What Are the Rarest & Most Expensive Pokémon Cards?

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Plus, how to sell your own Pokémon cards for cash
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Pokémon cards aren’t just the play pieces for one of the most popular trading card games (TCGs) on the planet—they’re investments! The rarest Pokémon cards on the planet can fetch frankly absurd prices. How absurd, you ask? Let’s just say you could buy a few single family homes in cash with some of these cards. Here, we’ll break down the 21 most expensive Pokémon cards that have ever sold. We’ll also cover what goes into the pricing of cards so that you can figure out if you’ve got something pricey lying around in your old Pokémon card binder!

Section 1 of 4:

Most Expensive Pokémon Cards

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  1. Logan Paul purchased this perfectly mint (PSA 10) copy of the Pikachu Illustrator card in 2022. This card is truly unique. It’s the only card ever printed with the “Illustrator” type, and there are only a handful in existence. The card was printed by the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic in 1998 as part of a reader contest to see who could design the coolest card. [1]
    • It’s unlikely this record will be beat any time soon. Logan Paul paid a huge premium compared to other versions that have sold in the past. He also tried to turn the card into an NFT project, so overpaying was likely a marketing strategy.
    • You could argue the card actually cost $4,000,000, since that’s the amount Logan Paul paid in cash. However, he also traded a slightly less mint version of the same card as part of the deal, and that card was worth about $1,275,000, ergo the $5,275,000 price.
  2. This Charizard from ~1995 was a promo piece that came with boxes of gum. It was published by Topsun, who was the printer of cards before Wizards of the Coast took over. The copy that sold for almost half a million is considered the highest quality copy ever seen. [2]
    • This isn’t technically a “Pokémon card” in the sense that it wasn’t printed for the Trading Card Game—it’s just a collector’s item with no purpose in the game.
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  3. The first international Pokémon tournament ever held took place in Japan in 1998. This No.2 Pikachu card was given out to second place winners. Only 4 of these cards have ever been confirmed to exist, making it one of the most sought-after cards of all time. [3]
    • There does appear to be a Gold 1st Place version of the card for the winners, but it doesn’t look like any of them have hit the market in a long time. [4]
  4. If you ever played the card game or watched the Pokémon anime, you’re probably not shocked to see a Charizard on the list. This is one of the most iconic Pokémon cards of all time, and there are only around 120 copies of the 1st Edition Charizard around these days. [5]
    • How do I know if my Charizard is 1st edition? Look on the left side of the card, directly underneath the art. If your card is first edition, there will be a black “Edition 1” stamp. Those are pricey, but the “shadowless” versions are the most expensive. Shadowless 1st Edition cards don’t have the shadow box on the right side of the art. [6]
  5. This weird Blastoise was part of a weird set of cards that seem to have only been printed as tests, or to show as a fun one-off in an interview or promo video. This Blastoise was only ever featured in a single interview, which makes it one of the most elusive versions of these test cards.
    • There are other “Commissioned” cards, including 60 Charizards, 52 Alakazams, and 7 highly sought-after Clefables. There are even 7 extremely weird cards named “Manhole,” which are uniquely odd. [7]
  6. Before the 1st edition was ever released, there was a “test run” print of the first edition cards. A Charizard from this test run that was signed (on the case, not the card) by Mitsuhiro Arita, the illustrator of the original Charizard art.
    • The signing actually might make this card less expensive. It’s rare for signatures to improve the value of the card, even if some collectors like them. This card probably wouldn’t be worth anything if the signature was on the actual card instead of the case.
  7. The Trophy No.2 Pikachu from earlier on this list was an award given out at the first international tournament, but this No.3 Pikachu comes from the first tournament ever. It was held in Japan in 1997, and this adorable Pikachu was the third place prize.
    • Like the No.2 Pikachu from the international tournament, there are 2nd and 1st place versions from this event, but it doesn’t appear that any have survived or are available on the market.
  8. So far as we can tell, Snap Pikachu was a promotional card released in Japan as part of the marketing for the Pokémon Snap video game. It’s especially notable because it was acquired by Dubsy , a famous Pokémon card collector who shares his buys on Instagram.
    • There are also Snap Magikarp and Snap Gyarados cards, but Snap Pikachu is simply the more sought-after card, though.
  9. Tsunekazu Ishihara is the founder and (then) president of Pokémon. This promo card was released to employees as part of his 60th birthday party. A single signed copy by the president himself has sold for $246,230. [8]
    • Unsigned copies of this card have sold at most for $100,000 in the past, so this might be one of the only situations where a signature directly on the card improved its overall value.
  10. This Test Print Blastoise from 1998 looks eerily similar to the Commissioned Presentation Blastoise, although this time the card is on a normal border. It also has the back of a Magic: the Gathering card, which is pretty odd.
    • It’s still not even 100% confirmed this test print Blastoise (and variations like it) is even real, but a lot of forensic work has concluded they’re almost certainly legit.
  11. This Umbreon version was only given out to players who had amassed 70,000 play points in the Pokémon Players Club in Japan. Basically, it was an award for being a really good Pokémon TCG player. Given how hard it was to reach 70,000 points in 2005 (when this card was printed), this is just a super rare card.
  12. The only way to have obtained a copy of this Kangaskhan was to compete in the parent/child Mega Battle Tournament in Japan in 1998. Teams that hit the highest number of wins were awarded copies of this now extremely-rare card.
  13. This is one of the most obscure cards on the list. It looks like a copy of this card sold for the Chinese equivalent of $171,000 in 2023, but that’s about all we know about the sale. [9]
    • This card was originally only given out to players who won at rock-paper-scissors in an event at a Japanese tournament in 2019.
  14. This card was given out as an award to the 7 players who won entry to the Super Secret Battle Tournament in 1999. Players had to win a tournament and then they’d be given a copy of this card alongside directions to the “secret” tournament. Cool, right?!
    • While only 7 players earned an entry card, 8 of these cards seem to exist. Looks like at least one entry tournament didn’t have a winner!
  15. There isn’t anything especially crazy about this card’s backstory—it’s just a really popular character and there are very few mint condition copies still in existence.
    • While one copy did sell for $144,300, current prices have dropped quite a bit.
  16. This is an actual one-of-a-kind. Literally—only one copy exists. It was awarded to Toshiyuki Yamaguchi in 2000 after getting second place in a Secret Super Battle.
    • Why is the second place card the most expensive? The first and third place winners also got custom cards, but the second place card actually depicts the actual player, which makes it exceptionally unique so far as Pokémon cards go.
  17. Snap Magikarp (alongside Snap Pikachu and Snap Gyrados) was a promo card included in the marketing for the video game Pokémon Snap . The card is notable for that, but it’s also just got some of the weirdest art on any Pokémon card ever. [10]
  18. These Trainer promos were given out to finalists at the 2006 World Championships. Only 3 copies exist, and the copy that sold for $110,100 is the only copy to have ever been graded for its condition.
  19. This is another one of the promo cards that was given out to players who won entry into the Super Secret Battle in 1999. This copy depicts MewTwo, one of the most iconic and popular Pokémon of all time. [11]
  20. Snap Gyrados is the last of the three iconic Pokémon Snap promo cards. This one is kind of the weirdest of the lot. It’s got the same kind of weird art as the Magikarp, but 20 copies of this were provided to the winner of the art contest they came from, which is especially funny because the art on this card is absolutely ridiculous. [12]
  21. If you signed up to participate in a Pokémon trivia game at Tamamushi University in 1998, you earned one of these cards as a reward if you aced the Hyper Professor Exam. Less than 100 copies of the card exist, and one mint condition copy rounds out our top 21 list.
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Section 2 of 4:

