{
  "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/ash-original-team-vs-stocks-gold",
  "slug": "ash-original-team-vs-stocks-gold",
  "title": "Ash's Original Team as an Investment Portfolio",
  "summary": "Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard, if you'd bought the Kanto starters' 1999 cards in PSA 10 when nobody wanted them, how would the team have stacked up against the S&P 500 and gold?",
  "section": "Investment Research",
  "published": "2026-07-27",
  "readMinutes": 8,
  "publisher": "moonstone",
  "findings": [
    {
      "value": "$15,502",
      "measures": "the team in PSA 10",
      "basis": "sum of six median gems · five at July 27, 2026, Butterfree at September 22"
    },
    {
      "value": "~10–20%/yr",
      "measures": "flagship CAGR since the mid-2010s",
      "basis": "PSA 10 Base Charizard, documented range"
    },
    {
      "value": "~13%/yr",
      "measures": "S&P 500 total return, same decade",
      "basis": "approximate, dividends reinvested"
    },
    {
      "value": "~11%/yr",
      "measures": "gold, same decade",
      "basis": "approximate"
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "title": "Ash's team, PSA 10 medians (July 27, 2026; Butterfree September 22, 2026)",
      "columns": [
        "Team member",
        "Card",
        "PSA 10",
        "Sales n",
        "PSA 9"
      ],
      "rows": [
        {
          "Team member": "Charizard",
          "Card": "[Base Set 4/102](/card/base1-4)",
          "PSA 10": "$12,863",
          "Sales n": "15",
          "PSA 9": "excluded, comp-mixed"
        },
        {
          "Team member": "Butterfree",
          "Card": "[Jungle 33/64](/card/base2-33)",
          "PSA 10": "$442",
          "Sales n": "23",
          "PSA 9": "$65.88"
        },
        {
          "Team member": "Pikachu",
          "Card": "[Base Set 58/102](/card/base1-58)",
          "PSA 10": "$999",
          "Sales n": "10",
          "PSA 9": "$83"
        },
        {
          "Team member": "Squirtle",
          "Card": "[Base Set 63/102](/card/base1-63)",
          "PSA 10": "$570",
          "Sales n": "3 (thin)",
          "PSA 9": "$105"
        },
        {
          "Team member": "Pidgeotto",
          "Card": "[Base Set 22/102](/card/base1-22)",
          "PSA 10": "$325",
          "Sales n": "2 (thin)",
          "PSA 9": "$43"
        },
        {
          "Team member": "Bulbasaur",
          "Card": "[Base Set 44/102](/card/base1-44)",
          "PSA 10": "$303",
          "Sales n": "2 (thin)",
          "PSA 9": "$120"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Approximate annualized returns, mid-2010s → 2026",
      "unit": "%/yr",
      "note": "Charizard range reflects the documented $2,000–$5,000 mid-2010s entry; benchmarks approximate",
      "points": [
        {
          "label": "PSA 10 Charizard (bottom of range)",
          "value": 20,
          "basis": null
        },
        {
          "label": "S&P 500 (total return)",
          "value": 13,
          "basis": null
        },
        {
          "label": "Gold",
          "value": 11,
          "basis": null
        },
        {
          "label": "PSA 10 Charizard (top of range)",
          "value": 10,
          "basis": null
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sections": [
    "Six childhood memories, priced as assets",
    "Charizard vs. the S&P vs. gold"
  ],
  "method": [
    "PSA 10/9 figures are median recorded eBay sale prices from moonstone graded market data, with sample sizes shown. The five Base Set members are the medians we held on July 27, 2026: Squirtle (n=3), Pidgeotto and Bulbasaur (n=2) are thin samples and should be read as indicative, and Charizard's PSA 9 median is excluded as comp-mixed (shadowless/1st Edition listings polluting the unlimited window). CORRECTION, 2026-09-22: the Butterfree row originally pointed at /card/base2-12, which is Jungle VAPOREON, and carried a $20,150 PSA 10 median that no reading in our graded record supports for either card. Ash's Butterfree is Jungle 33/64 (/card/base2-33), an uncommon, and its recorded medians are $442 in PSA 10 on 23 sales and $65.88 in PSA 9 on 47, read on September 22, 2026; our graded snapshot tape does not reach back to July 2026 for this card, so that row alone carries a September date. The mid-2010s Charizard entry range ($2,000–$5,000) reflects widely reported contemporaneous auction results, not our own records, and is presented as a range for that reason. Benchmark returns (S&P 500 total return ≈13%/yr, gold ≈11%/yr for the ten years ending mid-2026) are rounded public figures from general market reporting, not a series we hold; they are approximate by construction and are not a like-for-like window against any card series we publish. 'The team' uses each member's 1999-print Base Set/Jungle card in unlimited printing. Nothing here is financial advice: Pidgeotto never forgave Ash either."
  ],
  "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file."
}