After over 25 years of regular Pokémon TCG releases, there are quite a few seriously rare Pokémon cards out there, and they can get staggeringly expensive. YouTuber Logan Paul famously blew over $5 million on a Pikachu Illustrator in 2022, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In this guide, we go deeper and track all the rarest, most expensive Pokémon cards that have sold throughout the years.
Naturally, the biggest common factors among these rare Pokémon cards are age and scarcity. Most originate from the earliest Pokemon TCG sets, or are one-off tournament prize cards printed in very low numbers. First edition Pokémon cards, peculiar misprints, and desirable variants like Shadowless Pokémon cards all fetch very high prices.
If you’re just now getting into Pokémon card collecting, or still learning how to play Pokémon cards, we don’t recommend you get too excited at some of the eye-watering sale amounts below. If you’ve got a huge stash of really old cards, it’s definitely worth reviewing our Pokémon card rarity spotter’s guide and having a trawl through – but your chances of finding one of the top 50 are (we regret to inform you) incredibly low.
On the upside, what you have got is a delightful trading card game collection! We can help you get playing with our beginner’s guides to all the Pokémon card types and exactly how to build a Pokémon deck, plus lists of the best Pokémon cards and the highest HP Pokémon cards to use.
For now, though, have a look at these rare beauties.
These are the most expensive rare Pokémon cards in 2024:
35. Black Triangle Base Set Booster Pack
Price: $2,700
Before starting on the most expensive Pokémon cards, we thought we’d kick things of with this curio. When Wizards of the Coast realized they had accidentally printed too many Base Set booster packs branded with the first-edition logo, they covered the errant symbol with a small black triangle. A simple attempt to avoid wasting resources has generated a much-prized collector’s item, as fans now clamour for a rare Black Triangle Base Set Booster Pack.
It’s the packaging itself that’s valuable here, not the cards inside, so don’t go cracking one of these black triangle packs open if you happen to find one sitting in the back of a drawer. They’re occasionally found in standard Base Set booster boxes – so you’ll have to weigh up whether to gamble on the chance discovery of one of the black triangle booster packs, or whether it’s best to leave the box unopened for its pristine value. Some of the black triangle booster packs have fetched over $2,700 (£2,000) on eBay, depending upon their condition and which Pokémon is displayed on their cover.
34. First Edition Shining Charizard
Price: $11,040
One of the coolest Charizard Pokémon cards ever printed, Shining Charizard from the 2000 Pokémon TCG expansion Neo Genesis features a black shiny Charizard, with a foil treatment making the Pokémon literally ‘shine’. You were limited to only having one of each Shining card in your deck – a testament to the specialness of these cards rather than the objective power level, it would seem.
Shining Pokémon in Neo Genesis were extremely rare, so first edition versions that have remained in mint condition are pretty scarce. The most expensive example of the card we found was this version, sold on the Goldin auction website in 2022 for $11,040.
33. Pokémon Card Fan Club Shining Magikarp
Price: $14,000
The Japanese-only card Shining Magikarp is rare because it was only available through the Pokémon Card Fan Club. You had to earn 600 ‘GET points’ at tournaments to earn the card. There are very few copies available, which is why a 9.5 gem mint copy fetched $14,000 on the auction site PWCC.
Pokémon Card Fan Club was a Japanese magazine in the early 90s, but it was succeeded by Pokémon Trainer’s Card Magazine, which advertised this promotion. The promo cards, which along with Magikarp include Porygon and Eevee, were only available to win between 2000 -2002.
Functionally, the card is identical to Shining Magikarp from the regular 2002 Neo Genesis set. It has extremely similar art as well – you wouldn’t know you had a rarity at first glance.
The main different is in the foiling. In the regular version of the card the background fish are shiny, whereas in the promo edition it’s the main, foreground Magikarp who shimmers. Just goes to show: when collecting rare Pokémon cards, the details matter.
32. Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo Mewtwo
Price: $15,000
For a certain generation of Pokémon fans, Mewtwo is the rare Pokémon. It’s unsurprising, then, that a card featuring the character would be worth something. Even more unsurprising is the fact it’s the Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo Mewtwo.
This card has everything – nostalgia, rarity, and a holographic background. The most expensive copy we’ve seen sell is this PSA 10 copy sold via a PWCC auction in 2023.
