We think this list is about to become outdated.
But as we wait for the February 16 sale of the Jake Paul Pikachu Illustrator card - already sitting on a $5.1 million bid - here are the 10 most valuable known Pokemon card sales.
11 - 1999 Pokemon Snap Contest Pikachu
An example of a Snap card, a rare and well-earned competition prize. Image from eBay.
Some of the rarest Pokemon cards are competition prizes.
Twenty copies of this card, showing a Pikachu image created by a photograph taken by the player within the game, were made in 1999.
A run of similar cards were made (said to be between 15 and 20 each) and given to winners who took the best in-game pictures.
The contest in Coro Coro Comic is a foundational Pokemon moment.
The cards haven’t really come to light on open markets, but one was reported sold via video in June 2023 when it was snapped up for $270,000 in Japan.
10 - 1997 Pokemon Promo Japanese First Gold First Tournament Trophy Pikachu No. 1
An example of a first tournament gold card. Fit for a champ!
Another Pikachu (the most famous Pokemon probably) and another trophy card (the other prizes from this tournament have also been very valuable) that were given out in very small numbers to children in a lottery-selected competition field in Japan.
This card, presumably awarded to the winner, was sold for a reported $314,000 in April 2025.
It’s an important card historically, because it memorialises the first ever Pokemon tournament.
9 - 1997 Pokemon Trophy Pikachu No. 3 Trainer
What a proud Pikachu! Early competition prizes are super rare, their owners had no idea what they had.
Another prize card from the same landmark tournament, the No. 3 cards were given to third and fourth place players.
There are said to be eight of these cards known and authenticated, and a couple of sales have gone over $300,000 with one selling for $324,000 before 2023.
8 - Signed Japanese First Edition Base Set Holo Charizard
An artist signature adds value in almost all areas of collecting and Pokemon are no different.
Also selling for $324,000, this is a Japanese first-edition base set card (so the earliest Pokemon cards its possible to get).
These cards do exist, but to find them in the pristine condition that the top collectors are willing to pay for is very rare.
So, an example with the best possible grading was sold for $324,000 in April 2022.
7 - Presentation Blastoise
Fierce! And fiercely fought over when he comes to market again.
This card set a record for Pokemon at $360,000 in January 2021.
The card is a prototype, produced by US card company Wizards of the Coast to pitch the idea for English-language cards to Nintendo.
We think that two were made. And we think that just this one survives.
6 - First Edition Base Set Holo Charizard
Holographic cards are always more desirable.
Examples of this card could have appeared lower down this list more than once.
Pokemon experts often call it the “most famous” card in all the decks.
It was released in 1999, so it’s old, historic in Pokemon terms, and it’s a very nice image. The shadowless descriptor refers to a border on the image frame that is added after the first edition.
The card has regularly popped up in high-price lists, with the top one currently a 2022 sale for $420,000 of a card with the best condition grading.
5 - Trophy Pikachu No. 2 Trainer
Everyone loves a winner. And will pay big cash for them.
Pikachu again, holding a trophy and feeling pretty pleased with themself, as a second place winner in 1997 and 1998 Pokemon tournaments.
And the owners of these rare cards should also feel pleased. One of those owners forked out $444,000 through an online auction site in September 2023.
It’s believed that 15 cards were made but only four have been graded and authenticated.
4 - Topsun Blue Back Charizard
The look of these cards betrays their atypical - and very rare - origins.
This is a prototype from a non-official Pokemon issue!
Yes, it’s not really a legitimate Pokemon.
Pokemon’s origins involve more than one company (Nintendo, Creatures Inc, Game Freaks) and the development of the property is slightly complicated by this.
Topsun cards were gum cards featuring Pokemon that were briefly tried before the actual trading game got under way. They are said to have been distributed in 1997, though they have a 1995 date on them.
So, they’re rare and slightly confusing.
There are 31 authenticated and certificated examples of this particular card and an example (with the best condition grade) was sold for $493,230 in 2021.
3 - Prerelease Raichu
This little guy shouldn't even exist, but it does, and it's worth a bomb.
This card is a little like the legendary Boba Fett Star Wars toys.
Those action figures were made in prototype before a terrible choking accident with a small part from another action figure led to the original design being junked.
Some were destroyed, but employees of Kenner, the company who made them also managed to preserve some.
And they now sell for over $1 million.
There are other “prerelease” stamped cards that were given out as competition prizes.
And these cards are a mistaken remnant of that production that never made it out of the factory.
The only known sale of these cards, which are all believed to belong to Wizards of the Coast, employees was a 2023 $550,000 sale.
2 - Trophy Pikachu No. 1 Trainer
Enjoy your trophy. And your millions of dollars.
A winner’s card from the 1998 tournament, and believed to have been sold through the best-known internat auction site for $3 million in September 2025.
That card - there are 13 others - sold for a price dwarfing other significant prices for the rarity because it was in such superlative condition.
1 - Pikachu Illustrator
Owning this card has become a big part of the Jake Paul legend. Soon he'll be passing it on. Image courtesy of Guinness World Records.
This is the Pokemon card that has done most to make people outside the hobby aware of the cards as collectibles.
It’s the one that is currently listed for sale, along with a glitzy necklace holder and a personal delivery promise from its owner, Jake Paul.
Like a lot of these cards it’s a competition price (Coro Coro Comic again), of which 39 copies were made.
Its value is usually accepted as $5.275 million, though it was traded in a deal that included another version of the same card in a slightly lower condition grade (valued at $1.275 million).
That’s still $4 million in cash from Mr Paul.
His investment seems to have done OK and it will be a surprise if the card doesn’t now make more than he spent on it.
It’s an exciting time for Pokemon cards and “watch this space” is the message for this card until the end of February.
Pokemon explosion
Pokemon collecting is very exciting right now.
A number of the cards on these lists have very small “known populations” of cards that have been authenticated and graded that could in fact be higher.
Cards on this list could be in a draw, a sale, or a mixed lot of cards with their owner having no idea what they are.
That’s why people still hunt the pocket monsters.
