A super-rare Pokémon card that was never actually sold as part of the Pokémon trading card game is up for auction. It features a drawing of Pikachu by Atsuko Nishida.
Known as the “Pikachu Illustrator Card,” the card was awarded in 1998 to winners of a CoroCoro Comic illustration contest. Only a handful were given out and of this handful, only a few were ever certified by the PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator).
According to the listing:
“This unique card was created specifically for the contest. In the January 1998 issue, three 1st Place winners won a copy of the card, as did another 20 2nd Place winners. With cards awarded in two more contests that year, there were a maximum of 39 copies released. It is not known exactly how many surviving copies are still around; however, only 10 PSA certified copies are known, a very important note because there are many counterfeit copies.”
The listing goes on to explain that the Pikachu Illustrator Card not only holds the record for highest sale price of any individual Pokémon card, it’s also considered the most rare: it is the only Trainer card that says “Illustrator” on top as well as the only one with a pen symbol in the bottom right corner. The listing calls it a “Double-Star” rarity promo card.
Heritage Auctions expects the auction to go up to $50,000, though the current bid is $340. The reserve price will be posted on Nov. 10 and the listing ends Nov. 19, so if you’ve got a couple hundred burning up your pocket, go ahead and place a bid.
How much would you pay for the Pikachu Illustrator Card? Feel free to talk about this auction and the Pokémon trading card game in our comments section below.