What impacts card value?

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  1. The rare slot in booster packs typically contains cards that are more sought-after than the commons that come before it, and that impacts prices a lot. When you’re looking at the most expensive Pokémon cards of all time, almost all of them have a very limited supply. That small supply and high demand can drive prices into very whacky ranges! [13]
  2. In trading card collectibles, grade refers to the quality of the card (are there chips in the cardboard, is it a good printing, is it bent, etc.). This isn’t subjective, though; there are two companies that are widely respected as the most accurate graders of trading cards—PSA and SGC. If a card has a high grade from either of these companies, it will fetch a higher price. [14]
    • The grading scale goes from 0.5 (a dog chewed on this card) to 10 (pack-fresh mint).
    • BGS is also considered okay, but PSA and SGC are the two most respected graders of Pokémon cards.
  3. This refers to where the card is from. If you can prove how a given card came into your position, from where, and why. This is especially important if the card is connected to any kind of interesting origin story (like most of the cards above). The more you know about the origin of a specific card, the higher price you can demand. [15]
  4. There aren’t any misprints on our list, but certain unique misprints can drive the cost of a card higher than it otherwise would. At the same time, some misprints can actually devalue the card. It all depends on the specific card and the nature of the misprint. [16]
  5. Any kind of limited run or “special alternative” versions of cards are typically going to be worth more than their more common counterparts. The most obvious example of this is First Edition cards. A First Edition Charizard can fetch anywhere from $800 to $350,000 depending on the quality of the card, while a Base Set 2 Charizard that was printed a few months after the First Edition will only fetch $10 to $800! [17]
  6. Believe it or not, signatures directly on cards are actually not good for their value. Most players and collectors want the card itself, not a signed copy. Beyond that, signatures can be exceptionally difficult to authenticate and an unknown signature can basically make a card worthless. [18]
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Section 3 of 4:

