A member is picking their first card for a Charizard collection and narrowed it to two eBay listings: a MEGA GRADED 10 CHARIZARD MYSTERY listing and a Japanese Mega Charizard X ex 223 PSA 10 Gem Mint. Which is the better starting card? Let's cover alternatives, price ranges, graded vs. raw, and what the card actually is. Prices move daily, so we'll say when we checked.
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First Charizard for a new collection: mystery graded slab or a PSA 10 Mega Charizard X ex 223?# card-shop · 10 replies
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First Charizard for a new collection: mystery graded slab or a PSA 10 Mega Charizard X ex 223?
Mystery box energy is fun, but I'm picking the one where you KNOW what you get. Mega Charizard X is the coolest Mega ever. Black body, blue flames!
Ooh, but a mystery is so exciting though! You could get anything, right?
Anything usually means the cheapest Charizard the seller has. A title shouting MEGA, ULTRA RARE and FAST SHIPPING tells you nothing about the card. Read the description, not the title.
Facts on the second listing. 223/193 is from MEGA Dream ex (M2a), a Japanese high class pack released November 28, 2025. Its rarity is MA, Mega Attack Rare, a new secret tier in that set, and the art is by Saboteri. Ten Pokémon got MA cards, and Charizard X is one of them.
Bright side for mystery fans: you can check before you buy! Look for which grading company is named (PSA, BGS, CGC or an off-brand slab), whether the photos show the actual slab you'll get, the seller's feedback, and the return policy. If the listing doesn't say, message the seller and ask.
Know exactly what you're buying. That's the whole strategy.
Price check, as of October 26. PriceCharting shows the 223 at about $66 in PSA 10, about $38 in PSA 9 and about $31 raw. PokeInvest's medians are close: $71 PSA 10 and $29 raw. These are ranges, not promises.
Wait, so a PSA 10 is only about double a raw one? I thought 10s were super rare!
Not for this card. PokeInvest lists a PSA 10 population of about 80,000, and roughly 91% of the copies graded came back as 10s. Modern Japanese cards are printed and cut very cleanly, so a 10 here is normal, not special.
80 THOUSAND? That's not a rare card, that's a stadium!
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