Kakuna 1st Edition Base Set: The 22-Pound Length
Reviewed by Caleb Stapel · Collector · Updated September 2026
Kakuna carries a genuine, catalogued text error on this printing: the stat block lists two figures, and on the 1st Edition the second label reads “Length” as well — so the card files its 22-pound figure under a length heading. Later printings restore the correct label.
This page covers the 1st Edition printing specifically — the stamped, shadowless-stock version from the original January 1999 run. If you are unsure which of the Base Set Kakuna printings you own, the 3-second test below settles it before you read any further.
| Grade | Market Price | Share of graded copies |
|---|---|---|
| Ungraded (raw) | $21 | — |
| PSA 7 (NM) | $31 | 9.8% |
| PSA 8 (NM-MT) | $34 | 22.5% |
| PSA 9 (Mint) | $101 | 43.3% |
| PSA 10 (Gem Mint) | $688 | 15.6% |
| Grade 6 or below | — | 8.9% |
Prices and population shares: the Cards Worth Chasing ranking, PSA only, September 2026. Shares are of all PSA-graded copies of this card, so they sum to 100% with the grade-6-and-below row. Grading cost basis $59.99 (PSA Standard). Comps move — verify current sold prices before transacting.
Live Now on eBay: 1st Edition Kakuna
What the card is actually being offered for right now. Every listing below is filtered to the genuine 1st Edition card — no repacks, mystery slabs, card skins, or multi-card lots. These are asking prices, not sold comps, so treat them as the top of the market rather than what copies are changing hands for. Buying through these links supports the site at no extra cost to you.
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Which One Do You Have? The 3-Second Test
Most people who say “I have a 1st Edition Kakuna” don’t. Retail packs in 1999–2000 were overwhelmingly Unlimited printing — and that’s fine, it’s the same iconic card. The fast check, in order:
- Right edge of the art box: a dark drop shadow = Unlimited or 4th Print. No shadow = keep going.
- Left of the art box: a black “Edition 1” stamp = 1st Edition. No stamp + no shadow = Shadowless.
- Bottom copyright line: ©1999-2000 = 4th Print. The font weight is the tiebreaker — thin HP text means an early print.
Kakuna is a Stage 1 Grass with 80 HP, evolving from Weedle, illustrated by Keiji Kinebuchi. At this price you can be selective; wait for a well-centred copy.
The four printings of Base Set each have their own price and history: 1st Edition · Shadowless · Unlimited · 4th Print.
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PSA 8 prices from PriceCharting sold-comp data, September 2026. Unlimited and 4th Print look nearly identical — the copyright year is the difference. Each printing is its own card with its own price and history; see every printing: 1st Edition · Shadowless · Unlimited · 4th Print.
About This Card and Set
Kakuna is card 33/102 in the English Base Set that Wizards of the Coast released in 1999 — an Uncommon, non-holographic Grass-type Stage 1 sitting in the middle of the Weedle line. The printing in scope here is the 1st Edition: the black “Edition 1” stamp placed to the left of the artwork, struck on the shadowless template before Wizards added the drop shadow that defines Unlimited cards. It is the first of the four English printings of this card, and the scarcest.
What sets this printing apart is textual. The card’s stat block carries two stacked labels, one above the other. On the 1st Edition and Shadowless Kakuna the second label reads “Length” as well, so the card files its 22-pound figure under a length heading. Later printings restore the correct “Weight” label, bounding the mistake to the two first-print runs.
Kakuna is a fixture of the original creatures. Its Japanese name, Kokuun, and its English name both derive from “cocoon”; an early English build of Red and Blue rendered it “Kokoon.” The species was designed by Atsuko Nishida. As the near-immobile pupal stage between Weedle and Beedrill, Kakuna was built around a single idea: a creature that hangs from a branch and hardens rather than moves.
The card was reprinted in Base Set 2 (47/130) and Legendary Collection (50/110), and revisited in the 2016 Evolutions reissue. None of those is a 1st Edition, and none carries the duplicate label. The artwork is credited to Keiji Kinebuchi.
How Rare Is This Card?
Read this card by its grade split rather than by a headline population. 15.6% of PSA-graded copies reach PSA 10, 8.9% come back grade 6 or below, and the rest land in between — which is what set the price ladder above.
Kakuna carries a 15.6% Gem Mint rate on a $21 raw — the cheapest card of this group, with good odds.
| Card | PSA 10s | Total graded | Gem rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Edition Kakuna (1999) | ~368 | ~2,356 | 15.6% |
| Charizard ex #199, S&V 151 (2023) | 29,679 | 102,490 | ~29% |
PriceCharting population data, September 2026. The modern row is a combined PSA + CGC count; the 1999 row is PSA, the way it is normally quoted.
For scale, a comparable modern chase card converts to a gem grade at roughly 29%. Modern cards grade far better than vintage ones — not because they are better cards, but because a 1999 card was printed before grading was mainstream and then spent two decades in a binder.
Source: the PSA-only figures behind the Cards Worth Chasing ranking, September 2026. Two caveats stay attached to every population figure on this site. Graded counts are submission tallies, not unique cards — resubmissions inflate the total. And the census is a floor, not a final number.
Known Error Cards
The catalogued Kakuna error belongs to the 1st Edition and the Shadowless printings, and it is a text error rather than a printing flaw. The stat block lists two figures; on these two printings the second label also reads “Length,” so “Length” appears twice, with the 22-pound value beneath the lower one. The long-standing fan error list renders it as “Length / Length” where the card should read “Length / Weight.”
Bulbapedia, the PokéBeach error database and the Elite Fourum listings all place the mistake in the 1st Edition and Shadowless runs, and all three agree it was corrected for the Unlimited printing. PSA’s published Pokémon Error Guide carries no Kakuna entry, so the correction rests on the collector databases rather than on PSA. No separate error is documented for the 1st Edition beyond this label.
What Makes This Card Collectible?
Kakuna is collected for a documented text error that the 1st Edition carries and no later printing does:
- A real catalogued 1st Edition error. The duplicate “Length” label is recorded by Bulbapedia, the PokeéBeach database and Elite Fourum’s error lists.
- Bounded to the first two printings. The label is corrected for Unlimited, so the error exists only on the 1st Edition and Shadowless runs.
- One of only two cards sharing it. The same label swap is documented on Bulbasaur 44, and on no other Base Set card.
- The cheapest entry into a documented error. The lowest raw cost in this group makes it the most affordable way to own a catalogued 1st Edition misprint.
The line completes at the Beedrill review; the Base Set hub covers the run.
The Artist: Keiji Kinebuchi
Keiji Kinebuchi is one of the illustrators who defined the look of the original English Pokémon TCG, and Kakuna is one of their Base Set contributions. This section will carry their full numbers when the artist guide lands.
Caleb's Collector Verdict
Kakuna is one of the few cards in this block with a real, catalogued error on its own 1st Edition printing: a second “Length” label where “Weight” belongs, corrected the moment the set moved on.
People Also Ask
Is my 1st Edition Kakuna real or fake?
The 1999 Base Set cards are the most counterfeited in the hobby, and for a raw copy worth real money you cannot settle it from a photo. The checks that catch most fakes: the light test, the stamp rule (read together with the drop shadow and the 1995-99 copyright line, never alone), and the back. Above a few hundred dollars, a raw copy should get professional pre-authentication. The full fake-detection walkthrough covers all of it.
Should I grade this card?
Good odds on the cheapest raw in the group — 15.6% on $21. A clean copy is easy to submit and the fee is the only real question. See Should You Grade Pokémon Cards? for the fee maths, and check a raw copy with the CardGrader scanner before sending it in.