Avid collectors hope to come across a coveted Pokemon card that increases in value over time. Many of us have binders full of cards with relatively moderate resale value, but some cards wind up rare enough to reach truly astronomical prices. We’re here to round up the most valuable Pokemon cards you can find in 2024.
Most Valuable Pokemon Cards, Ranked
Many factors go into determining the resale price of a Pokemon card, with rarity and condition being the primary considerations. To truly get into the Pokemon card selling game, you’d need to get your cards graded by a reputable company such as Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). As you’ll see from our list of the most valuable Pokemon cards, all are both graded and rare, with most in near-mint condition.
5. First Edition Holographic Charizard, Shadowless (1998)
PSA Rating: 10
Most Recent Sale Price (February 2024): $168,000
Is it really a valuable Pokemon card list without a Charizard? Charizard is one of the most popular Pokemon, and this holographic first edition card has the price tag to prove it.
The holographic Charizard is valuable in part because it’s part of the first English-language printing of Pokemon cards. Due to a printing error, a limited number of these first-edition holographic Charizard cards lack a shadow beneath the Pokemon, making them exceptionally rare and therefore valuable.
In previous years, shadowless Charizard has sold for up to $420,000, earning it a spot in the records for most valuable Pokemon card sales. However, the card has recently decreased in value, with its most recent sale only fetching $168,000 in an auction on PWCC.
4. Family Event Kangaskhan Trophy Card (1998)
PSA Rating: 10
Most Recent Sale Price (July 2023): $175,000
We love a Pokemon card that fits the theme well, and this trophy card delivers. This Kangaskhan card was given out as a prize to participants in a Parent/Child card tournament held in Japan during the early years of the TCG. Since Kangaskhan always carries its kiddo in its pouch, the card fits a parent/child tournament perfectly.
Like many others on this list, the Family Event Kangaskhan card never went into mass production or circulation, making it quite rare. It’s unclear just how many of the cards exist, but it’s likely fewer than 50 in total.
Most recently, a PSA 10 version of this card fetched the price of $175,000 in 2023, making it one of the most valuable Pokemon cards ever sold at auction. Less-than-mint versions of this card can still earn you a solid chunk of change, but the highest-graded cards are of course worth the most.
3. Holographic Presentation Blastoise (1998)
CGC Rating: 8.5
Most Recent Sale Price (January 2021): $360,000
This Galaxy Star Holographic Blastoise is unusual, in that only two were ever printed. They were created as samples from Wizards of the Coast, in a bid to earn the business of printing the English-language Pokemon cards. Currently, only one is known to be in circulation, while the location of the second presentation card remains a Pokemon mystery.
This card looks quite a bit different from the Pokemon style we’re used to today, with a Comic Sans-style font and a fully black card back. There are similar cards with a misprinted Magic: The Gathering back which have sold for relatively high prices as well, but this one is more rare and therefore a more valuable card.
You have to wonder what happened to the second card that was printed, and if some lucky someone will find it in an attic someday. To fetch that $360,000 auction price, it would need to be in near-mint condition like this one, however.
2. Trophy #2 Pikachu 2nd Place (1998)
PSA Rating: 10
Most Recent Sale Price (September 2023): $444,000
In second place we have yet another rare Pikachu card, this time the Pikachu No.2 Silver Trophy Card. Like Pikachu Illustrator, this card was never available for general sale. Instead, it was a prize given to second-place contestants in one of the earliest official TCG tournaments.
Though only four copies have been graded by PSA, it’s estimated that there are around 14 copies of this card in existence based on the number that would’ve been handed out at these early tournaments. A PSA 10 version of this No2. Pikachu card most recently sold for $444,000 in a September 2023 auction.
It’s worth noting that the 3rd-place version of this card has also sold for a relatively high value of $300,000 in April 2023. We’re leaving it off our ranking because it’s so similar to this one, but the Bronze Pikachu Trophy card is also among the most valuable Pokemon cards you can buy.
1. Pikachu Illustrator (1998)
PSA Rating: 10
Most Recent Sale Price (July 2021): $5,275,000
Hands down, the Pikachu Illustrator card is the rarest and most valuable Pokemon card out there. Of course, it stars the franchise mascot, but there’s more that goes into the value of this card.
The Pikachu Illustrator card was a prize for a promotional contest back in 1997 and 1998, with a total of 39 copies distributed as prizes. It’s estimated that there are a total of 41 Pikachu Illustrator cards in circulation currently, but the top-rated PSA 10 is the rarest and most valuable version.
Most recently, a PSA10 Pikachu Illustrator was sold to the YouTuber Logan Paul, who paid cash along with a PSA 9 version of the same card. This earned him the Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokemon card ever sold in a private sale.
While it’s unlikely anyone besides the incredibly rich and famous would pay $5 million for a card, high-value sales of the rare Pikachu Illustrator card continue to sell for up in the millions of dollars. This makes it the most valuable Pokemon card on the market today.
