Kenneth Glad
An obscure Japanese promotional card has surged past every previous benchmark in the collectibles market. The multimillion-dollar sale highlights how scarcity, grading and celebrity ownership can collide to produce staggering results.
It began as a prize for a handful of young artists in Japan. Nearly three decades later, it has become the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
The Pikachu Illustrator card was originally awarded through CoroCoro magazine illustration contests in 1998. Goldin Auctions and CNN both reported that 39 were distributed to winners, with two additional copies later entering circulation, bringing the total known population to 41.
Logan Paul, the influencer and WWE performer who bought the card in 2021, owned the copy that went under the hammer. His example stands apart because of its condition. Professional Sports Authenticator records cited by CNN show it is the only Illustrator card graded “GEM MT 10,” PSA’s highest rating.
In a market where condition often determines price, that single point at the top of the scale can dramatically elevate a card’s value.
The sale unfolds
Golden Auctions said the card sold on Feb. 16 for $16,492,000, including the buyer’s premium, the additional percentage paid on top of the winning bid. The hammer price reached $13.3 million before fees.
Bidding stretched over 42 days and accelerated in the closing hours. Goldin’s auction data show 97 bids were placed before the final total was locked in.
During a livestream, Paul reacted as the number climbed. “Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” he said. He later called the result “absolutely insane”. Guinness World Records appeared during the stream to confirm it as the highest price ever achieved by a trading card at auction.
The card was sold mounted in a custom diamond-encrusted necklace that Paul wore at WrestleMania 38, and he pledged to hand-deliver it to the buyer.
Market ripples
The winning bidder was A.J. Scaramucci, writes the Japan Times, a venture capitalist and the son of former White House press secretary Anthony Scaramucci.
Paul had acquired the card in 2021 in a deal valued at $5.275 million, swapping $4 million in cash and a PSA 9-graded Illustrator card.
Record prices for sports cards have crossed the $10 million mark in recent years, but this sale pushes a non-sports trading card into similar territory. The Illustrator’s scarcity helps explain why: More than 75 billion Pokémon cards were printed in 2025 alone, making a 41-copy release from the 1990s exceptionally rare.
Sources: Goldin Auctions, CNN, the Japan Times
