The Most Expensive Pokemon Cards Ever Sold: A Running Ranking
The Pikachu Illustrator's $16.49 million Goldin Auctions sale still tops every confirmed Pokemon card sale, and 2026 has pushed seven more cards past $950,000 behind it.
The most expensive Pokemon card ever sold at auction is the PSA Gem Mint 10 Pikachu Illustrator, which brought $16,492,000 at Goldin Auctions on February 16, 2026, according to Guinness World Records and Sports Illustrated. That is more than six times the $2.7 million paid for the next card on this list, a PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star.
This list counts only completed sales with a published price, reported by the selling auction house or by established collectibles press, plus documented private transactions labeled as such. Each card appears once, at its highest such sale found in the coverage reviewed for this update.
The current record: Pikachu Illustrator
The Pikachu Illustrator is a late-1990s promo given only to winners of illustration contests run by the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic, and this is the only copy PSA has ever certified at Gem Mint 10. Its owner, Logan Paul, consigned it to a Goldin Auctions sale that closed on February 16, 2026.
It became the most expensive trading card of any kind sold at auction, not just Pokemon, per Guinness World Records.
That auction price is not the first record this exact card set. Paul acquired the PSA 10 copy in July 2021 in a private trade: he gave up his own PSA 9 Illustrator, then valued at $1,275,000, plus $4,000,000 in cash. Guinness World Records recognized that $5,275,000 figure as the record for the most expensive Pokemon card sold at a private sale.
The two numbers describe different kinds of transaction, a private trade against a public auction, and should never be read as the same sale happening twice.
Event
Price
Type
Date
Trade for PSA 9 copy plus cash
$5,275,000
Private sale
July 2021
Public auction, PSA 10 copy
$16,492,000
Auction (Goldin Auctions)
February 16, 2026
Lower-grade copies of the Illustrator are not repeated in the ranking below, but several would place high on it:
PSA 9, private sale: $2.7 million on August 31, 2026, per Sports Illustrated.
PSA 9, Heritage Auctions: $1,406,250 in March 2026, per Sports Illustrated.
PSA 8.5, Goldin: $727,120 in March 2026, per Sports Illustrated.
Earlier copies: $900,000 at Goldin Auctions in February 2022, per Cards N Packs, and a PSA 9 at $625,000 on August 8, 2025, per Kotaku.
The top ten cards by confirmed sale
Below the Illustrator, 2026 rewrote most of the list. Eight of the ten cards here set their highest sourced sale in 2026, and all eight cleared $950,000.
Rank
Card
Grade
Price
Venue
Date
1
Pikachu Illustrator (1998 CoroCoro promo)
PSA 10
$16,492,000
Goldin Auctions
February 16, 2026
2
Torchic Gold Star, EX Team Rocket Returns
PSA 10
$2.7 million
Alt
August 28 to September 10, 2026
3
Trophy Pikachu, Bronze 3rd Place
PSA 10
$1.769 million
Goldin Auctions
May 18, 2026
4
Charizard, 1996 Japanese Base Set, no rarity symbol
PSA 10
$1,700,000
Not named in coverage
March 3, 2026
5 (tie)
Rayquaza Gold Star, EX Deoxys
CGC Pristine 10
$1.02 million
Fanatics Collect
Late August 2026
5 (tie)
Mudkip Gold Star, EX Team Rocket Returns
PSA 10
$1.02 million
Fanatics Collect
September 21, 2026
7
Charizard, 1st Edition Base Set 4/102
PSA 10
$1,000,952.84
eBay
September 9, 2026
8
Trophy Pikachu, Gold 1st Place
PSA 8
$982,100
Goldin Auctions
March 6, 2026
9
Prerelease Raichu
PSA 6
$550,000
Heritage Auctions
September 19, 2025
10
Charizard, 1995 Japanese Topsun "blue back"
PSA 10
$493,230
Goldin Auctions
January 2021
Ranks 2 to 10 by highest confirmed sale
Torchic Gold Star PSA 10, 20262,700,000USD
Bronze Trophy Pikachu PSA 10, 20261,769,000USD
Japanese Base Charizard PSA 10, 20261,700,000USD
Rayquaza Gold Star CGC 10, 20261,020,000USD
Mudkip Gold Star PSA 10, 20261,020,000USD
1st Ed. Charizard PSA 10, 20261,000,952.84USD
Gold Trophy Pikachu PSA 8, 2026982,100USD
Prerelease Raichu PSA 6, 2025550,000USD
Topsun Charizard PSA 10, 2021493,230USD
Prices as reported by the auction houses and press coverage cited on this page (Sports Illustrated, ComicBook.com, Heritage Auctions, Goldin Auctions, Wargamer), accessed September 27, 2026. Figures reported in millions are shown as rounded in coverage.
