Pokemon fans know it is easier than ever to get a hold of merchandise these days than ever before. From plushes to trading cards, the franchise has thousands of items which collectors covet. When it comes to trading cards, there are some elite Pokemon cards which even the most intense collectors want, and it seems one of the rarest was just sold at an auction for some insane money.
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Recently, the auctioneer website Invaluable put up a lot which gained all sorts of attention from fans. Lot 182 contained the ultra-rare card Pikachu Illustrator, and the near-mint card was graded a nine. And thanks to its quality, Invaluable managed to sell the card for $195,000 USD.
Yes, you read that right. This card sold for nearly $200,000 which some fans might consider a steal given how rare this Pokemon item is.
For those who do not know, the Pikachu Illustrator card is one of the series’ rarest pieces. Only 39 of these cards were released, but there is no telling how many of them still exist. The card was put out in 1998 and given to the winners of a CoroCoro Comic Illustration Contest for Pokemon.
The card itself is a gorgeous one which Atsuko Nishida illustrated. As you can see above, the card features Pikachu holding several paint brushes, and the starter seems to be coloring various pocket monsters. All sorts of bootleg reprints of the card have been released since 1998, but the actual cards have soared in price over the years.
A few years back, Heritage Auctions managed to snag the elusive Pokemon card which sold for nearly $55,000. Just three years later, another mint edition of the card has more than tripled its worth. So if you think you somehow snagged one of these cards years ago, it would be worth rechecking your Pokemon collection!
Oh! And while you’re looking, it wouldn’t hurt to see if you have any other rare cards packed up. Many of the trading card game’s misprints and pre-releases are worth good money these days. If you happen to have the so-called Holy Grail of Pokemon cards, it would be worth visiting an appraiser. The franchise is said to have shared eight pre-release Raichu cards, and the only way to differentiate the card from the original one is a stamp. To date, this card has never gone up for auction, but Pokemon collectors believe the pre-release card would fetch quite the price.
If you had a hundred grand to blow, which Pokemon card would you hunt after? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
