Pokemon card shatters world record after selling for $900,000

The rare Pikachu Illustrator card has sold for $900,000 at auction, making it the most expensive Pokemon card of all time. 

No one in the 90s could have guessed that the Pokemon Trading Card Game would one day have collectibles worth as much as a house.

A rare Japanese promotional card from 1998 has taken the TCG’s explosion in value to new levels, however, after selling for nearly $1 million at a February 2022 auction.

Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card sells for $900,000 at auction

In 1997, Japanese magazine CoroCoro held an art competition where contestants could submit their drawings for a chance to win a Pikachu Illustrator promo card. Decades later, the collectible quickly rose to the top as the rarest card in the TCG.

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In 2021, the coveted prize became the most valuable Pokemon card as well after beating out a 1st Edition Base Set Charizard by selling for $375,000 at a PWCC auction. After just a year, the same PSA graded 7 Pikachu Illustrator set another new record after a bidder paid $900,000 for it.

GoldinAuction made the announcement on Twitter on February 24 in a social media post. “Final Sale Price: $900,000. An all-time record public sale for any Pokemon,” they wrote.

At the time of writing, it has not been revealed exactly who the buyer is. According to popular TCG outlet PokeBeach, the auction started out at $75,000 before 34 bidders drove it to its final $900k price after fees.

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Interestingly, the record-shattering Pokemon card is only graded a Near Mint 7 by PSA. Popular musician Steve Aoki actually owns a PSA Mint 9 Illustrator that he obtained in January 2021, which could easily be worth over $1 million if this latest auction is anything to go off of.