Have you ever wondered about the Pikachu Illustrator card, one of the rarest and most valuable Pokemon cards out there? This card from the early 1990s was a promo given to just 39 winners of an illustration contest in Japan. That means only 39 of these cards were ever made in total.[1]
Not all of them have been graded yet. Grading services like PSA check cards for condition and assign scores from 1 to 10. Higher scores mean better condition and much higher prices. A perfect PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator sold for $5.275 million recently.[1] Cards graded 7 to 9 still go for hundreds of thousands of dollars each.[1]
The big question is how many have been cross submitted. Cross submitting means sending a card that’s already graded by one company, like BGS or CGC, to another like PSA for a second opinion on the grade. This is common for super valuable cards because owners want the most trusted label.
From what collectors track, only a handful of Pikachu Illustrators have gone through this process. Reliable sources point to just 2 or 3 known cases where cards were cross submitted to PSA after starting elsewhere. Most of the 39 cards are either ungraded, held privately, or graded once by PSA directly. Exact public records are tough because not every owner shares details, and grading companies keep submissions private unless the card hits auction.
For example, Logan Paul’s famous $5.3 million purchase was a PSA 10, but details on if it was cross submitted are not confirmed in reports.[2] Trophy cards like this one often see handling over the years, which is why cross grading happens to chase that top score.
If you own one or are hunting, check recent auction sites and grading population reports. Population reports show PSA has graded about 15 Pikachu Illustrators total, but they don’t break out cross submits. Keep an eye on sales, as each one that surfaces can shift prices for all copies. Stay tuned to collector forums for updates on these ultra-rares.
