Is inflation that bad, or has the world gone mad?? A new record auction price was achieved in the world of Pokémon this week when a 1998 Pokémon Illustrator card went under the hammer. In November of 2019, you may recall that I wrote about the rare Pokémon Pikachu Illustrator card when it sold for $195K, setting a record price. Since then, several other examples have sold. In 2020, a copy that was graded PSA9 was bought by an American collector for $233K through the Japanese site ZenPlus. Next, in 2021, one sold for $375K. Nowadays those prices seem like a bargain!
Pokémon Picachu
Illustrator cards, released in 1998, were given to the winners of contests hosted by Shogakukan’s CoroCoro comics. Founded in 1977, CoroCoro is a monthly Japanese magazine for elementary-school boys. The contests asked readers to draw their favorite Pokémon characters. The winners were awarded the rare Pokémon Illustrator cards, with 39 cards given out over three contests.
The record-breaking card, graded PSA7 ‘near mint’ condition, sparked some aggressive bidding. Bidding started at just $75K, and with 34 bids, the card sold for $900K! While no one knows if and when the Pokémon bubble may burst, the next card that comes up for auction may well break the million-dollar mark!