Legendary Collection

What Legendary Collection is

Legendary Collection is the only expansion of the Legendary Collection Series, released on May 24, 2002 under the set code LC. It has 110 cards, all of them reprints drawn from Base Set, Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket, with 19 holofoil rares, 19 non holofoil rares, 36 uncommons and 36 commons. It has no Japanese equivalent; the set was assembled for the Western market between the Neo Series and the e-Card Series.

The set introduced Reverse Holofoil prints to the game, cards that carry holofoil across the whole card except the artwork window, and the Legendary Collection version uses a fireworks pattern that appears in no later set. Every card in the set exists in a Reverse Holofoil version, which means commons such as Pikachu, Abra, Eevee and Dratini have holofoil prints for the first time, and those Reverse Holofoils are the cards the set is now known for. Legendary Collection also introduced box toppers, jumbo sized versions of cards from the set packed on top of the booster packs inside each box.

Ken Sugimori and Mitsuhiro Arita illustrated most of the set between them, with Kagemaru Himeno and Keiji Kinebuchi covering most of the rest, so the art is the original Wizards of the Coast era art collectors grew up with, on new stock with a new set symbol.

What makes Legendary Collection different

• The first Reverse Holofoils Legendary Collection introduced Reverse Holofoil cards, holofoil everywhere except the artwork window, and its fireworks pattern is unique to this set. Every one of the 110 cards has a Reverse Holofoil version pulled at random from packs.
• Commons that became chase cards Because every card has a Reverse Holofoil, commons such as Pikachu 86, Abra 67, Eevee 74 and Dratini 72 have holofoil prints that trade far above the regular cards, with the Reverse Holo Pikachu at the very top of the set.
• The best of four sets The set gathers Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur from Base Set, the Jungle and Fossil holofoils and the Dark Pokémon of Team Rocket into one checklist, so Dark Blastoise, Dark Raichu, Gengar, Snorlax and Gyarados sit alongside the Kanto starters.
• The first box toppers Jumbo sized cards packed on top of the boosters in each box began here, and the Charizard box topper S1 remains one of the set's most valuable items.
• No Japanese release Legendary Collection was made for the Western market and has no Japanese main expansion behind it, one of the few sets of its period with no counterpart.

How Legendary Collection arrived

Legendary Collection released on May 24, 2002, three months after Neo Destiny on February 28, 2002 closed the Neo Series and four months before Expedition Base Set on September 15, 2002 opened the e-Card Series. It sat between the two as a series of its own, the only expansion in the Legendary Collection Series.

Wizards of the Coast promoted it as the return of the all time favorite Pokémon from the Red and Blue Game Boy games, with foil versions of every card as the hook. The Lava and Turmoil Theme Decks released alongside it, Lava built on Fighting and Fire with a non holofoil Charizard and Turmoil on Lightning and Water with non holofoil Dark Blastoise and Dark Raichu, all three deck exclusive prints.

The Reverse Holofoil idea it introduced has been part of every main expansion since, even though the fireworks pattern itself was never used again.

Legendary Collection products

Legendary Collection was sold in booster packs, booster boxes with jumbo box toppers, blisters and two Theme Decks. The sealed table above tracks each product.

Collecting and grading Legendary Collection

The Reverse Holofoils dominate the market. The Reverse Holo Pikachu 86 leads the set, with the Reverse Holo Gengar 11, Charizard 3 and Mewtwo 29 behind it, then the Reverse Holo Snorlax 64, Gyarados 12, Abra 67, Dark Blastoise 4 and Eevee 74, and the regular holofoil Gengar 11 is the strongest non reverse card. The Charizard box topper S1 trades alongside them. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

The fireworks pattern holofoil scratches easily and the 2002 print run shows edge wear and print lines, so PSA 10 Reverse Holofoils are scarce and carry a very wide premium over PSA 9, the widest on Pikachu, Gengar and Charizard. Regular holofoils grade more easily and cost far less, and a complete 110 card regular set is an achievable goal.

Sealed Legendary Collection is among the most expensive Wizards of the Coast era product, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes, packs, blisters and Theme Decks trade for today.