This guide covers what PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025 actually is, how it fits inside the 25th anniversary promo pack’s distribution, where it sits next to its two starter-trio siblings, and what it costs today.
PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025 (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) reprints the 1996 Base Set holo Blastoise (illustrated by Ken Sugimori) inside Japan’s S8a-P promo pack — a card never sold in its own booster, only obtained via a buy-four-packs bonus, the Golden Box, the Special Set, or a Pokémon Center Online lottery bonus. It’s currently listed at ¥29,150 (~$183), sitting between Venusaur 002/025 and Charizard 001/025 in the promo set’s opening numbering.
Prices are current store listings as of August 2026, converted at ¥159/USD.
The PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025 Promo Card
The official Japanese checklist entry for this card reads simply “カメックス（1996）” — Blastoise (1996) — a label that ties the card directly to its original print year rather than to the 2021 promo release. That’s the point of the whole S8a-P subset: every card in it is a reprint of something older, stamped with a red-and-gold “25th” graphic and a Confetti Holofoil background to mark the anniversary rather than to introduce anything new.
Numbered 003/025 within the promo pack, this Blastoise sits in a PSA 10 slab currently listed at ¥29,150 (~$183) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), with five copies listed.
From Base Set 2/102 to Promo Pack 003/025
The card this promo reprints is the original Blastoise 2/102 Rare Holo from Japan’s very first “拡張パック” (Expansion Pack) — the set the wider hobby calls “Base Set” — released October 20, 1996. It was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, Pokémon’s original character designer, which sets it apart from its two starter-trio partners: Bulbapedia credits both the 001/025 Charizard and the 002/025 Venusaur reprints to Mitsuhiro Arita instead.
Bulbapedia’s cross-reference for the card links the two prints directly — Celebrations “Rare Classic” 2/102 on the English side to Promo Card Pack 25th Anniversary Edition 003/025 on the Japanese side — confirming this is the same artwork and card data carried forward 25 years, not a new illustration.
Per Bulbapedia, cards in the S8a-P subset “retain the original numbering, rarity, and copyright information of their original print.” In practice that means the Base Set-era card text and Rare Holo rarity stay intact; only the “/025” promo index and the anniversary foil treatment are new.
Inside the S8a-P 25th Anniversary Promo Pack
The Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition (S8a-P) is a 25-card subset, numbered 001/025–025/025, released alongside the main S8a set on October 22, 2021 (Bulbapedia and Hobby Watch both cite this date; Limitless lists October 21, so treat the two as effectively the same launch window). Every card carries a Confetti Holofoil background and border with etching and the red-and-gold “25th” graphic, and per the official S8a-P page, none of them are usable in official tournaments.
Crucially, S8a-P was never sold as its own booster. The official campaign copy for the pack states it was given out for buying four packs of the main “25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION” expansion at participating stores — one bonus S8a-P pack per four S8a packs. Beyond that retail campaign, the same promo pack reached collectors through three other channels:
- Five packs bundled inside the ¥17,600 25th Anniversary Golden Box.
- One pack bundled inside the ¥1,188 25th Anniversary Collection Special Set (sold at convenience stores).
- Four bonus packs sent to winners of the Pokémon Center Online booster-box lottery.
Because each of those routes hands out a random assortment from the 25-card checklist, there was no way to specifically target 003/025 — Blastoise arrived (or didn’t) the same way every other card in the subset did.
Blastoise’s Place in the 001–003 Starter Trio
The first three cards in the S8a-P checklist reprint the three Base Set Rare Holo “final form” starters, in the same order they’d be recognised from any Base Set discussion: Charizard at 001/025, Venusaur at 002/025, and Blastoise closing the trio at 003/025. All three are Base Set 1996 Rare Holo reprints with the original card text and rarity preserved, and all three carry the same Confetti Holofoil 25th-anniversary treatment.
Pricing across the trio is not even, and it isn’t tied to artwork quality — it tracks each card’s Base Set-era demand. Charizard’s standalone guide covers that premium in detail; Venusaur and Blastoise trade much closer to each other, within about ¥4,000 of one another at current store prices.
