Pikachu Illustrator is one of the rarest Pokemon cards ever made, with only 39 produced as prizes for a 1998 Japanese illustration contest. Out of those, just a handful have sold publicly over the years.
This card comes from the early days of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. In 1997 and 1998, CoroCoro magazine in Japan held a contest where kids drew their favorite Pokemon. The top 39 winners got these special Pikachu cards as rewards. They feature a cute Pikachu holding a pencil, with unique artwork and no English text. Experts believe only 39 exist in total because that matches the number of first-place prizes given out.[3][4]
Public sales are even rarer. Most owners keep them private or ungraded to avoid damage. Auction records show only about 5 to 10 Pikachu Illustrator cards have changed hands in public sales since the 1990s. The most famous one is a perfect PSA 10 grade that Logan Paul bought in 2022 for over 5 million dollars. It was the only known PSA 10 at the time, sold through a private deal but widely reported.[3][4]
Other sales include a few lower-grade copies at big auctions like Heritage or Goldin. For example, PSA 9 versions have sold for hundreds of thousands, but exact counts vary because not every sale gets public tracking. Sites like PriceCharting and PSA population reports confirm low numbers, with under 20 total graded by PSA across all conditions.[1][2]
Prices depend on grade and condition. A raw ungraded card might fetch 1 million or more if authenticated. Graded ones climb fast: PSA 8 around 500,000 dollars, PSA 9 over 1 million, and anything near perfect is priceless. Recent checks show no new public sales in late 2025, keeping the count steady.[1]
For collectors, knowing the exact public sales helps spot fakes or overpriced listings. Stick to trusted graders like PSA or BGS, and check auction archives for proof. These cards rarely hit the market, so when they do, prices explode due to demand from big collectors.[2][4]
