Pokemon card sells for record-breaking $230,000
Gotta collect 'em all -- by any means necessary.
Illustrator Pikachu.
You can do a lot with $230,000. You could buy a tricked out Tesla Model X and still have enough left over for a home deposit. In many states, you could actually just buy a house. Or you could buy the world's rarest Pokemon card. Up to you.
The Illustrator Pikachu card is famously coveted in Pokemon Trading Card circles and an American buyer just dropped $233,000 (25 million yen) on a mint condition one at Japanese auction house ZenPlus. It's a record-breaking sale, as the most anyone else had spent on a Pokemon card until now was $195,000. That was last year and it was also for an Illustrator Pikachu card.
The reason Illustrator Pikachu is so valuable is because only 39 were ever made. Unlike regular rare cards, you couldn't find this one in booster packs. Instead, it was awarded to winners of a comic contest in 1998. With the franchise still ultra popular, it's not unusual to see Pokemon Trading Cards sell for over five figures. Spare a thought at this moment for the guy who spent $60,000 on a rare card last year only for it to get lost in the mail.
The winner of the day is the Illustrator Pikachu seller. Not only did they unload the card for a record-breaking sum, they're not far off from another big pay day. The seller currently has a listing for a set of three ultra rare Secret Trainer cards with an asking price of $195,000 (21 million yen).
