A rare Pokemon card fetched a record $16,492,000 including the buyer's premium on Monday in New Jersey, making it the most expensive Pocket Monster trading card ever sold in a public auction.
The Pokemon Illustrator card, which depicts the iconic cartoon character Pikachu, has a hobby card authenticator rating of 10, the highest possible grade. It is one of only 39 of the illustration cards given to winners of a 1998 drawing contest held by the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic.
The card was consigned to the New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions house by Logan Paul, an American social media influencer with millions of fans. He bought the card in 2021 for $5.27 million, earning the Guinness World Record title for "most expensive Pokemon card sold at a private sale," according to the Guinness website.
The successful bidder, who won the Pikachu card with a diamond necklace it hangs from, appeared at a livestream watch party for the auction on Paul's YouTube channel to collect the item. However, the auction house did not reveal his identity Monday morning when the auction ended.
In recent years, prominent social media influencers have engaged with fans by opening boxes containing multiple packs of Pokemon cards, hoping to find rare cards that could be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Ahead of the online auction that started on Jan. 5, Ken Goldin, the founder and owner of the auction house, told Kyodo News that he thought the price of the card had appreciated since 2021 and "wouldn't be surprised" if the lot reached over $10 million.
According to the Guinness World Records website, the previous trading card with the world record price was an autographed basketball card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant that sold for $12.93 million at Heritage Auctions in August 2025.
© KYODO
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Monty
I will never understand all the Hype about Pokemon.
Mike Hunt
A Cartoon character sold by a Cartoon character.
Abe234
Something is really wrong when someone can actually pay this amount of money for a "Pokémon card". Bonkers!
GillislowTier
Even as a Pokemon enjoyer (I’m sure my wife is thrilled our daughter got me back into it haha) that’s an insane price. I get it though, only a handful exist and it’s in perfect condition something that is nearly impossible to do for small pieces of paper like this. Out of my price range tho
ILoveDownvotes
Some random guy pays ridiculous amounts of money for a piece of printed paper.
Meanwhile a bunch of other people cause the worst type of train delays because they cannot afford food anymore.
Gotta love this world's priorities.
okinawarides
Insane amount of money for a Pokemon card.
ThePunisher
A tidy profit for Logan Paul - ~ $11 million - for a card. Not that he needs any of that.
therougou
Since details are lacking as usual:
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Venture capitalist A.J. Scaramucci—founder of Solari Capital and son of former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci—purchased the card for $16.492 million.
The record-shattering sale took place on Monday, February 16, 2026, through Goldin Auctions. Scaramucci acquired the ultra-rare PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card from influencer and WWE star Logan Paul.
Key Details of the Sale
The Card: The only known PSA 10 (virtually perfect) copy of the "Pikachu Illustrator" card, originally released in 1998 as a contest prize in Japan.
Bonus Items: The purchase included the diamond-encrusted gold pendant (appraised at $75,000) that Paul famously wore while debuting the card at WrestleMania 38.
Record Set: This transaction established a new Guinness World Record for the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
The Strategy: Scaramucci stated this is the first acquisition in his "Planetary Treasure Hunt" for his new company, Treasure Trove, which aims to collect the world's most significant cultural artifacts, including potential future targets like a T-Rex fossil and the Declaration of Independence.
tora
WT...... I am in the wrong game :-(
KP
I look at this... And all I can think of is that old saying about "A fool and their money... Are easily parted..."
finally rich
We have a friend in Osaka who actually supports his household (wife+kid) solely on these trading cards, 0 days a week having to work outside, except for his little trips to the Post Office.
As someone who has to stay the whole day out 3 or 4x a week I kind of envy him, not that that "gig" might last forever though.
enmaai
It's his money, he can do whatever with it and nobody else business.
Makoto Shimizu
There in Brazil I was shocked when I heard a rich business man saying that he had spent US$ 1,000 with Pokemon cards to his son and now I see this auction for only one card for over USD 16 Millions... Current regular prices are already premium prices for pieces of printed papers, really amazing how people attribute value for non edible stuff
lostrune2
No difference than baseball trading cards or art auctions
kaimycahl
Personally I think the sale was insane but as humans we assign value to stories. Think about it gold and money has value because we agree it does. These cards have value because enough wealthy people agree they do and are willing to pay the price. For them its about financial strategy portfolio diversification, and ego. For them its like saying they have the rarest Ferrari in that wealth circle.