Pokemon Trading Card Game
Summary
Collectors recognise thatPokémoncards can be very expensive on the secondary market , but some of the most expensive board in the plot were ab initio handed out for gratis . These cards may have been promotional material for go to an event or loot for a contest . Though the original owner of theserarePokémoncardsmay not have paid a centime for them , anyone who wants to get their hands on them now had betterbe ready to trounce out some serious hard cash .
While many are expensive , this list wo n’t include any of the prize cards won by first- , second- , or third - place finisher atPokémontournaments . While these cards were technically prize , as anyone who has played a TCG at a competitive stage screw , those cards were far from complimentary considering the prison term , money , and exertion that it takes to win a tournament . Instead , this tilt will focus on promotional cardsthat were either won from free or down - cost contest , as well as oecumenical engagement promos fromPokémonevents .
A new promo card is hide a joke in Pokémon TCG , and players have a very limited chance of obtaining it this year – the identity card may be deserving hundreds .
10Tamamushi University Magikarp Promo
Sold For $78,000
Starting in 1998 , Nipponese publishing firm Shogakukan include a series ofPokémonexams in their magazines for children . kid could mail in their answers to the exams and incur ware from the fictitious Tamamushi University like pins or pennants . Each test became progressively more hard , climax in the Hyper Professor Exam . Of the well-nigh 22,000 sixth graders who attempted this exam , only 198 go across , andanyone who passed the examination was egress a free Magikarp promo card .
The fact that so few pass the exam , and since these exams were a limited - time event , very few Tamamushi University Magikarps made it out into circulation . Of those , even few have been graded and sell , making them hard to get and therefore somewhat pricy . Back in 2022 , a PSA 10 graded Tamamushi University Magikarp sell for $ 78,000through the online card mart PWCC . This intend some youthful Pokémon Professors could potentially sell this scorecard to put themselves through a genuine university .
9CoroCoro Comic’s Pokémon Snap Gyarados
Sold For $87,000
Shogakukan ’s publications held otherPokémoncompetitions besides the Tamamushi University examination . One of these was aPokémon Snapcontest which was advertised in the pages of its magazine , CoroCoro Comic . contestant were task with contribute their N64 cartridges to local convenience shop where dedicated machines were place that could print out their in - plot photos . Contestants then sent in their physical pictures for evaluation .
New Pokémon Snap feel like find out Pokémon for the first meter and withdraw trainer on a beautiful and exciting journey through the Lental region .
Five winners had theirPokémon Snapphotos chosen and were sent forcible cards with the pictures on them . One of these success was Ryouichi Abe ’s Gyarados exposure . Although winners were sent 20 copies of their cards , many seem to have sagely held onto the majority of them , keeping them out of circulation and increasing their value as accumulator ’s detail . One of Ryouichi Abe ’s Gyarados cards sold in an online auction for $ 87,500 in 2023 . While this is nothing to work one ’s nose up at , it is n’t even the most expensive of thePokémon Snapcards to have trade .
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
8CoroCoro Comic’s Pokémon Snap Magikarp
Sold For $136,000
When think about valuablePokémoncards , it may be a piece surprising to chance Magikarp so well be . What ’s even more surprising is that it beat out a Gyarados card that is just as rare as it is . Yuka Matsubara ’s winning picture of Magikarp forCoroCoro Comic’sPokémon Snapcompetition did n’t just sell for more than its Gyarados equivalent , but it did so by a spacious margin .
Back in 2022,Yuka Mutsubara ’s Magikarp deal for $ 136,000on Yahoo ! Auctions Japan , a whopping $ 48,500 more than Gyarados . Another strange tidbit about this is that , while Gyarados was rated the equivalent of a PSA 10 , the Magikarp was simply authenticate by PSA , but not graded . Typically , PSA 10 cards sell for much higher than ungraded scorecard , pass water this an even expectant upset .
7Tropical Mega Battle’s Tropical Wind Promo
Estimated Value Of $166,000
At 1999 ’s International Tropical Mega Battle tournament in Hawaii , 12 lucky competitors were given a Tropical Wind promo calling card . These card were seemingly pass around at random to contestants , and not everyone in attending got them . Of the 12 , only one has been given a PSA rating of 10 . The tiny number of these cards and an even smaller number of mint - condition ones mean it is deserving quite a bit to collectors .
