How Many Pikachu Illustrator Cards Exist That Anchor High End Sales
If you follow high-end Pokemon card sales, the Pikachu Illustrator is the king of rarity. This special promo card from 1998 was given only to the winners of a Japanese illustration contest. Experts believe just 39 of these cards were ever produced in total. Out of those, only a handful have surfaced in the collector market over the years.
What makes this card anchor top sales is its extreme scarcity in top grades. Logan Paul made headlines in 2022 by buying a pristine PSA 10 version for over 5 million dollars. That sale put the Pikachu Illustrator on the map as the most valuable Pokemon card ever. Sources like auction records and collector sites confirm that only about 13 to maybe 100 copies might still exist in any condition, but the real gems are the ones graded perfect by PSA.
High-end sales, the ones that set price records, come from those ultra-rare PSA 10s or near-perfect grades. Just a few have hit auctions in gem mint shape. For example, that Logan Paul card was one of the best known, and it drove values sky-high for others like it. Lower grade versions pop up less often too, but they still fetch big money because so few exist overall.
Grading plays a huge role here. PSA looks at centering, edges, corners, and surface to give a score up to 10. A Pikachu Illustrator in PSA 10 is like finding a unicorn, which is why it anchors the market. Even near-mint ones can sell for tens of thousands, but the top ones push into millions.
For collectors chasing these, check recent auction data. Sites track sales, and volumes stay low, with big deals happening once in a blue moon. This scarcity keeps prices firm at the high end, making every confirmed Pikachu Illustrator a game-changer for the market. Keep an eye on graded populations, as new finds could shake things up.
