YouTuber and professional wrestler, Logan Paul, has sold his PSA GEM MT 10 Pop. 1 Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon trading card for a record breaking $16,492,000.
Paul initially acquired the one-of-a-kind card back in 2021 after conducting a trade valued at $5.3M which, at the time, was recorded as the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale. With the conclusion of this auction, Paul not only broke his own Guinness World Record, but also claimed another for most expensive trading card sale, previously held by the Dual Logoman Autographs Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant basketball card which sold for $12.932M last year.
Hosted by Goldin Auctions, the monumental sale amassed nearly 100 bids before closing, with the winning bid going to AJ Scaramucci, venture capitalist and son of former White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci.
In addition to the card, the auction lot also included a diamond Pokéball necklace valued at $75,000, a custom wooden storage box, and the promise of being hand-delivered by Paul himself.
The Pikachu Illustrator card was first introduced in 1997 as a promotional prize for the Pokémon Card Game Illust Artist Contest, hosted by manga magazine CoroCoro Comic. According to Goldin, there are approximately 41 known Pikachu Illustrator cards in existence. Paul’s copy (now Scaramucci’s) is the only one with a perfect “10” grade from PSA, a major memorabilia authentication service.
“Due to the scarcity, grand value, and pedigree of this Pikachu Illustrator, this is one of the most significant public offerings of a Pokémon card in the history of the hobby and a potentially once-in-a-lifetime sale.”
Goldin Auctions
