An extremely rare Illustrator Pikachu Pokémon card just sold for close to one million dollars.
Rare pokemon cards: The sale of a rare holographic “Illustrator” Pikachu Pokémon card, which was first made available to the public in 1998, set a new record price of $900,000.
Kotaku is the source of this information. They were the first to reveal that auction website Goldin had stated it will be selling the rare card at auction. The current owner of this card, which has reached a price of $900,000 as of the time this article was written, has not been discovered; however, the final auction price smashes all prior records for a single Pokémon card.
The previous record for selling price was $375,000, and it was achieved by a “Near Mint 7” version of Illustrator Pikachu that was purchased in February of the previous year. On February 23, this brand-new one, which came with a condition rating of “Near Mint 7,” was purchased by a customer.
According to the card condition grading company PSA, it was one of only 39 copies of this card that are now known to exist in the world. This information was obtained via Kotaku.
PSA reports on Twitter that the Illustrator Pikachu is incredibly hard to find because it was exclusively distributed in Japan. “If we are to believe Zenplus, there were just 39 units manufactured.
They were presented to the winners of the “Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest,” which was held in 1998 and was sponsored by Corocoro Comic. Atsuko Nishida is responsible for the illustration that appears on the card. She is credited as one of the people who came up with the idea for Pikachu.
It is formatted like a trainer card, however the word “Illustrator” appears in the space that would normally be occupied by the term “Trainer.” Pikachu is shown holding a paintbrush and a sketch of Charmander while standing in front of a holographic background in the primary image.
The wording on the card reads, “We certify that your illustration is an exceptional entry in the Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest,” which, according to Bulbapedia, is the translation of the card’s original Japanese text. Because of this, we would like to acknowledge you as an Officially Authorized Pokemon Card Illustrator and express our admiration for your talent.'”
As is typical in auctions, bidders continued to drive the price up in attempts to secure the item, and that is how it reached such a jaw-dropping number (although looking at previous card prices, $900,000 is still absurd).
When this card first went live in Goldin’s auction, the offers began at less than $100,000. However, as is typical in auctions, bidders continued to drive the price up in attempts to secure the item. The Pokémon card with the Illustrator Pikachu design currently holds the record for the most copies of any Pokémon card ever sold.
It is startling, but considering how the Pokémon card market has been performing as of late, it is not completely unexpected. It is difficult enough to find new releases on shelves, but this challenge is compounded by the fact that many stores no longer even put new releases on shelves because of the level of violence that would occur in response to new drops.
In addition to this, purchasing them on the internet became just as difficult. These days, purchasing Pokémon cards may be just as challenging as getting your hands on a brand-new PlayStation 5 in certain circumstances. However, the vast majority of people that come here don’t spend over a million dollars on a single credit card.
Visit the Pokémon Trading Card Game hub on Game Informer for additional information about Pokémon cards. There, you’ll find a large number of articles covering a variety of topics, including new drops, uncommon cards, and more. After that, have a look at this unpacking of some of the most interesting cards from the Pokémon Celebrations collection.
