This rare Pokemon card broke a world record in $900,000 sale. Why is it worth so much?
A Japanese Pokemon card obliterated a world record by selling for $900,000, but why is it worth so much?
The Illustrator Holographic Pikachu Pokemon card was created as a promo card for winners of an illustration competition run in CoroCoro Comic Magazine in 1997 and 1998, according to Dicebreaker.
Artists picked to be official illustrators of Pokemon cards were given the card as a token of their success in the competition, according to the text on the card.
Only 39 cards were originally printed, and two more were later distributed by Yuichi Konno, one of the card game’s rules designers, according to Dicebreaker.
The Illustrator card shows Pikachu holding a pen with drawings in the background. It’s the only Pokemon card with the “Illustrator” heading and has the pen logo on the bottom right of the card, according to Hypebeast.
Now, it’s sold for a record-breaking $900,000, easily surpassing any previous Pokemon card sale.
Goldin Auctions, which sold the near-million dollar card, announced the sale on Twitter with a photo of the 1998 card. The card was professionally graded a seven out of 10 by Professional Sports Authenticator and labeled near-mint condition (NM).
Grading services consider different factors when grading cards on their 10-point scale, including centering, edges and picture focus.
“A PSA NM 7 is a card with just slight surface wear visible upon close inspection. There may be slight fraying on some corners. Picture focus may be slightly out-of-register,” PSA states on its grading description. “A minor printing blemish is acceptable. Slight wax staining is acceptable on the back of the card only. Most of the original gloss is retained.”
Even though the Illustrator card was graded a 7, it sold at a higher price than the same card in better condition in the past. A mint 9 Illustrator Pikachu sold for $195,000 in 2019 and a near-mint 7 sold for $375,000 in February 2021, according to Hypebeast.
According to PSA, only 24 Illustrator cards have been graded by the company.
The Illustrator card shows a picture of Pikachu drawn by Atsuko Nishida, the original designer of the iconic Pokemon, according to Dicebreaker.
The card broke the record of the most valuable Pokemon card, a first-edition shadowless holographic Charizard that sold for $369,000 in 2021, according to Hypebeast.
Pokemon aficionados shared their awe after the sale was announced on Twitter.
“Believed to have 39 released to the winners of the illustration contest & the illustrator themselves getting a copy,” one commenter said. “Extremely rare…just owning it and it being real is what matters.”
“$900k for a PSA 7… PSA 10 is looking like a 4 million dollar card and who knows if the owner would ever sell,” another wrote.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 5:30 PM with the headline "This rare Pokemon card broke a world record in $900,000 sale. Why is it worth so much?."
