The most expensive trading card ever sold at auction is the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card, which sold for $16,492,000 on February 15, 2026, through Goldin auction house. The card was sold by Logan Paul to venture capitalist A.J. Scaramucci, son of Anthony Scaramucci, who purchased it for his new company Treasure Trove. The sale shattered the previous record by more than $3.5 million and earned Guinness World Record confirmation as the most expensive trading card ever sold.
The result caps a remarkable investment arc for Paul, who originally acquired the card in a private transaction in Dubai back in July 2021 for roughly $5.275 million — a deal that combined a PSA 9 version of the card valued at $1.275 million plus $4 million in cash. That puts his profit at approximately $11.2 million, a return that makes most stock portfolios look pedestrian. The auction itself ran for 42 days and attracted 97 bids before the hammer finally dropped. This article breaks down the history of the Pikachu Illustrator card, how it compares to previous record-holders across all trading card categories, what the sale means for Pokemon card values broadly, and what collectors should understand about the intersection of grading, rarity, and market timing.
Table of Contents
- What Made the Pikachu Illustrator the Most Expensive Trading Card Sold at Auction?
- How the $16.49 Million Sale Compares to Previous Trading Card Records
- Logan Paul’s Role in Elevating Pokemon Card Values
- What Collectors Should Know About PSA Grading and Its Impact on Value
- Risks and Limitations in the Ultra-High-End Card Market
- The Growing Intersection of Pokemon Cards and Institutional Capital
- Where Trading Card Records Go From Here
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Made the Pikachu Illustrator the Most Expensive Trading Card Sold at Auction?
The 1998 pikachu illustrator card occupies a unique position in the trading card world because it was never commercially available. Only 39 copies were originally distributed as prizes in a 1998 CoroCoro Comic illustration contest in Japan, making it among the rarest Pokemon cards in existence from the moment it was printed. The card that sold for $16.49 million is the only known copy graded PSA GEM MT 10, meaning it received the highest possible condition grade from Professional Sports Authenticator — a distinction that separates it from every other surviving example. That combination of limited production, cultural significance, and perfect grading creates a kind of collecting trifecta that almost never occurs in any category. Sports cards, by comparison, were produced by the millions.
Even the rarest vintage baseball cards typically have dozens of high-grade copies floating around. The Pikachu Illustrator in PSA 10 is genuinely one of one, and the market priced that scarcity accordingly. It is worth noting that the card’s appeal extends well beyond the Pokemon collecting community. The buyer, A.J. Scaramucci, purchased it as an asset for Treasure Trove, a company — not a personal collection. That signals a broader shift in how ultra-rare trading cards are being treated: less as hobbyist prizes and more as alternative investment vehicles alongside fine art and rare watches.
How the $16.49 Million Sale Compares to Previous Trading Card Records
Before the Pikachu Illustrator reclaimed the record, the title of most expensive trading card belonged to a sports card. In August 2025, a 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12,932,000 at Heritage Auctions. That card, graded only PSA 6, was purchased by a group that included Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary. The fact that a card in mid-grade condition commanded nearly $13 million speaks to the emotional premium attached to those two players, particularly after Bryant’s death in 2020. Other notable record-holders include the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle, which sold for $12,600,000 in August 2022, and the legendary T206 Honus Wagner, which changed hands privately for $7,250,000 that same month. A 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card brought $7,200,000 in 2023, and a 2009 National Treasures Stephen Curry rookie sold for $5,900,000 in July 2021.
However, comparing records across categories can be misleading. Sports card sales benefit from decades of established market infrastructure and a deep pool of wealthy collectors. Pokemon cards, while culturally massive, have a much shorter auction history at this level. If the Pokemon collecting market continues to mature and attract institutional buyers — as the Scaramucci purchase suggests it might — the gap between Pokemon and sports card records could widen further. Then again, one poor auction cycle or a broader economic downturn could just as easily flatten that trajectory. Records at this level are fragile things.
Logan Paul’s Role in Elevating Pokemon Card Values
Whatever your opinion of logan Paul as a public figure, his involvement with the Pikachu Illustrator card has been a significant market catalyst. When he acquired the card in Dubai in July 2021 for approximately $5.275 million, it was already the most expensive Pokemon card ever sold privately. But Paul did something that previous owners of rare cards rarely do: he made the card visible. He wore it around his neck at public events. He talked about it constantly on social media.
He turned it into a cultural talking point that reached audiences who had never thought twice about card collecting. That visibility arguably contributed to the broader surge in Pokemon card interest during the early 2020s, though it would be an oversimplification to credit one person for a market shift driven by pandemic nostalgia, stimulus spending, and a generational wave of millennials with disposable income returning to childhood hobbies. Paul was more accelerant than spark. His $11.2 million profit on the sale is eye-catching, but it also reflects genuine market appreciation rather than pure speculation. The card’s fundamentals — singular rarity, perfect grade, cultural icon status — would command a massive premium regardless of who held it. Paul simply had the capital, the timing, and the willingness to hold through years of market volatility that saw many other high-profile card values decline from their 2021 peaks.