31. Espeon Gold Star
Price: $22,100
Get used to seeing the phrase ‘gold star’ when it comes to rare Pokémon cards. Relatively few are ever printed, making them coveted from the moment they’re printed. They’re also often accompanied by gorgeous art of many fan-favorite Pokémon.
Espeon Gold Star is a stunning example of this. Released in the promotional POP Series 5 set of 2007, this card regularly sells for thousands of dollars. A 2021 auction setting the high, high price of $22,100 for a PSA 10 copy.
Still, it’s not the most valuable Eveelution of that set – you’ll learn more about that soon.
30. Topps Chrome Charizard Tekno #06
Price: $23,000
Thanks to its age and rarity, it’s no surprise that a Topps Chrome Charizard Tekno #06 is worth something. Collectibles manufacturer Topps once held the license to produce Pokémon cards way back in the 2000s. While they’re not part of the Pokémon TCG and you can’t play with them, these early cards can go for a pretty penny today. The shiny cards are particularly rare. The three types (Spektra-Chrome, Sparkle-Chrome, and Tekno-Chrome) each had increasingly rare pull rates – and the pull rates weren’t even particularly well-balanced to begin with.
One sold on eBay in March 2022 for $23,000 (£ 18,326.86). The seller claimed that an ungraded version of the same card had previously sold on eBay for around $15,000 (£12,000), so clearly that professional authentication makes all the difference.
29. Master Scroll
Price: $25,000
The 2010 Master Scroll Trophy Card was an award for anyone who earned 8,600 points as part of the Japanese Pokémon fan club, the Daisuki Club. The highest award available, the card is not available in English.
A grade 9 Master Scroll sold on eBay for somewhere in the ballpark of $25,000 (£20,000) (though it was an accepted offer, so we can’t be sure of an exact price). Other sellers with a grade 9 card are looking for around $35,000, and one grade 10 card is being offered for a whopping $100,000.
28. Japanese Basic No Rarity Symbol Holo Poliwrath
Price: $25,015
The 1996 Japanese Basic No Rarity Symbol Holo Poliwrath appeared in the original Pokémon base set. Poliwrath isn’t as widely popular as Charizard or Pikachu, and it isn’t often considered one of the cutest Pokémon, but every Pokémon is somebody’s favorite.
Plus, no collector in their right mind would turn down a PSA 10 card from the OG glory days of the Pokémon TCG. Proving our point, a 2020 auction from PWCC saw the water Pokémon sell for $25,015.
27. Ex Dragon Frontiers Holo Charizard Gold Star
Price: $27,600
The Ex Dragon Frontiers Holo Charizard Gold Star was a rare Pokémon card, even when it was first printed in 2006. It’s one of several ‘gold star’ cards in this guide, which have a pull rate of one every two booster boxes. Combine this with a PSA 10 grading and the most popular Pokémon to ever grace the game, and you’ve got one valuable Pokémon card.
This might not be the most recognizable, powerful, or expensive of the Charizard Pokémon cards, but it does have some of the most unique art. Masakazu Fukuda presents a dark version of the darling dragon, leaping through the air while letting out bursts of flame.
26. Gold Pikachu
Price: $29,520
Nothing screams expensive like a flash of gold. And in this case, gold beats old.
The Gold Pikachu Pokémon card isn’t an aged specimen from the early days of the trading card game, like many of the cards on this list. It appeared in 2018, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon TCG. Though young, it’s still easily among the rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards.
Made of 11 grams of solid 24-karat gold, the card is a replica of the original Japanese Pikachu card’s design, featuring a distinctly more rotund yellow mouse. To grab the card on release, would-be buyers had to enter a lottery, with winners given the chance to buy the limited edition card for a cool ¥216,000 ($2,000 / £1,700). But since then, its value has risen swiftly. It sold for close to $8,000 (£5,750) in 2019, then $12,655 in 2020. Most recently, a version of the card went for a cool $29,520 in 2021. Notably, this was graded at EX 5 by PSA, so higher-priced Pikachu’s are certainly possible
Although not legal in tournament play, the card came with a handy glass frame, so you could store the artefact, while helpfully displaying it to any visitors that you deem worthy. You’d probably have to explain why spending nearly 30 grand on a single, unusable card was a good financial decision, though.
