When the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) became widely recognized, some rare cards received special attention. The most valuable ones cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and can’t even be bought, as their owners don’t want to sell them anymore. Login Casino is always focused on following the latest esports news and explains why Pokemon cards can be expensive and where to find them.
Introduction to the rarest Pokemon card issue
Pokemon is a widely-known anime and game idea, which has outgrown into the scalable franchise. The game’s core idea is the gathering of fictional characters named Pokemons by people (called trainers) with further competitions. Even though it cannot be considered as a turn-based strategy game, the battles are held between Pokemons but not their trainers, where the unique possibilities of creatures determine the winner of the clash. This game’s slogan is rather multifunctional as “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” directly relates to the ability to win games having all characters while also helping to facilitate marketing and sales.
The first appearance of Pokemons’ world was in 1996, and the game and anime movie was highly recognizable all over the world. Just in two years, three Japanese game developing companies – Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak – even decided to create The Pokemon Company, which still controls all franchise products’ activity.
Among the broadly-known franchise products was Pokemon Go – an augmented reality mobile game, launched in 2016. The owner of a modern smartphone with GPS can download the application and start finding and catching Pokemon in real cities, training and gathering them for battles. As there are diverse in-app purchases, this digital product shows significant financial results. The three consecutive years’ growth led to overcoming 1 billion dollars in revenue in 2020, with a total of $4+ billion since appearance.
Another notable product of the company was launched in 1998, called the Pokemon Trading Card Game. This type of Pokemon-related activity also gained popularity, and in 2016 it became the world’s sales leader among strategic card games. Such a result was probably received due to the inrush popularity of the Pokemon Go application, so TCG is still a needed franchise in the entertaining activity.
How to determine the most valuable Pokemon card?
As the Pokemon TCG was launched in 1998, many paper cards were lost, and the rareness of some of them is tightly related to the time and paper’s physical instability. However, the top-rated and most expensive Pokemon cards have much deeper preconditions to their rarity and price as the outcome. Interestingly, but the Pokemon cards from the list of the rarest are shrouded in legends though it is almost impossible to determine the exact price or the number of existing items.
Even though the primary selecting aspect is the price, the top-5 rating by Login Casino includes one solid-gold card, one mistaken print, and a few exclusively-developed items. It means that the value of the Pokemons depends on diverse aspects, and there is no single criterion to consider the particular item like an expensive card. On the contrary, the most expensive skins in CS:GO are usually the most colorful and give to its owner clear visible originality.
The list of the most expensive Pokemon cards
Pikachu Illustrator Promo Card
The first and the most famous Pokemon card in terms of price and rareness is Pikachu Illustrator Promo. It was given as the reward for those who had a winning entry to the special illustrator contest that took place in Japan in 1997. According to different sources, there were produced from 6 to 20 such rewards, which gave incredible rareness to the card and price as the outcome.
What relates to the price fluctuations, it slightly increases with time. For instance, in 2016, this card was bought via auction for about 50 thousand dollars, while the price jumped almost twice in a year. According to the latest reports, the last purchase of the Pikachu Illustrator Promo cost about $250 000 for its new owner, who gained the most valuable Pokemon card in October 2020.
Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard
One more confirmed over $200k purchase happened with the Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard. At the beginning of October 2020, one of the great Pokemon lovers paid incredible $183 000, which was the basic bid without paying a transaction fee of 20%. In total, the owner of the regarded item had to pay about $220 thousand.
The uniqueness of this card depends not only on the time of its production, which is also the previous century. Usually, holographic Pokemon cards have a shadow across the image. In contrast, the limited edition of the widely-known Charizard doesn’t have the needed visual effect in the top right corner due to a misprint. Yes, you are not confused; the error during the production process made this card extremely popular and put it in second place in the rating.
Trainer First Place Pikachu Trophy
This is about other rare Pokemon cards that came to us from the previous millennium. Those rewards were given to the best performers of the competitions in the 1990s. The primary feature of those items is their limited draw and the period when they could be won. Time is always a helper for the collectors and increases the values of the rare product.
In terms of cost for the regarded trophy card, the first trainers’ places now can earn about $100 000 and even more. It mostly depends on the particular card as two most famous ones were produced in 1997 and 1998. Thus, 1998 No. Trainer First Place Pikachu Trophy trading procedure started with $70 000 but rapidly overpassed the six-digit price. The last 1997 Trainer No. Trophy Card for sale cost was about $90 000 in July, but its price surely would increase within the years.
Master’s Key Prize Card
Even though the Pokemon TCG’s primary interest is dedicated to the cards with characters, some of the rewarding options are less symbolic. Thus, the Master’s Key Prize Card is the most expensive item in Pokemon TCG collections. It was the exclusive gift for the different age competitors of the Video Game Championships (VGC) that took place in Japan in 2010. Some sources informed that there were produced only 34 suchlike handsels, making this card among the rarest in the Pokemon world.
The previous sentence automatically explains why the Master’s Key Prize Card is listed in our rating. The onliness always makes the price for the product, and this case isn’t an exclusion. The regarded cards were listed for sale for tens of thousands of dollars, while the recent eBay item placed with the 6-digit cost. However, the astonishing price didn’t save this item from already being pre-ordered by one of the clients.
20th Anniversary Gold Pikachu Card
The list of exclusive items in the Pokemon World is countless, but the top-5 rating of the most expensive cards finishes with the most understandable case. Thus, the 20th Anniversary Gold Pikachu Card is made from solid gold, one of the world’s most valuable products by default. Most countries support their financial stability with gold and foreign exchange reserves, so having a favorite character’s card that is more sustainable than other material is a privilege.
In terms of price, the 20th Anniversary Gold Pikachu initially cost a few thousand dollars. Nonetheless, the 24 Karat Gold card’s rareness led to inflation and the latest purchases of this item worth about 10 thousand dollars. As of now, the regarded item can be found on eBay, and the owner wants to earn $20k for this absolutely exclusive and really valuable Pokemon card.
Why do golden Pokemon cards exist?
If someone thinks that the only golden Pokemon card is dedicated to the most popular character Pikachu, he or she is mistaken. Of course, the list of items produced from the valuable metal isn’t vast, but a few notable cards should be named. For instance, except for the 20th Anniversary Gold Pikachu, the most dedicated collectors are hunting for the Umbreon and Espeon Gold Star Cards.
Popular Pokemons are portrayed in action in the golden series, which adds exclusiveness and price as the outcome. Interestingly, the expensiveness of those cards is probably more important in forming the real price for the regarded items as the initial cost is way lower than thousands of dollars. The solid-gold cards’ sustainability also justifies the price to some extent as the owner can be relaxed about the card’s storing conditions.
Where to find the best Pokemon cards for sale?
Actually, there are plenty of places where the Pokemon fan can find exclusive cards. Of course, the exclusiveness makes the difference, and most of the rarest items are listed for sale on online auctions. It gives the owner a possibility to earn additional funds as the competition usually pushes the price up. Such financial participation can be compared to buying esports stocks as the price is constantly growing.
Among the most popular trading places is eBay, a world-known platform for individual commerce. However, one should be attentive when bidding on the particular Pokemon card, as this good should be wisely checked and verified before purchasing. There are also other platforms where the most expensive and rare Pokemon cards can be found; some of them are dedicated to the Pokemon world only. Nevertheless, an individual should always be aware of the particular platform’s terms and conditions before paying thousands of dollars for the wishful Pokemon cards.
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