believe it or not , I pulled this blastoise myself. I bought three base set long crimp booster packs on eBay in 2011 when I was in high school for 15.50 a piece. my mom was so mad at me because I literally had like 200 dollars to my name lol. anyways, I ripped two of the packs (sold one years ago) and pulled nothing in the first and this blastoise in the second. from there, I put it in a penny sleeve and an old top loader that had a football card in it lol. fast forward to 2025, I find it again in a box in my childhood bedroom with all my old cards and say let’s grade it.
you can imagine my shock when it gemmed. Psa offered me 3300 for it which I turned down, thankfully I’m at the point in my career where I dont need the money so I feel blessed I can hang onto it as an heirloom for my future heirs lol…
honestly, I’ll never sell this card. the story and the provenance of it just mean too much to me lol. sometimes it’s just dumb luck to acquire grails like this. all in all it cost me around $200 total to own this blastoise, and $190 of that was grading fees and insurance lol.
brings me back to when pokemon was a dirt cheap hobby. ahhhh how I miss it.
by bajablastarceus