Mewtwo 1st Edition Base Set: A Character Buy That Sells
Reviewed by Caleb Stapel · Collector · Updated September 2026
Mewtwo is the set's most popular non-starter holo and the one whose 1st Edition grading counts have never been fully catalogued. Raw copies trade around $500, while a PSA 10 gem has cleared $54,070 — the gap between those two numbers is the whole story of this card.
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 Mewtwo printings you own, the 3-second test below settles it before you read any further.
| Grade | Market Price | Share of graded copies |
|---|---|---|
| Ungraded (raw) | $528 | — |
| PSA 7 (NM) | $2,338 | 14.2% |
| PSA 8 (NM-MT) | $3,210 | 18.8% |
| PSA 9 (Mint) | $5,600 | 21.7% |
| PSA 10 (Gem Mint) | $54,070 | 3.2% |
| Grade 6 or below | — | 42.1% |
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 Mewtwo
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.
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Which One Do You Have? The 3-Second Test
Most people who say “I have a 1st Edition Mewtwo” 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.
Mewtwo is a Basic Psychic-type with 60 HP — low for a legendary, and a deliberate competitive balance choice. Its Base Set art is Ken Sugimori's original design rendering.
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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
Mewtwo is card 10/102. The illustration is the same artwork used in the Japanese Expansion Pack of October 1996, which means the image predates the English card by roughly two years — a fact that matters more than it first appears.
In 2026 the GamePro press CD archive surfaced publicly, and it is the closest thing to Wizards' actual design files anyone has seen: a disc sent by Wizards to the press in May 1999, containing genuine card-design files and raw artwork assets. Among the material is a raw, uncompressed copy of the Mewtwo illustration — and it is identical to the Japanese source. That is direct evidence the English Base Set was assembled from Creatures' existing 1996 assets rather than newly commissioned, and Mewtwo is the cleanest specimen of it.
The same disc records Mewtwo in Wizards' internal notes as an “alternative choice” for the artwork, which is a fragment rather than an explanation, and we will treat it as one. The print runs are in the 1st Edition set guide.
How Rare Is This Card?
Start with the two numbers that describe the whole card: roughly 2,975 graded copies exist in total, and about 102 of those are PSA 10s. That is a gem rate near 3.4% — and the gem rate, not the raw population, is the number a collector should actually read. High-grade supply is what the market pays for.
| Card | PSA 10s | Total graded | Gem rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Edition Mewtwo (1999) | ~102 | ~2,975 | 3.4% |
| 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, compare it with the modern equivalent: a 2023 chase Charizard carries roughly 29,679 gem-grade copies out of about 102,490 graded — a gem rate near 29%, on a card printed and slabbed within a year of release. The modern card has many times the gem supply, at several times this card's gem rate — not because it is a better card, but because a 1999 card was printed before grading was mainstream and then spent two decades in a binder. A vintage gem count is not comparable to a modern one.
Population source: PriceCharting, September 2026. The vintage figure is PSA; the modern figure is a combined PSA + CGC count, which is how each is normally quoted.
Two caveats stay attached to every population figure on this site. Graded counts are submission tallies, not unique cards — resubmissions inflate the total, so the number of genuinely distinct gem copies is lower. And the census is a floor, not a final number: it grows with every submission wave.
Known Error Cards
None are documented for the 1st Edition printing. Mewtwo's named varieties all belong to Unlimited: the “Holo Hickey” cyan ink marks, a “Jumbled Text” fault where the gloss layer doubles the ink, and a partial “Illustrator” error missing the credit line.
Mewtwo is also worth flagging for a different reason. Published PSA 9 population figures for this card have been inconsistent across sources, which is a data problem rather than a card problem — we would rather say so than quote a number we cannot stand behind.
What Makes This Card Collectible?
The case for this card, specifically:
- A flagship character. Mewtwo's recognition drives demand independent of population — the reason it is liquid.
- Real liquidity. There is always a buyer for a 1st Edition Mewtwo, which is not true of every holo in the set.
- A documented design asset. Its 1996 illustration survives as a raw file on Wizards’ 1999 press CD — direct proof the English set reused Creatures’ Japanese artwork.
- Population-metadata caution. Published PSA 9 figures for this card have been inconsistent across sources — verify before quoting one.
The Base Set hub compares all four printings, and the Unlimited run is the affordable route to the same artwork.
The Artist: Ken Sugimori
Ken Sugimori (b. 1966) designed Mewtwo and drew the Base Set card. The 1999 illustration is his original concept rendering, and it remains the version most people picture when they think of the character — the art that launched a franchise's most recognisable antagonist.
Caleb's Collector Verdict
Mewtwo is the recognition buy: its price is carried by the character, which is exactly what makes it easy to own and easy to sell.
People Also Ask
Is my 1st Edition Mewtwo real or fake?
The 1999 Base Set holos are the most counterfeited cards 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 (a genuine card is essentially opaque — a faint dark core line between the layers; cheap fakes glow through), the stamp rule (a real 1st Edition stamp is crisp and sits under the ink, and counterfeiters add stamps to Unlimited cards — but a faint grey “ghost” stamp can be an authentic variant, so read it with the shadow and the 1995-99 copyright line, never alone), and the back (fakes perfect the front and neglect the Poké Ball, the blue tone and the repeated text). Above a few hundred dollars, a raw copy should get professional pre-authentication. The full fake-detection walkthrough covers all of it with the CGC forensic case study.
Should I grade this card?
Yes — and Mewtwo has an unusually strong mid-grade market. Its PSA 9 population is deep enough to be liquid, and grading realises the recognition premium the character carries. Grade it if the front is clean; PSA 9 is a comfortable target here. See Should You Grade Pokémon Cards? for the fee maths, and check a raw copy with the CardGrader scanner before sending it in.