CGC-certified Pokémon Growlithe with Magic Back Realizes Over $25,000 in Heritage Sale

Authenticated by CGC Trading Cards, the only known Pokémon Growlithe card with a Magic: The Gathering back realized $26,400 at a sale earlier this month. Graded CGC 8.0, the Pokémon Growlithe 28/102 from the German Unlimited Base Set was offered in a Heritage Auctions sale on April 5, 2021.

Pokémon Growlithe from the 1999 German Unlimited Base Set with a Magic: The Gathering back that realized $26,400. Click images to enlarge

The error occurred at a time when Wizards of the Coast was using the same printing facility to produce trading cards for both Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. Most of these error cards were destroyed, but 10 examples are known to have survived. The other nine include four Nidoran cards, two Tangela cards, two Weedle cards and one Arcanine card, according to Heritage Auctions.

CGC’s experts used forensic technology and advanced equipment, including a series of light tests and the examination of ink patterns, to determine the authenticity of the card.

Through its state-of-the-art authentication and grading process, CGC’s experts have discovered new card varieties and certified rarities once wrongly believed to be fake, including a prototype Blastoise that realized $360,000 in January 2021.

Related Links:

• CGC Trading Cards Certifies a Pokémon Growlithe with a Magic Back
• After certification by CGC Trading Cards, Pokémon Test Print Blastoise Blasts to $360,000 at Auction