This US$16.5 Million Pokémon Card Is Now the Most Expensive Trading Card Ever Sold

This buyer just caught the most expensive trading card of all.

An uber-rare Pikachu Illustrator card, owned by social media star Logan Paul, just sold for a whopping US$16.4 million at auction via Goldin, making it the most expensive trading card of all time. And the lucky man to take home the coveted collector’s item was AJ Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of venture-capital firm Solari Capital; he was actually at the auction when the hammer went down, meaning he was able to scoop up his new memento in person.

Known as a “holy grail” piece, this Pokémon card depicting the fan-favourite yellow electric mouse has quite the story. Back in 1997, a Japanese magazine held a contest for readers to submit their own drawings of Pokémon cards. The winners then received 20 copies of their cards, as well as one copy of the now highly sought-after Pikachu Illustrator.

Now, Paul’s card is the only iteration out of 53 known offerings to be graded PSA 10, the highest-calibre rating on the scale (meaning it’s in essentially perfect condition). And he couldn’t help but add a bit of bling to spice things up: The card is adorned with a custom diamond necklace brought to life by Suny the Jeweler. The pendant that surrounds the card is home to 35 carats of VVSI (Very Very Slightly Included) clarity diamonds, while the sparkling Pokéball attached offers up 6.5 carats. The chain, meanwhile, is made of 10-karat yellow gold and is set with around 27.5 carats of VVS1 round and baguette diamonds.

Paul originally acquired the card in Dubai; he then went on to rock the memento on that blinged-out chain during his WWE debut. The piece has had more airtime, too: It starred in the Netflix series King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch, where the auction house team shows off their rare mementoes on offer and explores top-tier collections around the globe.

“This is a historic night for not only the Pokémon community; it is a historic night for the entire collectible community,” Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of the auction house, said in a press statement. “We just keep showing there are no barriers. These key things that we all love and appreciate keep going up, keep setting records, and keep bringing people together.”

The ultra-rare card snatched the record from Mickey Mantle’s first baseball card, a 1952 Topps number that fetched a cool US$12.6 million back in August 2022. With the current frenzy around both Pokémon cards and sports memorabilia, we may see another athlete’s rarity take back the mantle soon enough.

Lead image courtesy of Goldin