How Many Pikachu Illustrator Cards Exist Compared to Sports Card Grails?
If you chase the biggest prizes in Pokemon cards, the Pikachu Illustrator stands out as the ultimate grail. This special promo card from a 1998 Japanese illustration contest awarded just 39 winners, meaning only 39 official copies were ever made.[2][4] No more exist, and experts estimate 13 to maybe 100 total have surfaced over time, with super rare ones graded by PSA.[2]
Sports card fans know grails like the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle or the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner. Those are tiny runs too. The Wagner has about 50 to 60 known copies left after years of wear and loss. The Mantle? Roughly 18 in perfect PSA 10 condition out of thousands printed originally. Pikachu Illustrator beats them on pure scarcity per print run, since its 39 total crushes the hundreds or thousands in early sports sets.[2]
Logan Paul grabbed one pristine PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator for over 5 million dollars in 2022, making headlines.[2][3][4] That price dwarfs most sports grails unless they hit auction fever. A top Wagner sold for 7.25 million once, but Pikachu holds steady as Pokemon’s king because so few float around. Unlike sports cards with reprints or fakes, Pikachu Illustrator stays locked in collector vaults.
Grading matters huge here. PSA 10s are unicorns for both worlds. Pikachu has just a handful logged, like Paul’s. Sports grails have more survivors but still demand millions for gems. Recent sales show Pikachu promos holding value, even newer ones like the 2024 Illustration Contest version trading around 15 to 20 dollars raw.[1]
Rarity drives the chase. Pikachu Illustrator’s fixed 39 count means supply never grows, unlike sports cards dug from attics. For Pokemon investors, that edges it ahead of many sports holy grails in raw exclusivity. Keep an eye on auctions, as one popping up shifts the market fast.
