The Wailord holo from EX Ruby & Sapphire is card #14/109, a Holo Rare from the 2003 set that opened Pokemon’s “EX” era, and recent pricing data puts a raw Near Mint copy at roughly $34 — the last recorded raw NM sale landed at $34.23. Lightly played copies on the open market sit lower, with active eBay listings for moderately played examples around $29.99, while graded copies climb from there depending on the grade. Before going further, one correction matters: this card is frequently searched as “9/109,” but there is no Wailord at 9/109 in this set.
The holo Wailord is #14/109. If you are pulling price comps or buying a copy, confirm the card number printed in the lower corner first, because searching the wrong number will surface either nothing or the wrong card entirely. As a concrete example of how the spread works, a collector who finds a clean raw copy listed at $29.99 is buying slightly below the last recorded NM sale of $34.23 — a fair deal if the card is genuinely Near Mint, but the “moderately played” label on many listings at that price means edge wear or surface scratches that keep it out of NM territory.
Table of Contents
- What Does Price Charting Show for the EX Ruby & Sapphire Wailord Holo?
- Identifying the Card — #14/109, Not 9/109
- Raw Versus Graded — Where the Wailord Holo Sits
- How to Check Current Prices for This Card
- Common Pitfalls When Pricing the Wailord Holo
- The Reverse Holo Variant and Dealer Buylists
- Card Specs That Affect Playability and Collectibility
What Does Price Charting Show for the EX Ruby & Sapphire Wailord Holo?
price tracking for this card centers on raw (ungraded) sales versus graded sales, and the two tell different stories. The most recent raw Near Mint sale on record is $34.23, which functions as the practical ceiling for an ungraded copy in collector-grade condition. Below that, played copies change hands closer to $29.99, and the gap between those two numbers is essentially the condition premium — what buyers will pay for sharp corners and a clean holofoil layer versus visible handling. It helps to compare where these figures come from. Sports Card Investor logs the $34.23 raw NM data point, while live eBay listings show the $29.99 played tier and graded copies priced higher.
A PSA 7, for instance, is listed above the raw range, which is typical: even a mid-grade slab carries an authentication and condition guarantee that a loose card cannot. The tradeoff is that the grading premium on a card valued in the low $30s rarely covers the cost of grading itself. One limitation to keep in mind is that these are snapshots, not fixed values. Prices for a 2003 holo with modest demand move with whatever copies happen to be listed in a given week. A single high-grade sale can pull the average up briefly, and a glut of played copies can drag the floor down, so any single number should be read as “recent” rather than “the price.”.
Identifying the Card — #14/109, Not 9/109
Correct identification is the foundation of correct pricing, and the Wailord holo is unambiguous once you know the details. It is card #14/109, a Stage 1 Water-type with 120 HP and a steep retreat cost of 4. It was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, printed in 2003 by Wizards of the Coast, and belongs to EX Ruby & Sapphire — the first set of the EX era. The card number sits in the bottom corner as “14/109,” and that is the figure to match against any price guide. The warning here is direct: the “9/109” query that circulates does not correspond to a real Wailord in this set.
If you search that number, you risk either finding no match or, worse, comparing your card against an entirely different card’s price history and overpaying or underselling as a result. Always verify the printed number rather than trusting a remembered or mistyped one. A related trap is the Reverse Holo. A separate Reverse Holo variant of #14/109 also exists and is tracked and bought by dealers — Collector’s Cache, for example, carries it on their buylist. The standard holo and the reverse holo are different products with different scarcity, so a price comp for one does not transfer cleanly to the other. Check whether the card’s pattern is a standard holo window or a full-card reverse foil before settling on a value.
Raw Versus Graded — Where the Wailord Holo Sits
The clearest way to understand this card’s market is to separate the raw copies from the graded ones. Raw Near Mint tops out near the $34.23 last-sale figure, and played raw copies cluster around $29.99. Graded copies list higher, but the increase depends heavily on the assigned grade. A PSA 7 — a respectable but not pristine grade — appears above the raw band, while higher grades would command more and lower grades may sell for little above a raw played copy. Consider a specific scenario: you own a raw copy that looks Near Mint and you are deciding whether to grade it.
