The most expensive Pokémon card reflects the success of the Japanese media franchise originally created for kids. The franchise debuted in February 1996 with Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version, a pair of role-playing video games released on Game Boy. The unexpected massive reception of the games saw Pokémon become a pop culture phenomenon, spawning several multimedia that attracted fans of all ages. From video games to movies, television shows, and a trading card game, Pokémon is an enduring entertainment product with a dedicated community that includes zealous card collectors.
The craze over the franchise and its collectible card game created a global market for Pokémon cards, with at least 52.9 billion cards sold worldwide. Given the unabating quest to hold vintage cards among collectors, Pokémon cards are now considered profitable forms of investments. As the value of almost all the rare cards has appreciated over time, it fuels the global enthusiasm for holding Pokémon cards, especially those popular in competitive play.
The Pikachu Illustrator Is The Most Expensive Pokémon Card
Among Pokémon card collectors, it’s well known that the Pikachu Illustrator is the rarest and most expensive of all Pokémon cards. Only 39 of these cards were released in 1997 and 1998 — when Shogakukan’s CoroCoro Comic organized three Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contests. The Japanese monthly manga magazine tasked readers with various challenges and rewarded winners with the cards. Details of the contest indicate 39 winners received the cards, but sources claim only 10 Pikachu Illustrators are still in circulation.
In 2020, ZenMarket reported that a Pikachu Illustrator card broke the world record, selling for $233,000 (25 million JPY) to become the most expensive Pokémon card. Nearly six months later, the Japanese online shopping platform reported that another Pikachu Illustrator was bought for $208,496 (22 million JPY). Yet again, another Pikachu Illustrator was sold on the platform in 2022 for $772,000 (98 million JPY), setting a new record as the most expensive Pokémon card.
Logan Paul Owns The Most Expensive Pikachu Illustrator Worth 5.275 Million USD
The PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator is the most expensive Pokémon card. American YouTuber and wrestler Logan Paul is the current owner of the card. He acquired the card in mid-2022 for $5.275 million. The social media star provided $4 million in cash, plus a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator card he bought for $1.275 million the previous year to claim ownership. Paul purchased the card in Dubai from an Arab collector named Marwan Dubsy. The National News reported that Dubsy purchased the card for $60,000 in late 2015. Barely three years after Dubsy acquired the card, he was offered $300,000 for it; this was sometime in 2018. He also rejected a $1.5 million offer for the card a year later.
The Arab collector accepted Logan Paul’s offer because the YouTuber wasn’t looking to profit from the card. “I like his philosophy,” Dubsy told The National News, “…he is someone who is not really going after money,” he added. After acquiring the card, the YouTuber put it up on his NFT platform for co-ownership, retaining only 49 percent ownership. “This was a very hard decision to make, but yes, I will be listing this card on a platform I co-founded called Liquid Marketplace. It allows co-ownership of top-tier assets, so instead of one person — me, owning this card, we as a collective can co-own it together,” said the YouTuber.
The YouTuber Made His WWE In-Ring Debut With The Most Expensive Pokémon Card
Logan Paul’s first match as a professional wrestler was at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022. He was The Miz’s tag team partner against The Mysterios — Rey and Dominik Mysterio. Winning the match wasn’t the only highlight of the night for Paul, who wore the $5.275 million PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card to the ring. After the match, he received a Guinness World Record for the Pokémon card. He was presented with an official Guinness World Records certificate for the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale.
Paul told GWR’s adjudicator Mike Marcotte that he had longed to break a GWR record all his life. “I applied for so many records…,” he said, “I love Pokémon and the fact that it’s been validated with Guinness World Records —this is crazy. Tonight’s a wild night. This does not feel real,” proclaimed the WWE wrestler. Check out the top five banned Pokémon cards of all time.
Watch Logan Paul’s video about the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator below: