1997 Pokémon Card Values & Price Guide
Every 1997 card in this guide is Japanese, because the English game did not launch until January 1999. That year Japan received the three expansions English players later knew as Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket.
Identify and check your exact copy
81indexed card records
$1.19–$7,000recorded grade range
Guide coverage
Latest source update Oct 25, 2026What this guide includes
This guide currently covers 81 indexed card records across 3 sets and the 1997 release year. The displayed estimate range is $1.19–$7,000. It reflects records available in TCG Value Scanner, not a complete manufacturer checklist.
Lowest indexed raw or primary estimateThe Boss's Way$1.19
Highest indexed raw or primary estimateDark Charizard$125
Values are directional estimates rather than guaranteed sale prices. Read how estimates and scan ranges are produced.
From the app
Latest scan Oct 25, 2026What collectors scan
Cards in this guide have been scanned 542 times in TCG Value Scanner. The printings scanned most:
- Hitmonlee #106 1997 Pokemon Japanese Mystery of the Fossils 29 scans · 5%
- Abra #63 1997 Pokemon Japanese Rocket Gang 28 scans · 5%
- Raichu #26 1997 Pokemon Japanese Mystery of the Fossils 19 scans · 4%
Scans by set
- 1997 Pokemon Japanese Mystery of the Fossils38%
- 1997 Pokemon Japanese Rocket Gang35%
- 1997 Pokemon Japanese Jungle27%
Indexed estimates
Browse card values on this page
Three Japanese expansions
- Pokémon Jungle (March 5, 1997) added the second wave of Generation I Pokémon, Snorlax and Clefable among them.
- Mystery of the Fossils (June 21, 1997), the third expansion, was built around Fossil Pokémon such as Kabutops and also includes the legendary bird Articuno.
- Rocket Gang (November 21, 1997), the fourth, introduced Dark Pokémon: Team Rocket's versions of familiar Pokémon, such as Dark Charizard, Dark Blastoise and Dark Dragonite.
Reading a Japanese card from 1997
Japanese cards from this period work differently from the English printings most collectors know:
- The number is a Pokédex number, not a set number. These cards carry no collector number such as 4/102. The "No." on the card is the Pokémon's national Pokédex number, which is why Mew is listed here as #151 and Snorlax as #143.
- The expansion is identified by its symbol beside the artwork, not by a number.
- There is no 1st Edition stamp to look for. The 1st Edition and Shadowless distinctions that decide so much of the value of English Base Set, Jungle and Fossil cards do not apply to these Japanese printings.
- The back is different. Japanese cards have their own back design, so a Japanese card is never a misprinted English one.
What drives value here
Dark Pokémon from Rocket Gang lead our 1997 values, with Dark Charizard ahead of the rest; Mew, Kabutops and Snorlax follow. These cards are close to thirty years old and were made to be played with, so clean copies are far scarcer than worn ones, and condition separates two copies of the same card more than anything else.
Scans tell a different story from values. The 1997 printings scanned most in TCG Value Scanner are everyday Pokémon such as Hitmonlee, Abra and Lapras, not the Dark Pokémon at the top of the price list.
The English versions
The English editions came later and are valued separately: see the Team Rocket set and the 1999 and 2000 guides. Japan's very first cards are in the 1996 Japanese Base Set; the Rocket Gang set page and the Charizard guide compare Dark Charizard with every other Charizard we track. In 1998, Japan's vending-machine series began.
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