How to Find the Value of Your Pokémon Cards

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  1. The two most popular sites for Pokémon singles are eBay and TCGPlayer . If you want to know what a single card is worth, simply search for that card on either site. You’ll get a ton of data points regarding what a standard price is for each single . [19]
    • Use the “sold” filter for eBay results to see what people actually paid for singles if you’re seeing all kinds of whacky prices.
  2. If you just aren’t really sure if your online price checks are solid or this whole thing is just sort of overwhelming, have someone else do the work for you! Take a photo of your cards and upload them to r/pkmntcgtrades or r/PokeInvesting and ask for help. If you want to talk to someone IRL, just go to your local game shop. The workers there will be experts in card evaluation. [20]
    • You can find your nearest Pokémon game shop using Nintendo’s online search tool .
    • There are also Facebook groups surrounding card evaluation and pricing if you prefer going there!
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Section 4 of 4:

Where to Sell Your Pokémon Cards

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  1. 1
    Sell your cards to a local game shop for a quick return. Game shops will typically buy any card that’s worth more than 50 cents or so, but they’re going to offer something called “buylist prices.” These are considerably cheaper prices than what they sell, so you’re going to take a 10-20% hit on the value of your cards if you go this route. However, this is easily the best way to sell a larger sum of cards all at once. [21]
  2. 2
    Use Facebook or Craigslist to sell pricey cards locally. If you want a better price than what you’d get at a card shop, try listing your cards locally online. Pokémon is an extremely popular TCG, and there are a lot of local players constantly looking for good deals. [22]
    • You’ll still likely have to offer a minor discount to get a buyer, but you can easily make more than you would if you went to a game shop.
  3. 3
    List valuable singles on eBay to get top dollar. You won’t see much traction on TCGPlayer without a full shop on the site, but anyone can list goods on eBay . Take high-quality photos of your cards, list the edition, card name, and any other key details, and wait for a buyer to show up! [23]
    • This is basically the only way to get top dollar for your cards unless you have a very robust local Pokémon scene.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/article/A-Short-History-of-Pikachu-Illustrator-the-Most-Expensive-Pok%C3%A9mon-Card/d26cffe2-6e5f-4720-8519-a6317c11c060/
      2. ↑ https://public.com/learn/guide-to-Pokémon-cards-topsun-blue-back-charizard-edition
      3. ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/Pokémon/top-5-most-expensive-Pokémon-trading-cards-1395031/
      4. ↑ https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/non-sports-cards/1997-nintendo-Pokémon-japanese-promo/trophy-pikachu-gold-1st-tournament-1/667198
      5. ↑ https://hypebeast.com/2022/3/1999-pokemon-base-set-shadowless-first-edition-holo-charizard-all-time-record-420k-usd-pwcc-auctions
      6. ↑ https://relentlessdragon.com/Pokémon-card-game/identifying-early-Pokémon-cards/
      7. ↑ https://www.pricecharting.com/game/Pokémon-expedition/manhole-for-position-only
      8. ↑ https://hypebeast.com/2021/4/tsunekazu-ishihara-signed-pokemon-card-goldin-auctions-250k-usd-news
      9. ↑ https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/Pokémon-trading-card-game/news/full-art-lillie-Pokémon-card-extra-battle-day-auction-record-waifu-tax
      1. ↑ https://kotaku.com/magikarp-pokemon-card-125k-auction-expensive-rare-1848674053
      2. ↑ https://www.pokeguardian.com/474847_psa-10-no-1-trainer-trophy-card-super-secret-battle-mewtwo-sold-for-90-000-00
      3. ↑ https://youtu.be/3pzG58mt1f0?t=229
      4. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/02/07/how-to-know-if-your-charizard-pokmon-card-is-rare-and-valuable-or-not/
      5. ↑ https://cardhoundvintage.com/vintage-grading-wars-psa-sgc-and-the-future-of-collecting-graded-vintage-sports-cards/
      6. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/02/07/how-to-know-if-your-charizard-pokmon-card-is-rare-and-valuable-or-not/
      7. ↑ https://www.thegamer.com/Pokémon-tcg-error-cards/
      8. ↑ https://relentlessdragon.com/pokemon-card-game/identifying-early-pokemon-cards/
      9. ↑ https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/article/Understanding-the-Value-of-Signed-Cards-in-MTG-Finance/b420f95e-a136-4419-88ec-d2e17de0f904/
      10. ↑ https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/selling-cards-ebay-vs-tcgplayer-vs-buylists/
      11. ↑ https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/quick-money/sell-pokemon-cards/
      12. ↑ https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/quick-money/sell-pokemon-cards/
      13. ↑ https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/quick-money/sell-pokemon-cards/
      14. ↑ https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/make-money/quick-money/sell-pokemon-cards/

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