Pokémon card auctioned for $5 million
One of the rarest Pokémon cards in the world has once again switched owners for a million. One Pikachu Illustrator from 1998, assessed by a PSA 9, has been sold at Heritage Auctions for as much as $5 million.
This makes it the highest price ever paid for a Pikachu Illustrator with a PSA 9 rating and the second highest auction price for a Pokémon card ever.
Why is the Pikachu Illustrator so rare?
The Pikachu Illustrator is a special map in the history of the Pokémon TCG. The card was never available in stores or booster packs.
Instead, the maps were awarded in 1998 to winners of illustration competitions from the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic. According to Heritage Auctions, during the first three games in total only 39 copies distributed.
The design also differs from normal Pokémon cards. Bottom right is not a traditional rarity symbol, but a pen symbol. In addition, at the top of the card is the word Oh, my God. The artwork of Pikachu was made by Atsuko Nishida, which was also involved in the original design of Pikachu.
Not just any PSA 9
The copy now sold for $5 million has a PSA Mint 9 as an assessment. According to Heritage there are fifteen copies of the Pikachu Illustrator with this grade and only one copy is higher rated.
This specific card also has a MBA Gold DiamondMike Baker Authenticated. This indicates that the map is exceptionally strong within its existing PSA grade.
That seems to have generated a substantial premium at the auction. In March 2026 another PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator was sold at Heritage for $1,406,250.
Half a year later this specimen is paid almost four times as much.
Not the most expensive Pokémon card ever
No matter how impressive $5 million sounds: The absolute record is even higher.
The only known PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator was owned for years by YouTuber and WWE star Logan Paul. He obtained the card through a transaction worth $5.275 million and later even wore it in a diamond-decorated pendant during WrestleMania.
In February 2026 the same card went under the hammer at Goldin Auctions.
The final selling price?
$16,492,000.
The Pikachu Illustrator was sold not only the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold at auction, but according to Guinness World Records even the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
Pokémon cards keep breaking records
The sale of the PSA 9 copy again shows how much money is now involved in the highest segment of the Pokémon TCG market.
For comparison: In June 2022, a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator was sold at Heritage for $840,000. Four years later, a special one with the same PSA grade has thus earned $5 million.
The full Trading Card Games auction of Heritage on September 18 and 19 brought a total of over $12.18 million up. According to the auction house, that was a new record for his TCG auctions.
For the average collector, a Pikachu Illustrator will probably always stay out of reach. But the map underlines how big Pokémon has become in the world of high-end collectibles.
And with the 30th anniversary of Pokémon in full swing, the interest in rare and historical Pokémon maps does not seem to have disappeared for the time being.
Want to know more about Pokémon cards? Join our discord!
