Yuka Morii Pokémon cards

Yuka Morii is the Pokémon card artist who does not draw: she sculpts each Pokémon in clay and photographs the model, which is why her cards look like small dioramas. The Pokémon TCG API credits her with 207 English cards from Neo Discovery (2001) to 30th Celebration (2026). By PriceCharting's ungraded prices as of November 13, 2026, her most valuable card is the Skyridge Raichu H25, and her best-known modern cards are the Aipom and Klinklang Illustration Rares. This page covers who she is, how she makes the art, her cards by era and what the notable ones sell for.

Yuka Morii at a glance

Who Yuka Morii is

Morii is a professional illustrator, character designer and clay modeler who has designed mascots for companies, published books and supplied artwork for other publications, and she teaches illustration part-time at the Kuwasawa Design Institute, where she earned her master's degree. Her work outside Pokémon, as listed on Bulbapedia, includes clay animation for television, advertising for clients such as Nescafé, and the Japan Post gift-wrap and postcard designs of 2007; her awards include the Tokyo TV Clay Modelling Championship in 1996.

Her Pokémon work began with books. She illustrated two Japanese-only Pokémon Tales picture books in 1997 and 1998, and her first card was the 1998 Pokémon Plaza promo. Regular card work started in 2000 with Caterpie, Kabuto, Corsola and Omanyte, which reached English players in Neo Discovery in June 2001. A Bleeding Cool spotlight notes that her Corsola was the first Corsola card in the game. In a 2021 interview with scrmbl she said she had moved from flat illustration to three-dimensional clay work shortly before she joined the card game.

She is still active. VGC revealed her Mankey for Pitch Black (July 17, 2026) and reported that her handmade clay models have been shown in museum exhibits at the Pokémon World Championships and the European International Championships. The API leaves the artist field of that Mankey blank, so it is not in the counts on this page.

How she makes clay Pokémon cards

Every source used here describes the same basic method: a physical model, then a photograph. The details come from her 2021 scrmbl interview and from CGC's 2024 artist showcase:

• Plan in 3D. She imagines the Pokémon as a three-dimensional figure, makes sketches and discusses them before starting the final model.
• Sculpt by hand. She used a Japanese resin clay that hardens with heat, and later moved to German materials and sometimes other clays. She told scrmbl she prefers sculpting by hand to 3D printing because the marks of her hands and small imperfections give each model personality.
• Photograph the scene. The finished model is photographed against arranged scenery or in a real location, which is the image printed on the card.
• Her look. She described her style as rounded edges, a peaceful mood and standard poses that still stand out; Bleeding Cool points to the dynamic backgrounds and says she began trying different background styles in the e-Card era.
• Hard subjects. She named geometric Pokémon such as Starmie, Ferroseed and Beldum among her most meaningful models, though delicate to make.

The clay figures are hers; the crocheted dolls on other cards are Asako Ito's. The Pokémon card artists page compares both with painters and digital illustrators. The images below are the cards themselves, shown to identify them; nothing here recreates or imitates her models. Prices in the notes are PriceCharting summaries as of November 13, 2026.

• Corsola#37/75 · UncommonNeo Discovery, 2001 · one of her first four English cards · Ungraded $6.28
• Blissey#2/64 · Rare HoloNeo Revelation, 2001 · Ungraded $60.53 · PSA 10 $2,676.72
• Light Azumarill#13/105 · Rare HoloNeo Destiny, 2002 · Ungraded $19.99 · PSA 10 $2,604.77
• Poliwrath#24/165 · Rare HoloExpedition, 2002 · Ungraded $107.36 · PSA 10 $23,162.50
• Lanturn#H15/147 · Rare HoloAquapolis, 2003 · Ungraded $89.63 · PSA 10 $9,999.49
• Raichu#H25/144 · Rare HoloSkyridge, 2003 · Ungraded $278.58 · PSA 10 $10,229.11
• Slowbro#14/112 · Rare HoloFireRed & LeafGreen, 2004 · Ungraded $71.48 · PSA 10 $2,843.65
• Pikachu#16/17 · CommonPOP Series 2, 2005 · Ungraded $43.94 · PSA 10 $2,465.14
• Venusaur & Snivy-GX#SM229 · PromoSM Black Star Promo (TAG TEAM) · Ungraded $106.44 · PSA 10 $740.75
• Drapion V#GG49/70 · Rare Holo VCrown Zenith Galarian Gallery, 2023 · Ungraded $12.01 · PSA 10 $106.88
• Aipom#211/182 · Illustration RareParadox Rift, 2023 · Ungraded $25.68 · PSA 10 $217.50
• Klinklang#141/086 · Illustration RareBlack Bolt, 2025 · Ungraded $28.65 · PSA 10 $150.00

Yuka Morii cards by era

The table groups all 207 English cards credited to her in the API by the series the API assigns to their set. Most are commons and uncommons: 130 Common, 39 Uncommon, 22 Rare and 10 Rare Holo, plus 2 Illustration Rares, 1 Rare Holo V, 1 Promo and 2 cards with no rarity (a Trainer Kit Numel and a McDonald's Skitty).