PSA currently approximate the value of a Tropical Mega Battle promo Tropical Wind to be $ 166,073.The only PSA 10 version of the card sold back in 2020 for about $ 65,000 , so PSA is in all likelihood using inflation and an increased interest in thePokémonmarket as the reasoning behind its raw valuation of the card . Rare card like this will usually increase in value over time , as long as there is still some interest in them or the plot they are a part of .
6Extra Battle Day’s Full Art Lillie Promo
Sold For $171,000
The full - art Lillie promo from 2019 ’s Extra Battle Day event is a astonishingly recent lineup for one that is deserving so much . Though it ’s heavy to say if it impart to its high price tag , this circuit board does have a unique story behind it . Unlike other promos , which are typically distribute to attendees or winners of an result , this promo had to be won in a game of sway - paper - scissors hold played among the event ’s top - ranking players . Even then , victor were only give a promotional pack of placard , which had the chance of containing a Lillie Promo .
With so much circumstances need in getting one of these wag , it ’s arduous to opine someone would want to part with such a alone dirty money . Of course , money can often be more persuasive than sloppiness , especially when it starts shoot six figures . One PSA Grade 10 Lillie promo was sold for the combining weight of $ 171,000on Xianyu .
5Family Tournament Kangaskhan Prize Card
Sold For $175,000
Back in 1998 , a Parent / ChildPokémontournament was held in Japan . The event was appropriately themed after Kangaskhan since the Pokémon is picture carrying one of its child with it in its pouch . Teams who deliver the goods enough matches were rewarded with a promotional hydrofoil version of Kangaskhan . Though unremarkable at the clock time , the lineup also wear a Poké Ball - shape dictated symbol that would only ever be printed on a small smattering of promotional circuit board .
The bearing of the hardened symbol and the relative rarity of this version of Kangaskhan have made it quite the accumulator ’s token over the eld . Many winners of this card are likely to need to hold onto it due to having won it with their parent / tyke . Collectors are unforced to pay quite a lot for this card , withone copy sell for $ 175,000 on Heritage Auctionsin 2023 . This copy was a PSA 10 , so it is potential that some less - well - preserved copy could go for low on the secondary market .
4Pokémon Players’ Club Umbreon Gold Star Promo
Estimated Value Of $222,000
Between 2004 and 2005 , members of the Japanese Pokémon Players ’ Club were given the chance to clear experience points by wait on organized gambol events . player who realise the maximum number of full point were rewarded with a promotional Umbreon visiting card . The identity card is foil and has a gold sensation next to its name to score it as a exceptional version .
thespian start out out with 1,000 points , and would have to earn 70,000 for receive an Umbreon promo . Each case they take care was deserving 50 to 100 spot , meaning they had to drop a lot of time atPokémonevents that yr to earn enough point . While earning this board was no pocket-sized feat , their cause were not in vain . PSA now estimates thatthis version of Umbreon is worth $ 222,009 . Copies of the identity card have sold for over $ 70,000 in the past , and if PSA is to be believed , they have only become more valuable .
3Signed Ishihara GX Employee Promo Card
Sold For $247,000
On the sixtieth birthday of Pokémon Company father Tsunekazu Ishihara , the Pokémon Company distributed a special Ishihara GX card to some of its employee , sign by the man himself . These cards were never made useable to the public , so the only way to get one ’s hands on it in the beginning was to work for the companionship . Since then , this rare card has found its path onto the secondary market , and it has show to be highly sought after .
One Ishihara GX promo that was signed , and had a lilliputian drawing of Pikachu on it done by Ishihara , trade for $ 247,230 on Goldin Auctions . This basically means that this card serve as a pretty substantial bonus for whichever Pokémon Company employee decided to sell it rather than hold onto it , and it ’s hard to fault them , visit how much it went for . It will be interesting to see if the Pokémon Company create a similar promo for Ishihara ’s next turning point natal day .
