The complete Pokémon Holy Grail Is Up for Grabs but You’ll Need More Than $1.5 Million to Catch It
It is hard to understate exactly how much money there is collecting, selling and trading Pokémon cards. Ever since its inception, the Japanese franchise has gone from a regular trending card-trading game to a multi-million dollar financial goldmine, with more money trading hands than global stock exchanges. To make a point, Heritage Auctions is currently getting set for another potential record-breaking sale as they bring one of the rarest cards to auction this week. There are grail Pokémon items that many regular hobbyists will never get to hold, and the Pikachu card leading this particular auction is one of them as bidding is already at a staggering $1.2 million – rising to $1.5 million with buyer premiums – long before the auction reaches a conclusion at the weekend. When it comes to the crowning cards of a collection, this extremely rare and highly graded card is about as big as it gets.
For those who do not follow Pokémon trends and trading, the idea of a small piece of card attracting this kind of value may seem incredulous at best, but for those seriously invested in the franchise’s mantra of “gotta catch ’em all,” this auction is an extremely rare opportunity to add a card that will transform someone’s collection into one of the most envious in the hobby. The card in question is the Pikachu Illustrator card, one that was never available to collect through the usual store-bought packs and could only be won via a series of illustrator contests run by Japan’s CoroCoro Comic magazine in 1998, back when Pokémon cards were not attracting the kind of value they do now. A total of just 39 of these cards were distributed across three contests, and if that did not make it scarce enough, the card being auctioned here is the only known card to feature the word “illustrator” across the top of it and a pen symbol in the bottom corner. This may not seem like much to non-collectors, but these minor details are what will push this one-of-a-kind card to record-breaking heights in a few days.
The Pokémon Card That Keeps Breaking Records
The Pikachu Illustrator card is no stranger to attention when it appears at auction, as was proven earlier this year when YouTuber, wrestler and Pokémon super-collector Logan Paul sold the only PSA 10 graded example for an eye-watering $16.49 million, the most any trading card has ever sold for at auction. That sets some pretty high expectations for this current lot pushing well into tens of millions by the time the hammer falls. Can it possibly set a new record? Although this one does not have the constant social media presence of Paul behind it, the card’s strong PSA 9 grading (only 14 others are known to exist) is enhanced by its complete uniqueness. That can be the deciding factor in whether someone is willing to pay $1 million or $10 million to be the one person in the world to own this slice of the Pokémon hobby.
Pokémon card sales often dominate auctions held by the likes of Heritage, frequently setting new record prices as those with plenty of cash to invest battle it out to become the ultimate Pokémon collector. Pokémon collecting is not for the faint of heart, and the lengths some people will go to in order to secure the most desirable cards – including attempting to trade animals in some bizarre recent stories – is becoming increasingly erratic. Whatever the result of this latest auction, it is certainly going to once again prove that Pokémon card trading is as popular and lucrative as ever, and there are some cards that regular collectors will have to accept they will never own for themselves.