1. Neo and e-Card years: 8 cards in 2001, 14 in 2002 and 19 in 2003.
2. EX era peak: 15 in 2004, 23 in 2005 (her busiest year) and 8 in 2006.
3. Diamond & Pearl to HeartGold & SoulSilver: 5 in 2007, 4 in 2008, 9 in 2009 and 9 in 2010.
4. Gap: no English cards in 2011, 2012 or 2014; 2 in 2013.
5. XY and Sun & Moon: 7 in 2015, 4 in 2016, 6 in 2017, 10 in 2018 and 12 in 2019.
6. Sword & Shield and Scarlet & Violet: 9 in 2020, 9 in 2021, 10 in 2022, 14 in 2023, 2 in 2024, 5 in 2025 and 3 in 2026.

Her recent cards are spread across many sets, a few per release: Lillipup, Larvesta, Clefairy and Sinistea in Obsidian Flames, Magnemite and Magneton in 151, the Aipom Illustration Rare in Paradox Rift, the Klinklang Illustration Rare in Black Bolt and Durant in its companion set White Flare, then Nymble in Phantasmal Flames and three Trainer cards in 30th Celebration.

Most valuable Yuka Morii cards

The ranking uses PriceCharting's ungraded price for English singles, read on each card page on November 13, 2026; Grade 9 and PSA 10 are PriceCharting's graded summaries for the same card, shown beside it rather than mixed into the ranking. It covers the 18 cards checked: all 14 of her Rare Holo, Illustration Rare, Rare Holo V and Promo cards in the API, plus Corsola, the POP Series 2 Pikachu, Mimikyu and the 151 Magnemite. The top 12 are listed.

• The e-Card holos lead. Five of the top six are 2002–2003 e-Card holos. Raichu H25 is first raw at $278.58 and in PSA 10 at $10,229.11 is second only to Poliwrath #24, whose $23,162.50 PSA 10 figure is the highest on the list.
• Graded vintage multiplies. Wobbuffet #13 is $25.00 raw but $4,168.00 in PSA 10, and Light Azumarill, just outside the top 12 at $19.99 raw, reaches $2,604.77; for old holos the grade matters far more than for her modern cards.
• Modern cards stay modest. The Klinklang and Aipom Illustration Rares are under $30 raw and $150.00 and $217.50 in PSA 10; the Drapion V Galarian Gallery card is $12.01 raw.

These figures summarize past sales and change daily, and a PSA 10 figure for an old holo can rest on very few sales; check the sales history of the exact card and grade before comparing. The method is in where to check sold prices, and whether a grade pays for itself is worked through in is it worth grading Pokémon cards.

Questions collectors ask

Does Yuka Morii draw her Pokémon cards?

No. She sculpts each Pokémon in clay and photographs the model in a set or a real place; the photograph is the card art. CGC and her 2021 scrmbl interview both describe this method.

How many Pokémon cards has Yuka Morii made?

The Pokémon TCG API credits her with 207 English cards as of November 13, 2026. CGC counted 209 in 2024, Bulbapedia lists 216 trading card game cards plus 19 in Pokémon TCG Pocket, and VGC wrote “over 218” in June 2026. The API counts English cards only, and some cards, such as the Pitch Black Mankey, have a blank artist field there.

What is Yuka Morii's most valuable card?

By PriceCharting's ungraded price on November 13, 2026, Raichu H25 from Skyridge at $278.58. In PSA 10 the Expedition Poliwrath #24 is listed higher, at $23,162.50.

What was Yuka Morii's first Pokémon card?

Bulbapedia lists Pokémon Plaza, a 1998 Jumbo CoroCoro promo in Japan. Her first English cards were Caterpie, Kabuto, Corsola and Omanyte in Neo Discovery (2001).

How do I find all her cards?

Search for the exact spelling Yuka Morii, which is how the API's artist field writes her name (not Yuki Mori or Yukimori). The Pokémon card artists hub lists her alongside Mitsuhiro Arita, Asako Ito, Shinji Kanda and other illustrators.