Obsidian Flames Chase Cards: Is the $101 Charizard ex Worth Grading?

Obsidian Flames Chase Cards: Is the $101 Charizard ex Worth Grading?

Obsidian Flames (SV03) released on August 11, 2023 with 230 cards, 197 in the main set and 33 secret rares. Three years later one card still carries it: the Charizard ex 223/197 Special Illustration Rare sells for $101.08 raw in our catalog as of October 3, 2026. The next card down is $36.02. This guide prices the chase list and says which ones justify a grading fee.

Obsidian Flames Raw Prices on October 3, 2026

One card in this set clears $100, two more sit in the mid $30s, and nothing below the top six reaches $20. Prices are TCGplayer market prices from the ZeroPop catalog, pulled October 3, 2026. For scale, Limitless TCG listed the whole 230 card set at a combined $440.37 when we checked it the same day.

Card	Rarity	Raw market	Grading call
Charizard ex 223/197	Special Illustration Rare	$101.08	Grade a centered copy
Cleffa 202/197	Illustration Rare	$36.02	Marginal
Ninetales 199/197	Illustration Rare	$34.17	Marginal
Charizard ex 228/197	Hyper Rare (gold)	$33.43	Skip
Charizard ex 215/197	Ultra Rare	$22.38	Skip
Gloom 198/197	Illustration Rare	$19.65	Skip

We did not pull PSA 10 sale prices for this post, so the grading column weighs the raw price against the fee, not a quoted graded comp. Current fees are in our PSA grading cost breakdown.

Charizard ex 223/197: The Only Card That Pays Its Own Way

At $101.08 raw, the Special Illustration Rare Charizard ex is the one card here where a submission fee is a modest slice of the card's value. It is a Stage 2 Tera Pokemon with 330 HP, the Infernal Reign ability and the Burning Darkness attack at 180+, per the card itself.

The scan above is our top community copy, and it shows why this card is a gamble even when it works out. The textured holo covers the whole face, so glare from a phone flash can hide or fake surface lines. Look at the bottom corners and the left edge first. The full-bleed art leaves almost no border to absorb a miscut, which means centering is decided at the printing plant, not in your hands.

Our rule: scan the front and back before you pay anyone. If centering reads 55/45 or better and the corners are clean, submit. If not, sell it raw at $101.

The Two Illustration Rares Worth a Second Look

Cleffa 202/197 at $36.02 and Ninetales 199/197 at $34.17 are the only non-Charizard cards above $30, and both are close calls. Neither pays unless the grade lands at the top.

Cleffa is the better of the two. The shooting star art is dark and glossy, and the four top community scans we pulled for it all read 9.5, so a 10 is plausible rather than lucky. At $36.02 raw, a submission fee takes a big bite, so this is a card to grade only inside a bulk batch where you are already paying for the shipping.

Ninetales has the opposite problem. The pale, warm art shows every scuff, and the best Ninetales in our feed that we could use was a slab screenshot, not a raw scan we could verify. Raw copies at $34.17 are not worth chasing for grading.

Skip the Hyper Rare and the Ultra Rare Charizards

The gold Charizard ex 228/197 at $33.43 and the Ultra Rare 215/197 at $22.38 both look expensive in the binder and both lose money in grading. Gold foil is prone to surface lines and edge nicks, and a $33 card cannot absorb a fee plus one grade miss.

The oddity is that the Hyper Rare costs about a third of the Special Illustration Rare. Collectors in this set pay for the art, not the shine. If you pulled a gold one, enjoy it and keep it raw.

Everything Else Is Bulk

The standard Charizard ex 125/197 is $5.39. Dragonite ex 159/197 is $3.07. Past the top six, the next cards in our catalog are Scizor 205/197 at $14.22, Pidgeotto 208/197 at $12.23, Houndour 204/197 at $10.87 and Bellibolt 201/197 at $6.00. None of them clear a grading fee in any scenario. If you are sorting a binder, pull the top six and sell the rest in a lot.

What to Do With a Three Year Old Set

Do not buy Obsidian Flames boxes hoping for a Charizard. A single card holds the set up, and nothing else in the top six reaches $40. A box would need to hit that Charizard to look good. The smart plays are buying a single copy or grading one you already own.

Compare with newer chase sets such as Temporal Forces and Surging Sparks, where the top cards run higher. For general triage, start with which Pokemon cards are worth grading.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Obsidian Flames come out?

Obsidian Flames released on August 11, 2023, according to Serebii and Limitless TCG. It is set SV03 in the Scarlet & Violet era.

How many cards are in Obsidian Flames?

230 cards: 197 in the numbered set and 33 secret rares. Our catalog lists more rows than that, because it keeps several printings and variant labels of the same number.

What is the most valuable Obsidian Flames card?

The Special Illustration Rare Charizard ex 223/197 at $101.08 raw on October 3, 2026. The Hyper Rare gold version is $33.43 on the same date.

Should I grade the Obsidian Flames Charizard ex?

Only if it centers well. At about $101 raw it is the one card in the set where the fee is a small slice of the value, but a miscut from the factory cannot be fixed. Scan it first.

Is Cleffa 202/197 worth grading?

At $36.02 raw, only in a batch. We have seen community copies reach 9.5, but a single-card submission loses most of its margin to the fee.

Are Obsidian Flames booster boxes worth opening?

For the Charizard alone, no. Only one card tops $100 and the next is $36.02, so the box value rests on one pull.