Collectors who want all three Base Set starters as a themed set, rather than chasing three separate promo pulls, can also look at the currently listed Special Deck Set ex Venusaur & Charizard & Blastoise, currently listed at ¥33,000 (~$208). It’s a separate, modern product built around ex versions of the same three Pokémon — not the 25th promo singles — but it’s one available way to buy a starter-trio-themed product as one purchase.
The Golden Box and Special Set Context
Because Blastoise 003/025 only ever arrived as a random pull from S8a-P, it’s worth knowing what the two “packaged” routes into that promo pack actually contained.
The 25th Anniversary Golden Box launched at an MSRP of ¥17,600 and included an all-holo 60-card Pikachu-focused deck, a foil-stamped rubber playmat, deck shields, metal damage counters and markers, faux-leather cases, a coin — and five S8a-P promo packs. A sealed Golden Box is currently listed on the store at ¥288,400 (~$1,814), a large gap from its original MSRP that reflects how the sealed collector market for this box has moved since 2021–22, not any resale figure the store has ever charged.
The Special Set was the lighter-weight route: four packs of the main S8a expansion, one S8a-P promo pack, and one coin, originally sold at convenience stores for ¥1,188. It’s currently listed at ¥29,400 (~$185).
The main S8a booster box itself — 16 packs at an original ¥4,752 MSRP, five holo cards per pack including one basic Energy — is currently listed at ¥74,000 (~$465). Buying this box doesn’t guarantee an S8a-P promo pack on its own; the four-for-one bonus was a store-level retail campaign rather than something built into the box.
Current Prices at a Glance
All figures below are current store listings, not past sales:
| Card / Product | Current price | Stock |
|---|---|---|
| Charizard 001/025 PSA 10 | ¥111,494 (~$701) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) | 3 |
| Blastoise 003/025 PSA 10 | ¥29,150 (~$183) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) | 5 |
| Venusaur 002/025 PSA 10 | ¥25,168 (~$158) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order) | 6 |
| 25th Anniversary Golden Box (sealed) | ¥288,400 (~$1,814) | 18 |
| S8a Booster Box (sealed) | ¥74,000 (~$465) | 56 |
| Special Deck Set ex Venusaur/Charizard/Blastoise | ¥33,000 (~$208) | 36 |
Within the promo trio, Blastoise sits closer to Venusaur than to Charizard.
Where to Buy PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025
We ship graded Japanese singles and sealed Japanese product worldwide from Tokyo with tracked delivery. For this card specifically, PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025 is available as a single graded slab rather than something you’d chase inside a sealed box.
To browse other graded 25th-anniversary singles, see our PSA 10 collection. For sealed Japanese product across every set, our sealed booster box collection and wider Pokémon card collection cover the rest of the catalogue. For a mixed order across singles and sealed product, the Quick Order page is the fastest route.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PSA 10 Blastoise 003/025?
It’s a PSA-graded copy of Blastoise from Japan’s S8a-P “Promo Card Pack 25th ANNIVERSARY edition,” reprinting the original 1996 Base Set 2/102 Rare Holo Blastoise illustrated by Ken Sugimori, with a Confetti Holofoil finish and a red-and-gold “25th” graphic.
How do you get the S8a-P promo pack that contains Blastoise 003/025?
It was never sold on its own. Copies came from buying four packs of the main S8a expansion at participating stores, from the five promo packs bundled in the 25th Anniversary Golden Box, from the one promo pack in the Special Set, or as a bonus for Pokémon Center Online booster-box lottery winners.
Is Blastoise 003/025 legal for official tournaments?
No. The official S8a-P page states cards from this promo pack cannot be used in official tournaments.
How does Blastoise 003/025 compare in price to Charizard 001/025 and Venusaur 002/025?
Blastoise and Venusaur trade close to each other — currently ¥29,150 and ¥25,168 respectively — while Charizard runs well ahead of both at ¥111,494, reflecting the current listed prices of the three cards.
Who illustrated the original Blastoise this promo reprints?
Ken Sugimori illustrated the original Base Set 2/102 Rare Holo Blastoise, released in Japan’s Expansion Pack on October 20, 1996. That’s different from Charizard and Venusaur in the same promo pack, both credited to Mitsuhiro Arita.
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