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Browse every tracked card in Expedition Base Set with live prices, 24h moves, and collector details. Use Hits and Chase when you want a focused view of the set.
Release date, card count, chase cards and how it compares with the WOTC era.
Expedition Base Set is a 165-card expansion from the WOTC era, opening the E-Card series when it released on September 15, 2002 under the set code EX. Its headline cards are Dragonite, Charizard, Gengar and Mew, all Holo Rares, and Blastoise, Charizard, Feraligatr, Meganium and Typhlosion each appear in three printings. The set leans on Water, Grass, Fire and Colorless Pokémon, which fits its mix of classic starters and Johto starters. The card list runs from commons and uncommons through rares up to a Holo Rare tier of 32 cards.
The pull ladder in Expedition Base Set runs from 55 commons, 38 uncommons and 40 rares up to the 32 Holo Rares that form the chase tier, and no secret cards sit above the printed 165. Dragonite leads the most valuable cards, illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno, followed by Charizard from Hiromichi Sugiyama, Gengar from Yukiko Baba and Mew from Hajime Kusajima. The top five cards hold 32 percent of the set's total card value, so value is spread across a broad holo tier rather than resting on one or two pulls.
Expedition Base Set was released September 15, 2002.
Expedition Base Set has 165 cards.
Expedition Base Set is part of the WOTC era.
32 cards in Expedition Base Set sit at one of its hit rarities. See this set's hits page for the full breakdown by rarity.
As of October 2026, Expedition Base Set holds the 4th highest total card value of the 16 comparable WOTC sets, about 2.9 times the era median, and ranks 10th across the whole game. Its single most valuable card ranks 5th in the era and its trading activity ranks 4th. At 165 printed cards it is larger than the era median of 108. It followed Legendary Collection, which holds less total value, and came before Aquapolis, which holds more. Its cards first appeared in Japan, with 124 shared with Base Expansion Pack, released December 1, 2001.
Written from market data as of October 23, 2026; the tables update live.
| Measure | This setExpedition Base Set | Previous setLegendary Collection | Next setAquapolis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | Sep 15, 2002 | May 24, 2002 | Jan 15, 2003 |
| Printed cards | 165 | 110 | 147 |
| Master set value | — | $3,180.07 | $16,785.41 |
| Most valuable card price | — | $899.99 | $1,571.99 |
| Priced cards | — | 110 of 110 | 186 of 186 |
Completing Expedition Base Set means assembling all 165 catalog printings, and every one of them is priced. Because the top five cards carry 32 percent of total value and the Holo Rare tier is deep at 32 cards, the cost of a full run is driven by that holo tier as a whole, not by a couple of outliers. The sealed line is small, three products in all, made up of two decks and a booster pack.
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