25. X/Y 20th Anniversary Festa Pikachu
Price: $32,520
A fairly new promo card (relatively speaking) takes this spot. This Japanese Pikachu card features all three of the Gen 1 starters in an art piece older Pokémon fans are sure to adore.
It was given out to attendees of the 20th Anniversary Festa in Toki Messe, Niigata on October 10, 2016, which celebrated 20 years since the release of the first Pokémon game in 1996.
The unique card features a 120 damage attack ‘Mega Thunderbolt’ which has you discard all Pikachu’s energy, and another, Celebration, which demands every player clap their hands and then draw a card.
The highest-selling copy of this card was sold on March 9, 2023 via auction site Goldin. This card, given Becket’s maximum grade of 10 (Pristine) fetched $32,520 at auction.
24. 1999 Base Set 1st Edition Shadowless Holo Chansey
Price: $36,877
The 1999 Base Set 1st Edition Shadowless Holo Chansey is an original Pokémon card depicting a unique and popular Pokémon. It may be no Charizard, but Chansey has plenty of fans nonetheless.
This particular Chansey is also made valuable by its PSA 10 grading. According to auction website PWCC, a Chansey card of this quality is hard to come by. It’s that holographic finish on the card – it scratches very easily.
Careful handling was rewarded in this case, as in October 2020 the owner of the 1999 Base Set 1st Edition Shadowless Holo Chansey raked in $36,877 at auction.
23. Holographic Crystal Charizard first edition
Price: $40,800
The Holographic Crystal Charizard comes from the Mysterious Mountains (or Skyridge, for English-language players) e-card Pokémon TCG expansion. This was the last expansion to be produced by Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast before their Pokémon license ran out.
The ‘e-card’ name comes from the fact you could put these Pokémon cards through an e-reader to discover bonus content like mini-games or Pokédex info. While some English-language sets carried on this novelty for a little while longer, in Japan, Mysterious Mountains was the final e-card set.
While Charizard is the ultimate chaser Pokémon for many, this card doesn’t tend to sell for as much as other Charizard Pokémon cards. The most we’ve seen Crystal Charizard sell for is $40,800 (£32,300) in an auction from October 2022.
Maybe it’s because this card isn’t as scarce as some other entries in this list, or maybe it’s because it lacks the nostalgia of the Base Set. But either way, this is still one of the more expensive Pokémon cards out there.
22. Holographic Gold Star Rayquaza
Price: $48,600
EX Deoxys is one of the rarest Pokémon Booster Boxes of all time, and Holographic Gold Star Rayquaza is its biggest chase card. Like all the rare gold star cards, this features a shiny Pokémon, and the card has a holographic sparkle. But no gold star Pokémon cards are as coveted as the stylish black and gold shiny Rayquaza. This rare card from 2005 sold for a whopping $45,100 (£35,867) in 2020. We thought it may have peaked in value – as much more recently, a PSA 10 copy of the card went for just $38,100 (£30,300) – but apparently not, as on June 1, 2023, Rayquaza sold again for $48,598.
21. Holographic Gold Star Torchic
Price: $50,000
Another popular gold star card is the Holographic Gold Star Torchic. Gold star cards are popular for their rarity (as relatively few were printed), but their gorgeous art is also part of the appeal.
On this card, artist Masakazu Fukuda depicts the adorable starter Pokémon popping out of the frame with a cheeky wink and a flash of glitter. A PSA grade 10 Gold Star Torchic was sold in October 2021 for $50,000 (£39,600).
20. Base Set No Rarity Venusaur
Price: $55,000
First edition Pokémon cards are already a winner. And while Venusaur doesn’t have the same pull as Charizard, this starter evolution still does stonks on the secondary market.
Base Set No Rarity Venusaur is made even more valuable because of a printing problem – the black star in the bottom right that’s meant to denote the card’s rarity is missing. Oh, and this one in particular has the protective case signed by artist Mitsuhiro Arita. All in all, that led to a price of $55,000 (£43,700) at a PWCC auction in 2021.
Not all first-edition Venusaurs are this valuable of course. Another PWCC auction, this time for an English-language version without any defects or signature, only auctioned for $14,400 (£11,400). Which, y’know, is still a lot of money – just not ‘no rarity’ money.
