Day 18: 1st Edition, Holographic Charizard

When I was 6 or 7 I was heavily into Pokemon. I would watch the cartoon every morning before school, I would play the video game on the weekends, and I started getting into collecting the cards even though I still have no idea how the game works. This one time I remember seeing these three packs by my mom’s purse. Each pack had the original fully evolved starters on them: Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard. I remember wanting to open them, but did not want to get in trouble so I asked my mom if they were mine before I took them.

My mom had actually bought the packs for her friend’s son because his birthday was coming up. I was heartbroken. Even now I still remember how sad I was. After like an hour of crying, my mom sat me down on our family room couch and said I may have one of the packs. Charizard was and still is my favorite pokemon so obviously I chose that pack. What happened next is still one of my favorite memories in life.

So as I carefully opened the pack, making sure I did not rip it so I could keep the pack as a souvenir, I pulled the cards out and carefully went through them one by one. Not sure on what the odds are to get certain cards, but as I got through each one, all I kept saying to myself was, “please be Charizard, please be Charizard.” As I got to the second to last card, and still no Charizard, I was pretty upset again. So I decided to just go through the next two quickly, and there it was. My last card was a 1st edition, holographic Charizard. My tears of sadness suddenly turned into tears of joy and even my mom was excited for me even though she had no idea what was going on.

For years that Charizard was my prized possession. Again, I had no idea how to play the game and so for me Charizard was just cool to look at. Then when I was in 7th or 8th grade, I got into Yu-gi-oh. This was a card game that was easy to learn and I actually wanted to play. There was this card I really wanted, but could not get in packs, and was $80 on eBay. Still not sure how, but I had a friend who had access to an eBay account and said he could buy it for me. Only problem is $80 for me at that time was way more than I could afford because I was 13 and jobless.

It was at this point that another friend approached me about my Charizard. He told me he’d give me $120 for it. At the time that was the going rate for a regular holographic Charizard. But I also did not know how rare a 1st edition was in comparison. As hard as it was for me to let go of, I decided it was the right decision because I didn’t play the game anyway. I would be able to get the Yu-gi-oh card I wanted plus have extra money as well.

Looking back at it, selling my Charizard is one of my biggest regrets.

Though I never cared to learn how to play, I really enjoyed collecting Pokemon cards. There is just something about holographic Pokemon cards that make them cooler than any other trading card game. I truly wish I saw my Charizard as more than money though. Not going to lie though, the fact that a first edition version goes for up to $3,000 now would be tempting had I never sold it in the first place.

Despite it’s current going rate, the most important thing to me is the memory that Charizard carried with it. My mom was gracious enough to give me pack even though I did not deserve it and it was not mine to begin with. And The odds of me actually getting a Charizard in that pack were probably equal to me getting those yeezy shoes I wrote about a couple weeks ago. I guess that is the beauty of memories though. I no longer have the physical presence of that card, but it is a memory and story I will never forget and always be grateful for.