It’s a day that ends in “y.” That means another Pokémon fan has spent a whole lot of money on a small piece of cardboard. Or, as they probably prefer to call it, a rare (and expensive) Pokémon card. And once again they’ve set a record with their purchase. There’s now a new champion in the battle arena for the world’s most expensive Pokémon card. A hard-to-find Pikachu Illustrator card smashed the previous record. It went in auction for an Eternatus-sized $900,000.
The trading card seller Goldin auctioned off a rare, highly graded 1998 Pocket Monsters Japanese Promo “Illustrator” Pikachu hologram card. The sale (which we first heard about at ComicBook.com) netted the seller nearly a million dollars. That’s almost double the previous amount for a single Pokémon card.
It’s easy to see why collectors covet this specific rare Pokémon card. Goldin describes it as “one of the most elusive and significant Pokémon cards” ever released. From the official auction listing:
The card was originally distributed through a series of illustration contests hosted by Coro Coro Magazine in 1997 and 1998. It is the only card to display the “ILLUSTRATOR” heading and is the lone Pokémon card to feature the unique “pen” logo on the bottom right-hand corner of the item. This stunning card boasts artwork by Atsuko Nishida featuring an exuberant Pikachu. Japanese text adorns the card’s front, with the text in English reading, “We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokémon Card Illustrator and admire your skill.”
What the T206 Honus Wagner is to baseball cards, this Pikachu-Holo Illustrator essentially is to Pokémon cards.
— PSAcard (@PSAcard) February 24, 2022
Fewer than 40 copies exist, with 24 of them currently graded by PSA, and this *Pop 2* PSA 7 made some history last night over at @GoldinCo. 📈 pic.twitter.com/LfZLWDXJQC
The Professional Sports Authenticator company has only logged 24 (out of around 40) of these cards. And this specific one, graded with a near mint score of 7 by the PSA, is just one of two to be in such good condition. That grade is a big reason for this sale price. A lower scored version sold for $250,000 previously. Meanwhile, the other highly scored version is in even better shape. So yeah, we know what can topple this sale eventually.
Another card will break this record. Probably sooner than later, too. Any day that ends in a “y” is day when a Pokémon fan might spend a whole lot of money to catch ’em all.