19. 2005 Summer Battle Road Mew Victory Orb
Price: $60,000
The 2005 Summer Battle Road Mew Victory Orb was a prize given out at the 2005 Summer Battle Road tournament. There were nine regional competitions as part of this tournament, and the top three players in each would receive this Mew Victory Orb card. This means only a handful of copies were ever given out.
This particular copy of the card, sold in 2020, received a PSA grading of 10, and it was auctioned with its original trophy case. This helped it fetch a tidy price of $60,000 (£47,500).
18. 64 Mario Stadium Chansey
Price: $63,000
While promoting the 1999 Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap, Nintendo held two fan contests where pictures taken in the videogame would be turned into real Pokémon cards. Ten winners were selected from each; winners of the CoroCoro Comic contest received 20 copies of their personalized card, while winners of the 64 Mario Stadium contest got just 15. As you can imagine, a 64 Mario Stadium Chansey (with art by competition winner Kaori Someya) is pretty rare.
Making them even rarer still is the fact that, according to PWCC, only two copies of the card have ever been sold. One auctioned for $63,000 ($50,000) back in December 2022, which shows just how much one of these Pokémon Snap cards could be worth if they ever appear again.
17. 1999 Tropical Mega Battle: Tropical Wind
Price: $65,100
A rare promotional Pokémon card, 1999 Tropical Mega Battle: Tropical Wind is another card produced in celebration of the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle tournament. A predecessor to the annual World Championships that still take place today, Tropical Mega Battle invited around 50 contestants to Huwaii, where they battled it out for fame, glory, and this promo card prize.
It’s not known exactly how many copies of Tropical Wind were produced, but there’s not exactly a crop of them kicking about. In October 2020, a PSA 10 Gem Mint condition copy sold at auction for $65,100 (£47,500).
Depending who you ask, it might also have the best artwork of any card on this list. No one can deny that a sleepy Psyduck chilling in a hammock, holding a ukulele, and joined by Jigglypuff isn’t incredibly adorable. Pokémon doesn’t get any cuter than this.
16. Master’s Key
Price: $66,000
A relatively recent addition to the coveted halls of Pokémon rarity, the Master’s Key Prize Card was awarded to competitors of the 2010 Pokémon World Championships. Each of the 36 participants in the TCG and videogame tournaments was given the card, along with a fly display case to show off their competitive card-playing abilities.
A Master’s Key Prize Card sold at auction in 2019 for $21,000 (£15,100). That’s already a pretty steep price, but this rare Pokémon card sold for even more in May 2023, when it was auctioned by PWCC for $66,000 (£52,354).
15. Magikarp Tamamushi University Promo
Price: $66,100
Magikarp might not be one of the best Pokémon cards to ever grace the games, but the Magikarp Tamamushi University promo card goes some way towards rectifying that.
Handed to winners of the 1998 Tamamushi University Hyper Test Campaign, this Magikarp includes the Dragon Rage special move – not usually learnable by the magical fish until it has evolved into Gyrados, and a tad more useful than its usual Splash ability.
Early promotional material suggests 1,000 copies of the card were originally produced, although it’s not known how many actually made it off the factory floor and are lurking around for public collection. But that only adds to the mystique.
In February 2021, a Magikarp Tamamushi University card sold on eBay for $66,100.00 (£48,160). You’ve got to really love fish to part with that kind of money.
14. 2005 Play Promo Holo Umbreon
Price: $70,000
The 2005 Play Promo Holo Umbreon Gold Star card was only awarded to members of the Pokémon Player’s Club, and they’d need to earn 70,000 EXP points to get their hands on a copy. Considering members start out with only 1,000 points, catching this one was no small feat. It’s one of the most notoriously difficult Player’s Club promo cards to acquire.
This alone makes this Umbreon rare and desirable, but there’s more: the holo version of the card was never released in English. Combine that with adorable art of a beloved Eeveelution, and you’re talking real value. In a 2021 PWCC auction, this Pokémon card sold for $70,000 (£55,700) – that’s one dollar for every EXP point it’s worth.
13. Gyarados Pokémon Snap contest
Price: $87,500
Like the Chansey above, this Gyarados is one of ten successful entries to the Pokémon Snap photo contest in 1999, this special version of Base Set Gyarados was reprinted with a Pokémon Snap photo for its art.