The ranking is only as complete as the public record. A private sale that is never reported, or a six-figure result on a smaller platform, can sit above the lower entries without appearing here.
Gold Stars break into seven figures
The biggest surprise of 2026 is not a Japanese promo but three English Gold Star cards from the mid-2000s. In late August 2026, a Rayquaza Gold Star from EX Deoxys graded CGC Pristine 10 sold for $1.02 million through Fanatics Collect, which Sports Illustrated called the first English-language Pokemon card to cross seven figures.
Then a PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star from EX Team Rocket Returns sold for $2.7 million in Alt's August 28 to September 10, 2026 auction, which ComicBook.com reported as the most expensive English-language Pokemon card sale to date.
The previous public PSA 10 sale of that card was $25,400, in December 2020, per the same report.
Eleven days after that auction closed, a PSA 10 Mudkip Gold Star from the same set sold for $1.02 million on Fanatics Collect on September 21, 2026. ComicBook.com put its previous PSA 10 sale at $20,400 in December 2024.
Jumps of that size from one sale to the next are a reminder that a record price reflects two bidders on one day, not a settled market value.
Trophy Pikachu: three prizes, three prices
Trophy Pikachu cards were prizes handed to top finishers at Japanese tournaments in the late 1990s. Two of the three placements sit in the top ten, and the third falls just outside it.
Bronze 3rd Place, PSA 10: $1.769 million at Goldin Auctions on May 18, 2026, per Sports Illustrated.
Gold 1st Place, PSA 8: $982,100 at Goldin Auctions on March 6, 2026, which Sports Illustrated called the second-highest price ever paid for a Trophy Pikachu.
Silver 2nd Place, PSA 10: $444,000 at Goldin Auctions on September 6, 2023, per Sports Illustrated and Cards N Packs.
The order runs against the placements: the third-place card's sale was a PSA 10, while the gold card's top confirmed sale is a PSA 8, a reminder of how much weight grade carries at this level.
Base Set Charizard: a record that keeps moving
The 1st Edition Base Set Charizard is the card most collectors picture when they hear "expensive Pokemon card," and its highest sourced PSA 10 sale has climbed from $550,000 to more than $1 million in under a year.
A PSA 10 1st Edition copy of this card sold for $1,000,952.84 on eBay on September 9, 2026, per Sports Illustrated.
Heritage Auctions sold a PSA 10 copy for $550,000, with buyer's premium, at its December 12-13, 2025 auction, reported by Heritage as a new public-auction high. In February 2026, a PSA 10 copy pulled in Logan Paul's box break, with a "Logan Paul Break" label on its slab, sold for $954,800 at Goldin Auctions, per Sports Illustrated.
Sports Illustrated called that copy the most valuable non-Pikachu Pokemon card of all time at the time. It did not hold the title for long: the Japanese no-rarity-symbol Charizard brought $1,700,000 on March 3, 2026, and a PSA 10 English copy sold for $1,000,952.84 on eBay on September 9, 2026.
The same March 2026 Sports Illustrated roundup reported a second Japanese Base Set Charizard, signed by artist Mitsuhiro Arita, selling for $1,232,200 five days after the $1.7 million sale.
A single "most expensive Charizard" number is a snapshot of one sale, not a fixed ceiling.
