A rare Pokemon card has appeared “in the wild” for the first time in over 20 years, after it was sold for a major sum at auction. Earlier this year, a “Snap Magikarp” Pokemon trading card was auctioned off for 5 million yen (about $136,000 in US dollars), having made its way onto the open market for what appears to be the first time ever. The Snap Magikarp card was part of a CoroCoro magazine promotion to celebrate the launch of Pokemon Snap back in 1999 and involved entrants sending their photos from the game. Five winners had their photos printed onto “official” Pokemon cards, with each winner receiving 20 copies of their unique card. Most of the cards have made their way into the hands of various collectors, but the “Snap Magikarp” had never appeared in public, leaving many to believe that the card was lost to history.
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After the card was sold earlier this year, it was sent to PSA for authentication and grading. The card then appeared on a video posted by Pokemon card collector Scott Pratte. It’s unclear if the card is owned by Pratte (Pratte has one of the biggest collections of rare Pokemon cards in the world) or if he was just able to show it off on his YouTube channel. Regardless, it’s still awesome to see the card in something besides a book or magazine for the first time ever. You can check out the video showing off the card below:
Other Pokemon Snap cards have sold for similarly high figures. Two other recent sales (of a Snap Poliwag and a Snap Gyarados) sold for $35,000-$50,000. Several other Snap Pokemon cards are equally rare – for instance, PSA has only graded one Snap Articuno card.
Several other rare pieces of Pokemon history have also recently resurfaced. A sheet of holographic 1st Edition Pokemon cards recently hit the market and sold for a hefty price as well.