According to Heritage Auctions, where a copy of this card was sold for $87,500 on July 7, 2023, only 15 copies of each of the prizewinning cards were created, and it’s not clear how many have survived to present day, making this one rare sea beastie.
Gotta admit, we’re not a hundred percent sure why this picture, in which the Gyarados is only recognisable if you already know what you’re looking at, would’ve won the competition. Perhaps there weren’t very many entries?
12. No.1 Trainer
Price: $90,000
Perhaps the rarest of all Pokémon cards, No.1 Trainer takes the concept of rarity, sprinkles in a dash of scarcity and exception, and basks in the light of secrecy to evolve into the highest stage of mystique that a collectable card can.
A promotional card awarded to finalists of the 1999 Secret Super Battle Tournament – also functioning as the entry ticket to the tournament’s finals – it’s said that only seven copies were made. Six of them remain in perfect Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) Gem Mint 10 condition, one of which was sold at auction in 2020 for $90,000 (£64,750).
The holographic card features a silhouetted Mewtwo and, according to the auction house responsible for last year’s sale, Heritage Auctions, the card’s description translates to: “The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament’s champion is recognized here, and this honour is praised. By presenting this card, you may gain preferential entry into the Secret Super Battle”.
11. Japanese Extra Battle Day Full Art Lillie
Price: $108,000
Lillie is a popular card for her character alone, a beloved companion who appears in Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon and Pokémon Journeys: The Series, so there’s already a slight ‘waifu tax’ associated with all version of her card. But the Extra Battle Day promo variant is incredibly rare.
The Extra Battle Day was a limited event originally planned to run in October and November 2019, and January and February 2020, but the Coronavirus pandemic meant that only the first two events ever ran. Players had to win a lottery just to enter the Extra Battle Days, and their score was scrutinised on everything from wins, to ratio of prize cards won to lost, to the outcome of a game of rock-paper-scissors.
So the winners got the promo Full Art Lillie, right? Wrong! Winners got booster packs which had a chance of pulling one of three full art rares, of which Lillie was the rarest. Small wonder, then, that a PSA graded Gem Mint 10 copy of this promo sold for $108,000 on PWCC in July 2023.
10. No. 2 Trainer
Price: $137,500
The second Tropical Mega Battle card on our list, No. 2 Trainer is one of the rare promo cards produced for the Tropical Mega Battle tournament, a short-lived annual competition which ran from 1999 – 2001. The top three players in each region each took home a card featuring a happy Exeggutor (in following years, the winners instead got personalized prize cards). The No. 2 Trainer card pictured here sold for $50,300 (£40,000) in 2020.
Since then, it appears the card’s price has more than doubled, as in a July 2023 Heritage Auctions auction, a copy sold for a mighty $137,500. Not bad for second place!
9. Holographic Lugia Neo Genesis first edition
Price: $144,300
Lugia has a firm place in popular Pokémon history. A legendary bird that first appeared in Generation II, it quickly became a fan-favorite among players of the franchise’s videogames and trading card game alike. It even made an appearance on the front cover of Game Boy game Pokémon Silver, so you know it’s not playing around.
Unsurprisingly, the Pokémon’s popularity hasn’t waned. Back in May 2021, a Holographic Lugia Neo Genesis First Edition card, graded as a Pristine 10 by grading agency BGS, sold for $144,300 (£105,200). That’s no pocket change.
Auction house PWCC reckons only 41 PSA 10 copies of the card have ever been graded, and only three have received the BGS 10 Pristine label. The card’s scarcity and Lugia’s continued popularity will keep the value of this Pokémon card high for years to come.
8. Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy
Price: $175,000
The Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy card was given as a reward to participants of a 1998 Pokémon TCG battle tournament. This was no regular tournament, however, as each team was made up of both a parent and child, bringing some family spirit to the game. Those teams that reached a certain spot in the contest’s ladder were rewarded this trophy card.
Let’s hope they hung onto it. The card was never printed outside of the tournament, and features the original Pocket Monsters Trading Card Game logo as a set symbol (instead of the regular Pokémon TCG logo), making it quite the rarity. Collector’s seem to think so, too. In October 2020, a PSA 10 ‘gem mint’ copy of the card was auctioned for $150,100 (£109,350) on eBay, making it one of the most expensive Pokémon cards to sell in recent years. That price was beaten in a Heritage Auctions sale in July 2023 however, setting a new highest price of $175,000.
