Insanely rare Pokemon card sells for eye-popping $90,000
Flickr: Minh Hoang[jwplayer dWIP3S6z]An extremely rare Japanese Pokemon card broke records in July after selling for a whopping $90,000 at auction. The Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer is so scarce, only seven of them exist in the world.
Pokemon made its debut in North America with Red & Blue for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1998. That same year, the Trading Card Game was also released, and quickly became a cultural phenomena as collectors scoured for the rarest of rares.
Over 22 years later, some of the holographics you collected as a kid are actually now worth quite a lot. In July, a Japanese card only given out at tournaments in 1999 broke records when it fetched over $90k at auction.
Reddit: shaft2007Pokemon card sells for $90k at auction
In 1999, The Pokemon Company hosted seven regional tournaments for the TCG. First place winners of these secret contests were given the Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer card which have a holographic Mewtwo silhouette on them.
In July, one of these seven prizes went up for sale at the Heritage Auction and sold for an eye-popping amount. Over 22 bidders participated in the lot, before the final owner shelled out $90k to own the prized possession.
The insanely high price was due to its scarcity, as well as its condition. The card was graded by PSA as Gem Mint 10 – the highest score possible. Grading largely depends on several factors, including the centering, scratches, print lines, and the holographic background.
Heritage AuctionsDespite the insane price, another TCG rarity sold for even more in 2019. The extremely sought after Pikachu Illustrator card brought in over $195k at auction. The jaw-dropping amount is enough to buy a house.
Classic Pokemon cards have continued to climb up in value, as more and more collectors from the 90s are now adults and feeling the game’s nostalgia. The mind-blowing prices people are willing to pay to capture their childhood looks to have no end in sight.
It’s also not just the old TCG that is bringing in the money either – modern sets like the 2019 Hidden Fates have already seen a surge of items selling for high prices on eBay, such as the Eeveelution line, or the extremely rare Shiny Charizard.