Pokemon Card 'Pikachu Illustrator' Breaks Records. For how many millions of dollars it was sold at auction
An extremely rare Pokémon card named “Pikachu Illustrator” was sold at auction on Monday for a record $16,492,000, AFP reports. The purchase makes it the most expensive collectible card ever sold at auction, and the most expensive collectible in all categories combined, according to Guinness World Records and Goldin auction house.
An extremely rare Pokémon card named “Pikachu Illustrator”. PHOTO: X / @loganpaul
The card, which features the famous Pikachu, was previously bought by American YouTuber Logan Paul in 2021 for $5.28 million. The new owner is AJ Scaramucci, the son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. At the time of the sale, Logan Paul placed the card around Scaramucci's neck, hanging from a $75,000 diamond necklace.
cards “Pikachu Illustrator” are extremely appreciated by collectors, being created by Atsuko Nishida, the artist who gave life to the character Pikachu. The card was never commercially available and was only given away as a prize in an illustration contest in 1998. Its mint condition, graded PSA 10, contributed to the record value.
The Pokémon card game, released in Japan in 1996, has seen a resurgence of interest in recent years, causing prices to rise and stocks to run out. Factors that determine a card's value include rarity, the character represented — Mew, Mewtwo, Pikachu, or Dracaufeu being the most sought after — and the artist who signs it.
After the previous purchase, Logan Paul carried the card at a WWE wrestling event in Texas, and the $16.492 million paid on Monday includes the buyer's commission.