7. Ishihara GX Promo
Price: $247,230
A little different from the others on this list, the Ishihara GX Promo card doesn’t actually feature a Pokémon, but the president and founder of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara. The promotional card was printed in celebration of his 60th birthday, and handed to the company employees who attended his party – quite the corporate treat. The card’s ‘Red Chanchanko’ ability is a reference to the traditional Japanese garment often given to men when reaching 60 years old.
Copies of the card have sold at auction for as much as $50,000 (£36,450), but that’s peanuts compared to what a signed copy can fetch. In April 2021, an autographed PSA 7 Ishihara GX Promo card went for $247,230 (£180,200). It’s unlikely we’ll see many more of these pop up, though. It’s rumoured that only a handful were ever printed, and only one signed copy has ever been shown to the public.
6. Trophy Pikachu No. 3 Trainer
Price: $300,000
One of the most expensive prize card on our list comes all the way from June 1997, less than one year into the Pokémon TCG’s lifespan. This was the very first Pokémon tournament, and it looked very different to modern competitive play. According to the ‘museum’ website Pokumon, the competitors were 1000 children (aged up to 15) chosen by lottery. Since skill wasn’t required to compete, the power level was really low, with all sorts of wild and wacky decks showing up.
Anyway, the first ever prize cards, each featuring different Pikachu pics, were awarded to the winners, with the above No. 3 trainer cards given to third and fourth place competitors in each of the four tournaments. Eight copies of the Trophy Pikachu No. 3 Trainer card should therefore exist, but only four have been PSA certified. How much does this slice of Pokémon history cost? In April 2023, a copy sold on Heritage Auctions for $300,000 (£239,253). A pricey Pika!
5. Presentation Blastoise
Price: $360,000
For a while this Kanto starter was the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold, Presentation Blastoise took the heavyweight title in January 2021, fetching a very fine $360,000 (£260,000) at auction. Although Blastoise doesn’t have quite as many fans as bad boy Charizard, this isn’t just any bipedal, turtle-like, walking cannon ‘mon. The Presentation Blastoise was originally printed by Wizard’s of the Coast as a demonstration piece, used to pitch Nintendo the value of producing an English variant of the already successful Japanese trading card game.
Because it’s a prototype, this card features different fonts, a missing water energy symbol, and misspellings – which only makes the card more prized. With a role in sparking the card game’s international success, the Presentation Blastoise has a place at the center of the Pokémon TCG’s history. Only two Presentation Blastoise cards were produced, with the location of the other card not publicly known, and auctioneers still questioning its present existence.
4. First edition Charizard
Price: $420,000
Ah, First edition Charizard. Ask a casual fan what the most sought-after Pokémon card is, and there’s a good chance they’ll answer: shiny Charizard. Perennially popular since its release in 1999, holographic Charizards have been a staple on the wish lists of collectors and fans for over 20 years, and a legend of playgrounds everywhere.
The first edition holo Charizard is particularly valued, for its age, limited availability, and the recognisable image of one of Pokémon’s much-loved mascots. Like all first edition Pokémon cards, this card is shadowless, printed without the dark border on the frame that was added later. There are a very few shadowless cards that aren’t first edition, but it’s the combination of the shadowless border and first edition logo that’s the real certification of excellence.
In October 2020, a PSA 10 mint condition first-edition shadowless holographic Charizard was bought by ex-rapper Logic at auction for a sizeable $220,000 (£173,000), only to be surpassed a month later when another Charizard of the same specifications sold for $295,000 (£210,000).
But that’s nothing compared to the mint, PSA 10 copy that sold in 2022 for $420,000 (£334,000). That sale currently places the First edition Charizard as the third most expensive (playable) Pokémon card in the world.
3. Trophy Pikachu No. 2 Trainer
Price: $444,000
The silver, second place counterpart to the bronze Trophy Pikachu higher up this list, the Trophy Pikachu No. 2 Trainer was given to second place winners at the first two Pokémon tournaments ever, in 1997 and 1998. It features an illustration by card artist Mitsuhiro Arita of a happy Pikachu holding a trophy.
