Pokemon trading cards and TCG have been around for decades, first as a game and a simple trading game, but now, it’s much more serious than that. Various TCG players are trading their cards in hopes to find a rarer and more valuable one, while others have gone even further in taking this game seriously and are buying and selling Pokemon cards at insane prices.
Turtwig is a Pokemon that debuted later compared to the first-generation Pokemon we could see in the Base Set and other early sets, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any value. Many collectors find it to be quite valuable, and for those looking to complete a set of unique Pokemon cards, it may be a bit easier with Turtwig as there are not as many cards as one would expect.
Finding Pokemon cards in absolutely mint state can be quite tiring and difficult, but if you’re dedicated to becoming a collector, you’ll be able to get above those struggles and collect as many cards as possible. Although Turtwig may not be the best place to start, it’s still a fun challenge that many collectors look forward to completing.
That being said, if you’re looking to complete your Turtwig collection, or you discovered your old Turtwig card in the attic that took you back to childhood, you must be wondering what’s the price.
While Turtwig may not be able to pay your student or car loan, it will still give you some decent money and give a smile to the face of a collector who managed to collect it after months of searching, cause after all Turtwig may look cute and all, but it can give you quite some troubles, and it applies for collecting it too.
With that in mind, without further ado, continue reading this article that dives into the set of cards where Turtwig appears and explores different value ranges for different collections. Finally, you’ll be able to look for the Turtwig cards deemed to be the rarest and most valuable.
Quick Summary: Turtwig cards may not have the value of First Generation Pokemon that shipped in the booster packs of the Base Set First Edition collection, but they can have great value if you took care of the card. There are some cool-looking promo cards that not many people have. That being said, you may find a Turtwig card for $3 to $5 but also up to $1,500, it just depends on what you’re looking for.
About Turtwig Pokemon Card
There may not be much information about the Turtwig Pokemon card online, luckily, we’ll introduce you to the history of its debut below and give you more information about the Pokemon in general.
About the Pokemon, Turtwig is a grass-type Pokemon, which can easily be seen based on its appearance on the card, it is also a 4th generation Pokemon, which is why it makes sense that it was introduced later compared to other Pokemon that we had a chance to evaluate. Nevertheless, that doesn’t make it any less special, but there are fewer ultra-valuable cards that you may come across.
Turtwig has first been introduced in the Diamond & Pearl expansion and set, and has appeared across different sets in the collection. Ever since it debuted, it has been a grass-type Pokemon with basic features in the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Ever since then, it was featured on 12 different cards.
The entire IV generations of Pokemon featured within the Diamond & Pearl collection, which adds up to the first main expansion that follows the Diamond & Pearl series. When it first debuted on November 30, 2006, it was supposed to be released as separate Diamond Collection and Pearl Collections, when combined were called the Space-Time Creation.
When the expansion was released in the United States on May 23, 2007, it was released as one collection rather than two. Another thing that is important to note is that this collection featured a new card design with different changes that surprised many collectors.
There were changes in front and font size, so the word “HP” appeared smaller and was moved to be displayed before the amount. Other information about the Pokemon as well as location changes were made.
Turtwig then appeared in other collections as well, such as the DP Black Star Promos which featured promotional cards which extended upon the Diamond & Pearl series, making some quite valuable Turtwig cards. Turtwig continued appearing on different sets of cards.
However, one recent collection worth mentioning is definitely the McDonald’s Collection 2021. This set of cards is very limited which makes it an attractive choice for collectors who’d like to collect Turtwig, as well as other Pokemon which made an appearance in the collection.
It appeared in different participating McDonald’s restaurants in order to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Pokemon. The promo began in February 2021 in the United States. The project has since expanded to other countries like Germany, France, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, and other countries later.
This is also a collection where Turtwig appeared, so if you have that card on yourself, it’s worth mentioning that you may be able to sell it for a good price. Other collections featuring Turtwig were also circulating throughout the years, but they’ll be mentioned later.
Is Turtwig Pokemon Card Worth Anything?
If you recently found an old card of Turtwig, or want to sell an existing collection of Turtwig cards, you must be worried about how much they’ll sell for, and if for anything. After all, it’s a Generation IV Pokemon, which means that it’s more abundant on the market, as cards released in recent years.
When it comes to IV-generation Pokemon cards, the most common ones appeared in the sets known as Sky Ridge, Neo-Genesis, and Aquapolis, which means that those cards, including Turtwig, could be quite prominent in the market.
More importantly, when looking at the global Pokemon market, the most valuable cards are those that featured in the Base Set back in 1999, which makes many Turtwig owners give up and decide not to sell cards at all.
Although there are more valuable rare promos and trophy cards, some Turtwig cards are still quite valuable. If you take a look at different forums such as Reddit, you’ll see that there are people who are looking to sell, as well as buy Turtwig cards, which just means that the demand is growing and will continue to do so as the years pass.
Of course, you can always collect your Turtwig cards that you have now, and obtain them at a lower price, but Pokemon kingdom continues to grow, new animated series are coming, and with that new games and card sets are guaranteed to debut too. That being said, in ten years, 4th generation Pokemon cards such as Turtwig can be almost as valuable as Generation I cards.
Pokemon TCG is guaranteed to continue growing, with more cards gaining value, so it’s important to continue being patient and observe the market for whatever changes are going to occur. Some cards may indeed be available for as little as a few dollars, but some cards will be valuable for hundreds of dollars, if not thousands.
