{"id":519497,"date":"2026-03-04T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/rare-illustrator-pikachu-pokemon-card-sells-for-nearly-1-million\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:00:14","slug":"rare-illustrator-pikachu-pokemon-card-sells-for-nearly-1-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/rare-illustrator-pikachu-pokemon-card-sells-for-nearly-1-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Illustrator Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon Card Sells For Nearly $1 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Pokemon <\/p>\n

Platform:<\/b> Switch
Publisher:<\/b> The Pok\u00e9mon Company
Developer:<\/b> Game Freak <\/p>\n

A rare holographic \u201cIllustrator\u201d Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon card first released in 1998 has been sold for a record-breaking $900,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This news comes by way of Kotaku<\/a><\/em>, which first reported that auction site Goldin<\/a> announced it\u2019d be auctioning off the rare card. The owner of this now-$900,000 card remains unknown at the time of this writing, but the final auction price blows past previous records for a single Pok\u00e9mon card.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" Goldin <\/article>\n

That previous record was $375,000 and it was the selling price for a \u201cNear Mint 7\u201d version of Illustrator Pikachu sold in February of last year. This new one also carried with it a \u201cNear Mint 7\u201d condition, and it was sold on February 23. Kotaku reports that it was one of only 39 copies of this card currently known to exist in the world, according to card condition grading firm PSA<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Illustrator Pikachu is extremely rare and only released in Japan,\u201d PSA writes on Twitter<\/a>. \u201cAccording to Zenplus, there were only 39 produced. They were awarded as prizes for the \u2018Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest,\u2019 sponsored by Corocoro Comic in 1998. The artwork for the card was illustrated by Atsuko Nishida. She is credited as one of the creators of Pikachu.\u00a0 It has the layout of a trainer card with the word \u2018Illustrator\u2019 where you would typically find \u2018Trainer.\u2019 The main image has Pikachu holding a paintbrush and a drawing of Charmander over a holographic background. According to Bulbapedia, the card text is translated to, \u2018We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokemon Card Illustrator and admire your skill.'”\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The offers began under $100,000 when this card first went live in Goldin\u2019s auction but as is expected in auctions, bidders continued to drive the price up in attempts to secure the item and that\u2019s how it reached such a jaw-dropping number (although looking at previous card prices, $900,000 is still absurd). Now, this Illustrator Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon card holds the all-time record for any Pok\u00e9mon card sold ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surprising, but not entirely unexpected considering the Pok\u00e9mon card market as of late. Finding new releases on shelves is hard enough, especially now that many stores don\u2019t even put them on shelves due to the amount of violence that would ensue around new drops. Moreover, buying them online became just as hard. Nowadays, buying Pok\u00e9mon cards can be as difficult as securing a new PlayStation 5 in some cases. Most people aren\u2019t out here spending nearly $1 million on a single card, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more about Pok\u00e9mon cards, head to Game Informer\u2019s<\/em> Pok\u00e9mon Trading Card Game hub<\/a> where we have tons of stories about rare cards, new drops, and more. Check out this unboxing of the coolest cards in the Pok\u00e9mon Celebrations series<\/a> after that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Source: Kotaku<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

What\u2019s the rarest Pok\u00e9mon card you own? Let us know in the comments below!<\/em><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Platform: Switch Publisher: The Pok\u00e9mon Company Developer: Game Freak A rare holographic \u201cIllustrator\u201d Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon card first released in 1998 has been sold for a record-breaking $900,000.\u00a0 This news comes by way of Kotaku, which first reported that auction site Goldin announced it\u2019d be auctioning off the rare card. The owner of this now-$900,000 card remains unknown at the time of this writing, but the final auction price blows past previous records for a single Pok\u00e9mon card.\u00a0 Goldin That previous record was $375,000 and it was the selling price for a \u201cNear Mint 7\u201d version of Illustrator Pikachu sold in February of last year. This new one also carried with it a \u201cNear Mint 7\u201d condition, and it was sold on February 23. Kotaku reports…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":519498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-informer"],"yoast_head":"\nRare Illustrator Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon Card Sells For Nearly $1 Million | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Platform: Switch Publisher: The Pok\u00e9mon Company Developer: Game Freak A rare holographic \u201cIllustrator\u201d Pikachu Pok\u00e9mon card first released in 1998 has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/rare-illustrator-pikachu-pokemon-card-sells-for-nearly-1-million\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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