Good things come to those who wait, and in the case of entertainment figure Logan Paul, it looked like about an $8 million payoff. The WWE superstar invested no less than $5.3 million in a Pikachu Illustrator card from the 1997–98 illustration contest run by Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comic. The holy grail of Pokémon collectibles smashed its $7 million to $12 million estimate and sold for $16.49 million at Goldin Auctions. Much like an action-packed wrestling match, this auction was no less thumping. It closed early Monday morning after 41 days of bidding, with most of the real action pouring in just before the gates finally shut.
A significant majority of bids came during the extended bidding period after the initial end time. That was enough to set hearts thumping, but more jaws dropped when the final hammer price landed at $13.3 million, plus a 24 percent buyer’s premium, making the headline price more than triple what Paul paid for it. The buyer remains unnamed, but Paul would be the first man happy to see his own Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold broken with this one final move.
The very pricy collectible comes encased in a $70,000 custom case and necklace that formed part of Logan’s WrestleMania 38 costume. The case was sold along with the rare card that one can never pull from packs. It was a promo prize awarded through a Japanese illustration contest in 1997 and 1998, which is why it sits in a different league from typical rarity. While many believe only 39 copies were officially made, Paul’s card is widely regarded as the only PSA 10 example in existence.
“This is the biggest Pokémon and trading card game auction ever held, and the unbelievable amount of interest we’ve already received led us to open early,” said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin. Paul himself called it “the most coveted card in the world,” and even promised to hand-deliver the card to whoever won the auction.
Why is the Pikachu Illustrator card so expensive?
First and foremost is rarity. Collectors understand they are not paying for something that came in booster packs. It was an award given to contest winners, which makes it the ultimate trophy card. It is believed Paul’s copy is the only Pikachu Illustrator to receive a PSA 10 Gem Mint grade, with PSA’s own population report listing a single 10 and no higher grade. The idea to encase the precious possession like a diamond was, in hindsight, sensible rather than just ostentatious. The card flaunts art by Pikachu’s designer and text that literally certifies the holder as an official Pokémon card illustrator, putting it closer to a historical document than an ordinary trading card.
How much did Logan Paul earn?
Yes, he made a lot of money from the Pikachu Illustrator card. He bought it for $5.3 million and later sold it in a sale that totalled $16.49 million, including buyer’s premium. In between those two moments, the American entertainer turned this card into a full-fledged character in his own story. The Guinness World Record private purchase became a mini-doc on YouTube, then a centerpiece of his WrestleMania 38 entrance, which turned it into a pop-culture memento rather than just a high-end card.
The real windfall is calculated off the $13.3 million hammer price, since the 24 percent buyer’s premium goes to the auction house, not to Paul. On that basis, his profit was roughly $8 million, a gain of around 150 percent, meaning he turned every 1 dollar into about 2.5 dollars. It took 41 days of auction drama to get there; watching the price jump from $500,000 to $4.3 million in the first week, then waiting as it plateaued at about $5.1 million by mid-January before heating up again in the final 48 hours. It looks like this success was pre-written in his cards, pun very much intended.
