Rare Illustrator Pikachu Pokémon Card Sells For Nearly $1 Million

A rare holographic “Illustrator” Pikachu Pokémon card first released in 1998 has been sold for a record-breaking $900,000. 

The following news is from Kotaku, which first reported that auction site Goldin announced it’d be auctioning off the rare card. The owner of this now-$900,000 card remains unknown at the time of this writing, but the final auction price blows past previous records for a single Pokémon card. 

Goldin

That previous record was $375,000 and it was the selling price for a “Near Mint 7” version of Illustrator Pikachu sold in February of last year. This new one also carried with it a “Near Mint 7” condition, and it was sold on February 23. Kotaku claims that there are only 39 known copies of this card in existence, according to a card condition rating firm. PSA. 

It has the layout of a trainer card with the word ‘Illustrator’ where you would typically find ‘Trainer.’ The main image has Pikachu holding a paintbrush and a drawing of Charmander over a holographic background. According to Bulbapedia, the card text is translated to, ‘We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest. Accordingly, we declare you to be an Officially Authorized Pokemon Card Illustration and are impressed by your skills. 

The offers began under $100,000 when this card first went live in Goldin’s auction but as is expected in auctions, bidders continued to drive the price up in attempts to secure the item and that’s how it reached such a jaw-dropping number (although looking at previous card prices, $900,000 is still absurd). Now, this Illustrator Pikachu Pokémon card holds the all-time record for any Pokémon card sold ever. 

It’s surprising, but not entirely unexpected considering the Pokémon card market as of late. Finding new releases on shelves is hard enough, especially now that many stores don’t even put them on shelves due to the amount of violence that would ensue around new drops. Online purchases were also difficult. Nowadays, buying Pokémon cards can be as difficult as securing a new PlayStation 5 in some cases. Most people aren’t out here spending nearly $1 million on a single card, though. 

For more about Pokémon cards, head to Game Informer’s Pokémon Trading Card Game hub where we have tons of stories about rare cards, new drops, and more. Check out this unboxing of the coolest cards in the Pokémon Celebrations series after that. 

[Source: Kotaku]

What’s the rarest Pokémon card you own? Please leave your comments!