Summary

• The rarest Pokémon TCG cards have sold for record-breaking prices, with collectors willing to invest incredible amounts of money.
• Exclusive cards from contests such as Snap Pikachu and Snap Magikarp have become valuable for collecting.
• The most expensive Pokémon TCG card ever sold is the Illustrator CoroCoro Comics Promo Pikachu.

The most expensive Pokémon Trading Card Game cards of all time have now seen sales that set new benchmarks for how much money collectors would be willing to invest. The Pokémon TCG has always been a lucrative arm of the franchise, with some extremely rare cards out there fetching unbelievable prices. A whole host of cards from across the history of the TCG have climbed to significant values, but the cream of the crop is on another level entirely.

2021 saw a renewed surge of interest in the game and its cards, which resulted in some cards' value skyrocketing to well above thousands of dollars. These were once worth almost nothing, but have been traded and auctioned off for unbelievable sums of money. In fact, many are among the highest-selling prices for cards of any kind. Although some of the wildest market fluctuations have cooled down a bit, a couple of cards have ed the lineup of the highest sales in recent years, even in 2024.

12 Snap Magikarp #129 (2022)

Released For A Pokémon Snap Photo Contest, Sold At Auction In 2022

Like a number of the most valuable Pokémon cards, the Pokémon Snap Magikarp card is related to a contest. In a bit of a different scenario than usual, however, these cards were prizes for winning a photography competition in the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap. Although some other cards have appeared for the other characters who received them, only one Magikarp card in this lineup has appeared since its creation, despite 20 being made.

In 2022, when the card surfaced, it sold for the equivalent of $136,000 in a Japanese auction, as reported by Nintendo Life. So, while Magikarp might be one of the most worthless Pokémon in the Pokédex, this card proves that it can still be quite valuable in the right circumstances.

11 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9 (2000)

Part Of The Pokémon: Neo Genesis Set, Sold At Auction In 2021

The Legendary Bird Pokémon from Gen 2, Lugia, was a big hit when it debuted, which was why this 2000 card sold for the huge amount of $144,300 in May 2021, as ed by the auction page on PWCC. This Pokémon card was notoriously difficult to grade as early versions were full of misprints, yet this one got a BGS Pristine 10. BGS traditionally is harsher in grading scales than PSA, which makes a Pristine 10 even more impressive and helped fetch this card the handsome price that it was bought for.

Unfortunately, the value of this Neo Genesis Lugia has decreased quite a bit over the years, with a current market value on TCGPlayer of only $620.

10 Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer (1999)

Awarded To Winners Of The Japanese Super Secret Battle Tournament In 1999, Sold At Auction In 2022

This Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer card is believed to be one of only seven in existence. These holographic cards were awarded to tournament finalists at the 1999 Super Secret Battle Tournament that was held at a secret location in Japan. Subtly shown in the imagery of the card is a shining Mewtwo, alongside the Japanese logo of the Pocket Monsters Trading Card Game and text relating to the Secret Super Battle. The finals took place in Tokyo on August 22, 1999.

9 Kangaskhan-Holo #115 (1998)

Family Event Trophy Card, Sold At Auction In 2023

This Trophy card is among the rarest Pokémon TCG cards and has the sweetest story behind it. Since it features the adorable Kangaskhan and its baby, it was awarded at the 1998 Parent/Child Mega Battle tournament where a parent and their child were supposed to compete together. It has the original Pocket Monsters Card Game Japanese logo, and a rare version of holographic Pokémon.

This card, with a graded PSA GEM MT 10, was sold in July 2023 at Heritage Auctions, where it brought in $175,000. Only 12 copies of the card are currently known to exist.

8 Umbreon Gold Star Japanese PLAY Promo (2005)

Originally Acquired Through The Pokémon Players Club, Sold At Auction In 2024

This Japanese Gold Star Umbreon card was part of the promotional rewards at the Pokémon Players Club in Japan, and was only awarded to someone if they earned 70,000 points by the end of the fourth season. Points were earned by engaging in multiple Pokémon activities and events and showing a commitment to the Pokémon community. Earning 70,000 of these points was no small feat, as most events and matches would only award 50–100 points, which makes this Umbreon a truly rare card.

This Umbreon Gold Star was sold at auction at PWCC in February 2024 for the amount of $180,000, although previous sales of these cards never reached sales higher than $80,000.

7 Black Star Ishihara Signed GX Promo Card (2017)

Promotional Card For The 60th Birthday Of Pokémon's President, Sold At Auction In 2021

This extremely special TCG card sold for $247,230 in April 2021 through the Goldin Auctions website. Its quarter of a million price comes from it featuring artwork of the CEO and President of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, which was given to employees on his 60th birthday bash. What boosted its value was not only the mint condition but also the signature of the CEO, which was on the card. There is no other card quite like this one in existence.

It is unknown how many of these birthday promo cards were printed, but there are 22 that are known to exist. Interestingly, in grading this card, the signature is graded at a 9, but the card itself has only been graded a PSA 7.

6 Snap Pikachu No. 25 (1999)

Released For A Pokémon Snap Photo Contest, Sold In Private Sale In 2023

This rare Pokémon card came from a unique collaboration between Pokémon and CoroCoro, and was the result of a Pokémon Snap competition. Featuring one of the winning in-game photographs from Pokémon Snap, it is said that there were 20 copies of each winning design awarded, yet this Snap Pikachu had not been seen for two decades until one single card surfaced in 2023. It received a grading determining its authenticity, and no other cards have surfaced or been known to be graded.

The private sale of the elusive card for the Dubsy Collection was documented in a YouTube video from Pro Retro X.

5 Trophy Pikachu No. 3 Trainer Bronze

Third Place Prize For The First Pokémon Tournament, Sold At Auction In 2023

The Trophy Pikachu cards were given out in Japan's first official Pokémon tournament in Japan in 1997, and awarded as prizes for placing first, second, or third in competitions at the event. Of the cards from that first tournament, the third place prize, Pikachu No. 3, has seen the highest value, although a card from the second tournament also appears further in this list.

Leaping up through the ranks by fetching $300,000 in an auction held by Heritage in April 2023. The high value was boosted by the card's excellent graded condition, a PSA 8, positioning it above the few other graded copies on record. An endearing image of Pikachu's original chubby design gives the card a lasting appeal that extends beyond its rarity.

4 Pokémon Blastoise #009/165R (1998)

Commissioned Presentation Galaxy Star Hologram, Sold At Auction In 2021

Made by Wizards of the Coast in 1998, this Blastoise card was made as a template to show Nintendo of Japan what it could do with Pokémon TCG. There are only two of these cards in existence, with only one surfacing in 2021, which was sold for $360,000 in January of that year via an auction held on Heritage. Of the two cards that were produced, one had a Magic: The Gathering back, and the one that sold had just a blank back, making it even rarer than usual.

3 Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4 (1999)

First Edition Holo Card, Sold At Auction In 2022

A first edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard is the third-most expensive card in the Pokémon TCG, after one sold in March 2022 for $420,000 in an auction by PWCC. The card had a perfect PSA Grading of Gem Mint 10, and was even more special due to an error of no shadow appearing under the artwork's border. This error was corrected in all later prints of the card.

Several other copies of the card have also been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but with a perfect Grade and timing, this card is the highest-valued one so far.