Given that Pikachu is the brand mascot for Pokemon, it’s no surprise that the electric mouse has been on its fair share of Pokemon cards. In fact, it has been on over 300 Pokemon cards, including quite a few rare promos. Who can forget the staggering sale of Logan Paul’s Pikachu Illustrator card, for instance, or the battles over Pikachu in Grey Felt hat? But with so many Pika Promos on the market, not every one can be a star. That’s what makes it so interesting to see an older promo suddenly shooting up in value over the last few months.
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Since early 2025, a Pikachu promo from 1998 has started selling at much higher prices than in prior years. This is the case for both ungraded and graded versions of the card, though the PSA 10 has seen the biggest jump in value, according to PriceCharting. The card in question is the 1998 Ooyama’s Pikachu promo, which was released as part of a special vending machine collection released only in Japan. Fully hand-drawn by the Pokemon TCG illustrator Kouichi Ooyama, this promo originally came on a randomized printed sheet, with cards that could be peeled off. Though certainly rare, the card has historically been relatively inexpensive to collect considering its status as a vintage release. But that looks like it’s about to change.
Hand-Drawn Pikachu Card Selling for Over $600 More Than in 2025 (And That’s Ungraded)
If you’ve never seen it before, it’s worth taking a moment to admire this fully hand-illustrated rendition of Pikachu. Everything on the Ooyama’s Pikachu card is hand-drawn, including the stats, HP, and energy symbols. The electric mouse looks adorably tired standing on the beach in the card’s main illustration. For anyone who likes to collect unique Pokemon cards, this one certainly fits the bill. Not only does it look quite different compared to standard Pokemon cards, it’s also pretty rare. After all, these vending series cards were only available in Japan and never saw a wider commercial release.
Though it is fairly rare, Ooyama’s Pikachu hasn’t always been among the most expensive vintage cards on the market. Throughout 2024, an ungraded version of this rare Pikachu sold for about $150, if you were lucky. That’s not cheap, but it’s also not nearly as pricey as many other Pikachu promos can be. But throughout the last few months, this card has started to steadily gain traction with higher and higher resale prices that top any prior recorded sales for the card.
The ungraded Ooyama’s Pikachu card alone has gone up from an average of around $250 in May 2025 to a recent sale of $900. That’s a pretty staggering increase, but it’s hardly the most impressive change we’ve seen for this one. Though originally printed on a sheet, the card can be peeled off and graded like any other trading card. That means that PSA 10 versions of Ooyama’s Pikachu exist. And they’ve been smashing records.
In January of this year, a PSA 10 for this card could go for upwards of $4,300. That’s certainly not small potatoes even in the Pokemon TCG world. But in the last few months, more recent sales of this Pokemon card have shattered that record. Just today, a PSA 10 version of the card sold for $8,200 on eBay. And back in April, one buyer managed to secure over $9,300 for their PSA 10 Ooyama’s Pikachu. So, why the sudden spike in value?
Why Older Pokemon Cards Are Getting Fresh Attention from Collectors
It’s hard to say exactly why older cards like this Ooyama’s Pikachu promo start to spike in value. But given the ongoing popularity of Pokemon with collectors and resellers, many rare cards are starting to sell for higher prices over the last few years. With hype surrounding the franchise’s 30th anniversary in 2026 many nostalgic cards are back at the top of mind for fans. From the looks of it, this cult classic Pikachu may well be among them.
There’s also the fact that Japanese cards in general, particularly those never released in the U.S., are starting to become more common collector’s items. This, along with the fact that a card once ripped from a vending machine has a lower chance of being a PSA 10, has likely contributed to this card’s sudden rise in value. The same can be said of many older cards, which existed at a time before many people saw them as investment items to be kept in mint condition. That means many retro cards have far fewer PSA 10 copies on the market, particularly if they’re rare promos like this one.
Basically, there are a lot of factors coming together to make this illustrated Pikachu the latest hot ticket collector’s item. It’s hard to say whether the trend will continue, but for now, sales are holding steady at far higher prices than in prior years. So if you have one of these lying around, you may want to take extra good care of it.
What is your favorite Pikachu promo card? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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