook. A blue Charizard reads instantly as special, and pairing that with the gold-border secret rare frame gave 2013 collectors a clear top-of-set chase. The art still holds up next to modern Charizard cards.
BackgroundAbout Charizard
Charizard has anchored Pokemon collecting since the 1999 Base Set. Every era produces a marquee Charizard, and the secret rare slot was the BW era's version of that. Demand for the Pokemon itself never really softens, which is why even a 2013 card stays liquid.
- ›Charizard's status as the face of the franchise for collectors
- ›Shiny variant appeal, which is its own collecting niche
- ›Secret rare scarcity from a pre-SIR era set
- ›Strong nostalgia for the Black & White generation
- ›Charizard as a recurring chase card across nearly every TCG set since Base Set
- ›Shiny Charizard treatments showing up repeatedly as premium pulls across eras
Own it wellCollector guide
Check the gold border closely. Paint chipping along the edges is the signature flaw on this card, and it shows up even on copies that otherwise look clean. Centering tends to drift too. Inspect under angled light for surface scratches in the holo, which the foil background hides at a glance.
Worth grading if you have a genuinely clean copy, since the graded premium is large and gem-mint population is low. Submit with eyes open. The border chipping and centering issues mean a lot of raw copies that look fine to the naked eye come back a grade short of gem. For serious money, buy already graded. Read the grading guide →
Sleeve and toploader at minimum. Keep it in a penny sleeve plus a semi-rigid holder if you plan to ship or submit. The gold border is the vulnerable part, so handle by the faces and avoid anything that rubs the edges. See the storage guide →
For a master set, decide early whether you want raw or graded. Raw is cheaper but you inherit the grading lottery. If you want one slot filled cleanly and done, a graded near-mint or better copy removes the guesswork. Inspect border edges on any raw listing photos and ask for corner close-ups. See the singles buying guide →
Charizard secret rares are heavily counterfeited. Do the standard checks. A light test should reveal the black core layer inside a genuine card, the front should have proper linen surface texture, and the holo should shimmer with movement rather than look flat or printed. Compare the back swirl gradient against a known-genuine card. For anything at this price level, buy graded from a reputable slab.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Collectors regularly call this one of the best Charizard cards of the BW era. The shiny color and secret rare status get most of the praise.
Two themes come up over and over. How good the shiny art looks, and how frustrating the card is to grade. The paint chipping complaint is well known enough that experienced collectors mention it before buying raw.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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