Among the unique Pikachu card “Pikachu Illustrator” cards have been around since 1996 and over the years earned a huge, attached following which truly attempts to collect them all.
Pikachu Illustrator is the most and super rarest Pokemon card that has been at an auction in the new york city for a whopping $195000 and making Pikachu Illustrator the most expensive one in existence, according to Kotaku. The Pikachu Illustrator card also known as the Holy Grail of Pokemon was only given out to winners at the Corocoro Comic Illustration contest in 1998.
Why is this card considered as the rarest one?
This card is not given usually like others, was never sold in bundles like formal ones but rewarded to the winners of a Japanese comic contest in 1998. Due to its oddity, a Pikachu Illustrator card not in mint condition is worth at least $50000 and in 2014, one of these cards in mint condition was auctioned for $100,000 through online eBay.
Across these two years, only 39 ‘Illustrator Pikachu’ cards were released and handed out to contest winners who secured first or second place during a: pokemon card game illustration contest” whereas it is estimated that only 10 of these are believed to still exist.
The artwork of the card is done by Pikachu creator, Atsuko Nishida is a Japanese graphic artist who designed several creatures for the Pokemon franchise, including one of the most well-known Pokemon species.
The Pikachu Illustrator card describes “we certify that your illustration is an extraordinary entry in the Pokemon card game illustration contest. therefore, we state that you are an officially authorized Pokemon card illustration and admire your skill”. The card was sold on ZenPlus to an unidentified American buyer who ended up purchasing the card for $220000 in 2019.
How did the auction go? Who won the bid?
On October 23rd, 2019, Weiss auctions inaugurated bidding on a super rare Pokemon card Japanese Illustrator Pikachu, a promotional card built as a contest prize in 1998.
The auction went on: this particular card is a PSA 9, the closest to perfect a card could get without 100 stars rating, the same card sold at auction for around $50,000 a few years back, but this card Pikachu got on a bunch greater than the expected price- to $195000 at the hammer. Even Phil Weiss, a collectibles expert and owner of the auction took the event in hand and made the sale at a high rate and said: “ I was stunned it went that high and with the buyer’s premium, it’s over $220000 for the card”. In the auction, two potential buyers started a bidding war on the “Pikachu Illustrator” card which hiked up the rate by thousands. The sale of Pikachu illustrator cards has broken the previous Pokemon card record.
