A Pokémon card has rewritten the history of world collecting. The Pikachu Illustrator, classified PSA 10 – the maximum rating assigned by the Professional Sports Authenticator – was sold for 16,492,000 dollars at an auction organized by Goldin (one of the most renowned auction houses in the world, specializing in collectibles belonging to pop culture, from cards to sports memorabilia), establishing a record certified by the Guinness Book of Records for the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
Selling the piece was YouTuber and wrestler Logan Paul, who had previously purchased the same card in 2021 for $5.275 million. In less than four years, the value has tripled.
The auction and delivery
The card was won by AJ Scaramucci, son of Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director. Upon delivery, Paul hung the card around the new owner’s neck: the Pikachu Illustrator was contained in a protective case attached to a sober diamond necklace worth $75,000.
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The “Holy Grail” of Pokémon collecting
The Pikachu Illustrator is no ordinary card. It was created by Atsuko Nishida, Pikachu’s original illustrator and designer at Game Freak, and distributed as an exclusive prize in an illustration contest held in Japan in 1998 in the pages of CoroCoro Comic magazine. The copies produced were very few – some estimates speak of no more than 39 copies – and those that survived in perfect condition can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
A paper graded PSA 10 must meet stringent criteria: four perfectly sharp corners, surface free of scratches or blemishes, flawless print focus, and original luster intact. Even a minimal smudge excludes the maximum rating.
A market that never stops
The boom in Pokémon cards is not a recent phenomenon (we also talked about it in this article), even if in the last decade it has taken on proportions that are difficult to imagine even for professionals. The value of each copy depends on a combination of factors: the rarity of the print run, the character depicted – Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo and Mew steadily lead the prices – and the identity of the illustrator, always indicated on the front of the card.