What Collectors Should Know About PSA Grading and Its Impact on Value
The difference between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10 in the case of the Pikachu Illustrator is not a minor detail — it is the entire ballgame. Logan Paul’s original acquisition involved a PSA 9 copy valued at $1.275 million as partial payment. The PSA 10 copy he ultimately sold fetched $16.49 million. That spread illustrates one of the most important dynamics in high-end card collecting: at the top of the market, the jump from near-perfect to perfect condition can multiply value by ten times or more. For collectors operating at more modest price points, the lesson still applies. A common modern Pokemon card might be worth $20 in PSA 9 and $80 in PSA 10.
The ratio compresses as you move down the rarity scale, but the principle holds. Grading is not just a certification of condition — it is, for better or worse, a pricing mechanism that the market has collectively agreed to trust. The tradeoff is that grading introduces its own risks. PSA’s standards have shifted over time, and a card graded 10 in 2005 might not receive the same grade today. Cards can also be cracked out of slabs and resubmitted in hopes of a higher grade, a practice that is common and legal but introduces uncertainty about the consistency of any given grade. Collectors buying graded cards at a premium should understand that the number on the label is an opinion, not a physical constant.
Risks and Limitations in the Ultra-High-End Card Market
The $16.49 million sale is remarkable, but it would be irresponsible to treat it as a signal that rare cards are reliable investments. The ultra-high-end card market is extraordinarily illiquid. There are perhaps a few dozen people on the planet willing and able to spend eight figures on a trading card, and the pool of potential buyers at that level can evaporate quickly during economic contractions. A card is only worth what someone will pay for it at the exact moment you want to sell. There is also meaningful concentration risk. The Pikachu Illustrator’s value is tied to a single card, a single grading company’s opinion, and the continued cultural relevance of the Pokemon brand.
If PSA were ever to face a credibility crisis, or if Pokemon’s popularity waned significantly among the generation now entering peak earning years, the downside could be severe. These are unlikely scenarios, but at $16 million, even low-probability risks deserve consideration. Additionally, transaction costs at this level are substantial. Auction house premiums, insurance, secure storage, and capital gains taxes can consume a meaningful percentage of any profit. Logan Paul’s $11.2 million gain, while impressive on paper, would be reduced considerably after those expenses. Collectors who view cards purely as investments should model these costs realistically before committing significant capital.
The Growing Intersection of Pokemon Cards and Institutional Capital
A.J. Scaramucci’s purchase of the Pikachu Illustrator through his company Treasure Trove signals something that has been building for several years: institutional and corporate interest in trading cards as an asset class. This is not a collector buying a card for personal enjoyment — it is a venture-backed company acquiring a marquee asset, presumably with plans to leverage it for brand-building, fractional ownership, or some other commercial purpose.
That shift mirrors what happened in the fine art world decades ago, where corporate collections and investment funds gradually became major buyers alongside individual collectors. Whether this is good for the hobby depends on your perspective. It brings liquidity and price discovery, but it can also decouple prices from the organic enthusiasm that made collecting meaningful in the first place.
Where Trading Card Records Go From Here
Predicting the next record is a fool’s errand, but the trajectory is clear. The most expensive trading card record has been broken multiple times since 2020, with each new sale arriving faster than the last. The buyer pool at the top of the market is expanding beyond traditional sports collectors to include crypto entrepreneurs, tech investors, and entertainment figures — people who grew up with Pokemon and now have the means to compete for its rarest artifacts.
The Pikachu Illustrator may hold the record for years, simply because there is no obvious candidate to surpass it. No other trading card combines the same level of rarity, condition, and cross-cultural recognition. But markets have a way of surfacing the unexpected, and if the last five years have taught us anything, it is that the ceiling for trading card values is considerably higher than anyone once imagined.
Conclusion
The $16,492,000 sale of the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator stands as the highest price ever paid for a trading card at auction, surpassing records previously held by iconic sports cards featuring Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Mickey Mantle. The sale validated what many in the Pokemon collecting community have argued for years — that the rarest Pokemon cards belong in the same conversation as the rarest sports cards, and in this case, above them. For everyday collectors, the practical takeaways are straightforward.
Rarity and condition remain the two strongest drivers of value at every price point. Grading matters enormously, especially at the top end of any card’s population report. And while the Pikachu Illustrator exists in a stratosphere that most collectors will never touch, the same market forces that pushed it to $16.49 million operate at every level of the hobby — from a $50 vintage holo to a five-figure sealed booster box.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Pikachu Illustrator cards exist?
Only 39 copies were originally distributed as prizes in a 1998 CoroCoro Comic illustration contest in Japan. The exact number of surviving copies is not publicly confirmed, but the card that sold for $16.49 million is the only known copy graded PSA GEM MT 10.
Who bought the most expensive trading card ever sold?
A.J. Scaramucci, a venture capitalist and the son of Anthony Scaramucci, purchased the card for $16,492,000 through Goldin auction house. He bought it on behalf of his company Treasure Trove.
How much did Logan Paul originally pay for the Pikachu Illustrator?
Logan Paul acquired the card in a private transaction in Dubai in July 2021 for approximately $5.275 million. The deal consisted of a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator valued at $1.275 million plus $4 million in cash.
What was the previous record for the most expensive trading card?
The previous record was $12,932,000, paid in August 2025 at Heritage Auctions for a 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, graded PSA 6. Buyers included investor Kevin O’Leary.
Is the Pikachu Illustrator the most expensive Pokemon card ever sold?
Yes. The $16,492,000 sale on February 15, 2026, makes it both the most expensive Pokemon card and the most expensive trading card of any kind ever sold at auction, confirmed by Guinness World Records.