The Prerelease Raichu and older records
The Prerelease Raichu sold at Heritage Auctions for $550,000 on September 19, 2025. In 1999, Base Set Raichus were printed on a sheet meant for Jungle-expansion Clefable prerelease promos, so they carry a "Prerelease" stamp, and Wizards of the Coast staff estimated eight to eleven copies, per Wargamer. PSA has graded exactly one of them, at EX-MT 6.
The 1995 Japanese Topsun "blue back" Charizard's $493,230 Goldin sale in January 2021 is now the oldest result in the top ten, and it holds tenth place ahead of the $444,000 silver Trophy Pikachu. No higher sale for that card turned up in the coverage reviewed for this ranking.
What this list leaves out
A gold Trophy Pikachu (PSA 9) reportedly sold on eBay for $3,000,000 on September 12, 2025, per Wargamer. It is not included here.
Cards N Packs, a tracker that publishes its own most-expensive-cards ranking, treats it as one of the "private transactions... not included due to lack of independent confirmation." Sports Illustrated's May 2026 description of the $982,100 gold copy as the second-highest price ever paid for a Trophy Pikachu does not count it either.
The same day produced a second unconfirmed listing: a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator reportedly sold on eBay for $4,000,000. Kotaku, which covered it under a headline asking whether the sale happened at all, noted that an identical PSA 9 copy had sold for $625,000 the month before, and that both listings used identical "Holy Grail!" marketing language.
One other large 2026 result is left out for a different reason: it is not a single card. Sports Illustrated reported a complete PSA 10 Skyridge master set selling for $1,218,750 at Heritage Auctions in March 2026, which would rank fifth if sets counted.
A listing that cannot be verified as a real, finished sale does not become one because a number appeared on a page. This ranking will move again, and any figure removed for lack of confirmation stays out until an auction house or credible outlet documents the sale directly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive Pokemon card ever sold?
The PSA Gem Mint 10 Pikachu Illustrator, sold by Goldin Auctions for $16,492,000 on February 16, 2026, per Guinness World Records and Sports Illustrated. It is the only copy of the card PSA has ever certified at that grade, and the price is more than six times the $2.7 million paid for the next card on this list, a PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star.
Is the most expensive Pokemon card different from the most expensive Charizard?
Yes. The Pikachu Illustrator tops the overall ranking. The highest Charizard sale sourced here is a 1996 Japanese Base Set Charizard with no rarity symbol, graded PSA 10, which sold for $1,700,000 on March 3, 2026, per Sports Illustrated. The English 1st Edition Base Set Charizard's highest sourced sale is $1,000,952.84 for a PSA 10 on eBay on September 9, 2026.
Why did Logan Paul's Pikachu Illustrator sell for so much more the second time?
The two sales were different kinds of transactions. In July 2021, Paul acquired a PSA 10 copy in a private trade, giving up his own PSA 9 copy plus $4,000,000 cash, a deal Guinness valued at $5,275,000. In February 2026, he consigned that same PSA 10 card to a public Goldin Auctions sale, which closed at $16,492,000. A private trade and a public auction result are not directly comparable figures.
How is this ranking kept current?
It is updated when a completed sale, reported by the selling auction house or by established collectibles press, would change the order. Figures that only ever appeared as unverified listings, like the two disputed September 2025 eBay sales described above, are not added even if they circulate widely.
Does a high sale price mean a card will keep gaining value?
No. Every figure here describes a completed sale as history, not a forecast. Auction prices for rare promos and top-grade copies depend heavily on the individual buyer and the specific auction, and a record price at one sale does not guarantee the next sale of a similar card will match or exceed it.
Janelle Sazon writes collecting guides and best-card roundups for Cardboard Alpha, with an eye on what makes a Pokémon card worth chasing: the artwork, the rarity tier, the condition it survives in, and what it really costs to own once the hype is set aside. Articles under this byline are written for collectors at every level, lean on published pricing and population data rather than speculation, cite every source inline, and are fact-checked against those sources before they are published.
Janelle Sazon's articles describe the collecting market using published pricing and population data. They are informational and are not personalized investment advice.