Turtwig Pokemon Card Value
Above we established the basic information about Turtwig, as well as the information about all the collections it was featured in from the debuting collection to the last. Now, it’s time to explore its value and how it changes.
Just like every Pokemon card, Turtwig can be found for as little as $5 on the market, but its value changes depending on the set, collection, and edition it was in, and other different aspects of that card. One of such aspect is the condition of the card and whether it was graded professionally.
Many things can affect the condition of the card, like whether you dropped a cup of coffee or juice on your card, whether the hologram features and drawing have faded, what the surface of the card looks like, and much more. They’ll even look at the edges, so there should be minimal signs of tear and scratching on the surface and edges for a card to receive a good grade.
The cards with the lowest grade will have the lowest value, while cards in mint and near-mint conditions will have the highest value on the market. Whether the card is older or rarer also plays a part in how high is the value of the card.
For example, this promotional Japanese Turtwig Fan Club card was sold for more than $250 and has been graded with an excellent grade. Some collectors will also value it if the card is in Japanese, rather than in English or other translations. This Diamond and Pearl card is also quite valuable but it’s not in full mint state, but rather 9.
It’s worth mentioning that Turtwig error cards are also quite valuable on the market, collectors will always look for something that makes cards look better than others, or different. Errors occur in printing and aligning the drawing and other features of the card.
Such cards are unique and not prominent in numbers so collectors compete who’ll have the rarest card. This error card may not be as valuable as error cards of some older Pokemon, but hologram bleed is considered an error in manufacturing.
Rarest & Most Valuable Turtwig Pokemon Cards
Below are the 3 most valuable Turtwig Pokemon cards, if you have any of these cards, you may be able to sell them and get some money. If you are looking to buy Turtwig cards, these are good ones to start.
Turtwig Diamond & Pearl
Sold for: $1,500
Considering that this is the earliest card of Turtwig when it launched with the Diamond & Pearl collection in 2007, it is also the most valuable. Keep in mind that not all of these cards will be considered significantly valuable, but only those that are in near-mint or mint condition.
Nevertheless, even though this card is graded with ex-mint grade 6, it is still considered valuable. In addition to that, this is the COSMOS card sold in New York, which just adds up to its value, and made it as valuable as it is. Imagine how much would the mint state card cost.
Turtwig Japanese Promo Beginner’s Classroom
Sold for: $800
It’s no secret that the original Japanese cards, especially the fan club cards are extremely valuable. This Turtwig card is no exception. This particular sale comes with Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup trio. This trio was sold for $800 on eBay 3 months ago.
These three Japanese cards are extremely rare and were featured in 2007 as Beginner’s classroom promo. All three cards were graded with a mint 10 grade, which just adds up to their value. Even if you’re looking for just Turtwig, it’s good to have all of them together. Even if you opt to look for it, you’ll see that these cards are quite valuable on auction sites like eBay.
2021 Pokemon Turtwig Holo #4 McDonald’s 25th Anniversary Promo
Sold for: $490
As mentioned earlier in the article, Pokemon Turtwig appeared at McDonald’s 25th Anniversary Promo event for Pokemon in February 2021, featuring numerous cards alongside Turtwig. This particular card has an excellent grade and it is also featured with holo which just adds up to the great value that this card has.
These cards are pretty abundant, but people are likely saving them up for the future when their value rises some more due to exclusion and age. Nevertheless, if you want to buy these cards and sell them in the future when the value changes, you should definitely do that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Turtwig Pokemon cards may not be as popular as other Pokemon cards like the First Generation ones. Nevertheless, they still have decent value. If you’d like to learn more about collecting these cards, check out this FAQ section and see if there are any questions that you needed answered.
When Did the First Turtwig Pokemon Card Debut?
Turtwig first appeared in the Diamond & Pearl collection pack which saw the release of the first Generation IV Pokemon. It continued appearing in further collections and now there are a total of 12 cards of Turtwig.
How to Grade Turtwig Pokemon Cards?
Just like with every Pokemon card you suspect is valuable, you should take your card to the nearest grading company, although we recommend PSA and CGC as the most reliable ones. They will professionally evaluate and grade your card.
However, the true value of your card lies in the fact whether the card comes from a regular expansion pack or a promo pack like some of the cards we mentioned. There are only 12 Turtwig cards so far, so it’s not a part of some prominent collections such as Base Set that featured Generation I.
The hologram finish on the card can also be a deciding factor for your card, as well as the frames and the overall condition. Some Turtwig cards will sell for decent value even if they’re not in mint condition. Still, that value will be lower than what it could’ve been if the card was in mint condition.
Are There Turtwig Error Cards?
Like every card, Turtwig has occasional printing errors which manifest in the alignment of the text and drawing and some printing errors. Some of the most prominent Turtwig errors include the Brilliant Star Turtwig error where there’s a miscut.
Another popular Turtwig error is in McDonald’s 25th Anniversary card where multiple cards with hologram bleeding errors are spotted. Some of the error cards can have a very high value.
Where Can You Buy Turtwig Pokemon Card?
There are many places where you can buy Turtwig cards but not all of those places are reliable enough. A good place to start researching the prices and value overall is pokemonprices.com. However, if you want to be a part of an auction or a serious marketplace, you can try with Amazon and eBay.
Amazon is a widespread marketplaces, so you won’t only find Turtwig cards, but also cards of other Pokemon, collections, and much more. If you want to research different value range and shop for error cards, you should consider eBay.
