After a 17-bid auction on an auction for the "Holy Grail of Pokemon cards" the 1999 1st Edition Shadowless hologenic Charizard #4 card (which was graded in GEM MINT 10) has been sold for $220,574. This continues the trend of the increasing value of Pokemon TCG cards. In 2017, a similar card (it got 10 in three subgrades such as Edges, Corners, and Surface but a 9.5 in Centering) was sold for $55,650 on Ebay.
Here's a description from Iconic Auctions about the recently sold Charizard:
This is the Holy Grail of Pokemon cards, the most iconic and important card to both the Pokemon franchise and its die hard fans. Indeed, this card can be compared to the T206 Wagner for baseball and 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan for basketball. It has attained a similar iconic status as far as Pokemon go, setting the stage for modern investment in todays lucrative modern card market. It's known even by those who couldn't otherwise tell you the difference between a Pikachu and a Raichu. The card is very difficult to attain in such pristine condition, and demand for a GEM MINT 10 example of the card continues to grow almost daily.
I also wrote a similar article about a month ago, where an sealed box of 1st edition Pokemon booster cards sold for $198,000 in an auction. The previous record for a single card was for a Pokemon Illustrator card, which sold for $195,000 last year. At an increase of value at $25,000 a year, we could potentially see a Pokemon card sell for at or over $1,000,000 in 2052. I repeat: we could theoretically see plastic cards about fictional creatures sell for over a million dollars in our lifetime. What a world we live in, eh?
What do you think of this news? Did you play with or collect Pokemon cards while growing up? Do you have any potential cards that could be worth a pretty penny? If you had the money, would you buy a rare Pokemon card? Let us know in the comments!