On September 7, 2023 a copy of this card from the second (1998) tournament, known as Lizardon Mega Battle or Charizard Mega Battle, sold for an outstanding $444,000 on auction site Goldin. What’s the difference between the prize cards from the second tournament and the first? Well it’s pretty much just the text.
Weirdly, the only difference between the prize cards is that those from the second tournament have a line specifying they’re from the first ever Pokémon tournament. A heinous lie! But it’s actually because the second tournament was on a much larger scale than the first, as Pokémania began to take root.
Why’d it fetch such a high price? Well, it’s a very rare piece of Pokémon history, preserved at a very high quality. Only 15 copies of the card were made, and only four examples of the card have survived to become PSA graded. The real clincher, however, is that this is currently the only copy to have achieved the perfect PSA 10 rating. Presumably 11 cards are lying crumpled in a drawer somewhere, their owners none the wiser.
2. Topsun Charizard Blue Back
Price: $493,230
The Topsun Charizard Blue Back card would be the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold, if it could really be counted as a Pokémon card at all, that is. It features Charizard on the front and has all the right text, but this pick isn’t actually part of the official Pokémon TCG. Before Creatures Inc. developed the version of the trading card game we’ve come to know, Topsun gave it a go, and printed a few prototype cards.
This is one of them, and not just any one of them. Its blue back and unnumbered printing make it even more scarce. Rumoured to have originally been distributed in packets of gum in Japan in 1997, despite being printed with a 1995 trademark date.
As you might expect, there’s not many of these left lying about; only 31, according to trading card authenticator PSA’s last count
That’s why in January 2021, a PSA 10 version of the blue-backed, unnumbered, Topsun Charizard card sold for a mega $493,230 (£392,325) at auction. It just goes to show, even unofficial products can be gold for some.
1. Pikachu Illustrator
Price: $5.28 million
Pikachu Illustrator is a promo Pokémon card originally handed out to winners of a 1998 illustration competition run through Japanese magazine CoroCoro, and only 39 copies were ever created. It’s the only card to feature the ‘Illustrator’ title, and its artwork was drawn by esteemed Pokémon illustrator Atsuko Nishida, creator of Pokémon’s main mascot, Pikachu. It also has a unique pen icon in the bottom-right corner, seen on no other card, presumably to remind us of its artistic roots.
It’s unknown exactly how many Pikachu Illustrator cards are still in existence, but ten PSA certified copies have been graded as ‘mint’. Until January 2021, it was the most expensive Pokémon card to ever have been sold at auction, with a PSA 9 Mint condition card selling for a whopping $233,000 (£167,600).
Pikachu Illustrator regained the title in record-breaking fashion after just six months, when Logan Paul (yeah, that guy) spent $4 million on the only existing PSA 10 version of the card, getting the purchase accredited by Guinness World Records as the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold. Where’d that $5.28m figure come from? Well to make the sale, he also handed over a lesser PSA 9 version of the card, which he’d previously purchased for $1,275,000 (around £1,000,000) in order to make the trade.
It’s a pity it’s so rare, though, because Pikachu looks even cuter than usual when holding an oversized fountain pen.
Pre-release Raichu
Price: Unconfirmed
Pre-release Raichu is as much a myth as a rare Pokémon card. Legend has it that a handful of Raichu cards were wrongly printed with the word ‘pre-release’ stamped on their artwork in the lead up to the release of the Pokémon Jungle expansion.
The faulty cards were supposedly destroyed, but ten are rumoured to have been to be distributed among Wizards’ employees. They exist now only as legend.
The mere existence of the card was denied by Wizards until 2006, when a staff member released an image of what they claimed to be a genuine copy of the card. In the years since, other Pokémon collector’s have declared to own legitimate copies, while others have branded these attempts as nothing more than fakery. No professional certification body or auction house has ever certified a Pre-release Raichu.
Many cards are said to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of Pokémon, but if that moniker should be used for anything, it’s this card. Its questionable existence alone would make the pre-release Raichu a sight to behold. We just have to wait and see if any copy is confirmed to be legitimate.
If you think you’ve found a hidden gem in the back of a closet, or had a lucky thrift store find, make sure to check out our fake Pokémon cards guide so you don’t drop big money on counterfeit cards.
And if you do your Pokémon training on the move, take a look at our sister site Pocket Tactics’ guide to the latest Pokémon Go promo codes.