Grading fees plus shipping often run more than the entire raw value of this card. If the copy comes back a PSA 7, you may have spent more on grading than the grade adds. The math only starts to favor grading if you are confident in a PSA 9 or 10, and even then the relatively thin demand for a 2003 mid-tier holo means buyers are not always waiting at the higher price. That is the central tradeoff for the Wailord holo specifically. Unlike a Charizard from the same era, where a high grade can multiply value many times over, Wailord’s ceiling stays modest. Grading makes sense as a preservation or authentication step more than a profit strategy at these price levels.
How to Check Current Prices for This Card
Because the figures move, the practical approach is to pull from several live guides rather than trusting one number. The TCGplayer Ruby & Sapphire price guide tracks the set’s singles with current market pricing, PKMN Collectors lists the Wailord at its set position, and CardTrader carries the holo rare 14/109 with European seller pricing. Cross-referencing these gives you a range rather than a single point, which is more honest for a card with sporadic sales. When you check, weigh sold listings over asking prices. An active eBay listing at $29.99 tells you what a seller hopes to get; a completed sale tells you what a buyer actually paid.
The $34.23 raw NM figure is valuable precisely because it is a recorded sale, not an aspiration. The tradeoff between the two sources is speed versus accuracy — asking prices are abundant and instant, sold prices are fewer but real. A small comparison worth making: TCGplayer’s market price tends to reflect U.S. volume, while CardTrader’s pricing leans European and can diverge on shipping and availability. For a buyer, that means a card may look cheaper on one platform until import shipping and timing are added in. Always price the total landed cost, not just the sticker.
Common Pitfalls When Pricing the Wailord Holo
The most common mistake is condition optimism. Many sellers describe a card as Near Mint when corners, edges, or the holo surface show wear that knocks it into a lower tier. Because the difference between the $34.23 NM figure and the $29.99 played figure is only a few dollars on this particular card, an inflated condition claim does not cost much here — but the same habit applied to a more valuable card can cost a great deal, so it is worth training your eye on a low-stakes card like this one. Another pitfall is conflating variants, as noted earlier with the Reverse Holo. A second is assuming Wizards-era cards from 2003 are scarce simply because they are old.
EX Ruby & Sapphire was a widely opened set, and the standard Wailord holo is not rare in absolute terms, which is exactly why its price stays in the low $30s rather than climbing. Age alone does not create value; demand and surviving high-grade population do. Finally, be cautious with any single “book value.” There is no fixed price for this card, only the most recent sales and the current spread of listings. Treating a one-week snapshot as a permanent valuation is how buyers overpay and sellers underprice. The numbers cited here are recent reference points, not guarantees.
The Reverse Holo Variant and Dealer Buylists
The Reverse Holo version of Wailord #14/109 deserves its own attention because dealers actively track and buy it. Collector’s Cache lists it on their buylist, meaning a shop is willing to purchase the reverse holo as a distinct line item from the standard holo.
For a seller, a buylist offer is usually below open-market resale value — the dealer needs a margin — but it provides a guaranteed, immediate sale rather than waiting for a private buyer. As an example of why the distinction matters, a collector who lists a reverse holo using standard-holo comps may either scare off buyers with too high a price or leave money on the table if the reverse foil happens to be the harder version to find in clean condition. Treat the two as separate markets and price each against its own comps.
Card Specs That Affect Playability and Collectibility
For collectors who care about the card beyond its price, the Wailord holo’s stat line is part of its identity. With 120 HP it was one of the bulkier Stage 1 Pokemon of its time, but the retreat cost of 4 is punishing — moving it out of the active spot demands four energy, which made it awkward in actual play and is part of why it was valued more as a holo collectible than a competitive staple.
The Ken Sugimori illustration and the 2003 Wizards of the Coast printing tie it to the very start of the EX era, the transition point after Wizards’ original run. A concrete detail that anchors authenticity: a genuine copy will show “14/109” as its set number, the Water energy typing, and the EX Ruby & Sapphire set symbol. Buyers verifying a listing can match those three elements — number, type, and symbol — against the specs here to confirm they are looking at the real card before agreeing on any of the prices discussed above.