2CoroCoro Comic’s Pokémon Snap Pikachu
Sold For $270,000
All five of theCoroCoro Comic’sPokémon Snapcontest winning cards are worth a decent amount of money . However , none come close to being as valuable as Mina Akuhara ’s win Pikachu photograph . This maybe is n’t too surprising , construe as Pikachu isPokémon ’s mascot and features on some of theTCG ’s most expensive board . Still , the price this circuit board has commanded is astonishing .
In a YouTube video by the channelPro Retro X , two work force can be ascertain purchasing the card on behalf of the prolificPokémoncollector , Dubsy . Dubsy reportedly paid $ 270,000 for the cardfrom a collectable entrepot in Japan . It is worth mention that any time a sale like this to a accumulator is shared so publicly , it may also do the aim of make the purchase card andPokémoncards in general seem more worthful than they normally would be . This is peculiarly worth keeping in mind for the last entry on this list .
1Illustrator Pikachu
Sold For $5.3 Million
Between 1997 and 1998,CoroCoro Comicran art contest that challenged its young readers to draw their ownPokémoncards . Winners of these contests won Illustrator Pikachu promotional add-in . In total , only 39 of these cards were given out , progress to them unbelievably rarefied . There is also only one PSA-10 - rated rendering of the Illustrator Pikachu , which wasbought by YouTuber Logan Paul for $ 5,275,000 in 2022 .
While this might seem like a staggering cost for aPokémoncard , in truth it seems highly unlikely that the card would ever sell for that much again . Paul has been using the card as a manner to try and earn money , deal “ shares ” of the scorecard off to his fans as an “ investment . ” In this room , the wag was an investment for Paul , who is experience his purchase subsidized by his fan foundation , while also profiting off any videos he made about purchasing the visiting card .
assign a true time value to the PSA 10 Illustrator Pikachu carte du jour at this point has become a little dodgy , make these fate . No other Illustrator Pikachu wag sale has topped a million dollars , except for a PSA 9 which was also purchased by Logan Paul . Paul has been partially accredit with reawakening interest in thePokémoncard securities industry , but it still seems improbable another sales agreement this large will happen involving this wag .
Spanning over twenty-five years, Pokemon, known as Pocket Monsters in Japan, is the multimedia franchise created jointly by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda, Pokemon is set in fictional worlds where people live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon. Humans who catch, raise, and battle the creatures are known as Pokemon Trainers. They head out on extensive journeys across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of competing in tournaments to become the champion. Pokemon spans several massive properties, from a long-running animated series to a successful trading card game, to the medium that started it all, video games. In addition, Pokemon began the “two-game” trend where two versions of a game would release and include different Pokemon/features between the versions, encouraging players to meet up with others and trade so they could “catch ‘em all."
author : Pro Retro X / YouTube
traverse over twenty - five years , Pokemon , hump as Pocket Monsters in Japan , is the multimedia system dealership create collectively by Nintendo , Game Freak , and Creatures . gestate by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda , Pokemon is set in fabricated domain where multitude live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon . Humans who capture , heave , and combat the creature are know as Pokemon Trainers . They manoeuver out on extensive journey across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of contend in tournaments to become the wiz . Pokemon spans several massive place , from a long - turn tail animated series to a successful trading card game , to the culture medium that started it all , TV games . In plus , Pokemon began the " two - game " trend where two versions of a game would liberate and include dissimilar Pokemon / features between the versions , encouraging players to meet up with others and barter so they could " catch ‘em all . "
Spanning over twenty-five years, Pokemon, known as Pocket Monsters in Japan, is the multimedia franchise created jointly by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda, Pokemon is set in fictional worlds where people live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon. Humans who catch, raise, and battle the creatures are known as Pokemon Trainers. They head out on extensive journeys across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of competing in tournaments to become the champion. Pokemon spans several massive properties, from a long-running animated series to a successful trading card game, to the medium that started it all, video games. In addition, Pokemon began the “two-game” trend where two versions of a game would release and include different Pokemon/features between the versions, encouraging players to meet up with others and trade so they could “catch ‘em all."
