Another High-End Pikachu Leads Top 5 TCG Sales of the Week
Just when it seemed like the high-end Pokémon market couldn’t get much bigger, Pikachu raised the bar again.
A rare 2015 Pokémon Art Academy Pikachu sold for an astonishing $8.4 million, leading another massive week for TCG sales. While the total didn’t quite reach the $11.3 million generated by the Top 5 two weeks ago, this week’s five cards combined for a healthy $10,534,650.
And there’s plenty of variety, despite Pokémon once again sweeping all five spots. The countdown includes cards from 2001 through 2015, with Neo Revelation, Legendary Collection, a Japanese Gold Star, and XY-era cards all represented.
Here are the Top 5 TCG sales of the week, counting down to one of the biggest Pokémon card sales ever, with sales data provided by Card Ladder.
5. Team Aqua’s Kyogre EX Makes a Big Splash
We start with a card that proves massive Pokémon prices aren’t limited to vintage releases. The 2015 Pokémon XY Double Crisis Full Art Team Aqua’s Kyogre EX #6, graded PSA 10, sold for $384,000 through Fanatics Weekly on Sept. 27.
Double Crisis was a relatively small 2015 release, and high-grade examples of its biggest cards have become exceptionally difficult targets.
And $384,000 is only enough for fifth place this week.
4. Misdreavus Delivers a Monster Neo Revelation Sale
One of the more surprising names in our recent countdowns lands at No. 4. A PSA 10 2001 Pokémon Neo Revelation 1st Edition Holo Misdreavus #11 sold for $408,000 through Fanatics Weekly on Sept. 27.
Neo-era cards continue to show just how deep the high-end Pokémon market has become. Pikachu and Charizard may generate many of the headlines, but elite-condition vintage cards featuring a much wider range of Pokémon are increasingly producing eye-opening results.
3. Rayquaza Gold Star Continues Its Huge Run
Gold Stars have become regulars in the Top 5, and this week Rayquaza makes another appearance—but with a Japanese card. A BGS 10 2004 Pokémon Japanese Clash of the Blue Sky Rayquaza Gold Star 1st Edition sold for $562,650 on eBay on Oct. 2.
Rayquaza has established itself as one of the premier characters in the high-end Pokémon market, while Gold Stars remain among the most coveted cards of the mid-2000s era. Put the two together in an elite grade, and the result is another sale above half a million dollars.
2. Legendary Collection Pikachu Reaches $780,000
Pikachu makes its first appearance in the countdown with one of the most recognizable cards from the early 2000s. A PSA 10 2002 Pokémon Legendary Collection Reverse Holo Pikachu #86 sold for $780,000 through Fanatics Weekly on Sept. 27.
Legendary Collection’s distinctive reverse holo pattern has made the set a favorite among collectors, and pairing that design with Pokémon’s most recognizable character creates one of the release’s biggest possible targets.
A $780,000 sale would easily lead most weeks. But this is not most weeks.
1. Art Academy Pikachu Sells for an Astonishing $8.4 Million
There are big sales, and then there are sales that immediately become part of hobby history. The 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Y. Fujishima Pikachu #XY-P, graded PSA 10, sold for an incredible $8.4 million through Fanatics Weekly on Sept. 27.
The card’s story helps explain why it sits in such rarefied territory. Fujishima’s artwork was selected as one of the winning entries in the Japanese Pokémon Art Academy competition, where participants created artwork using the Pokémon Art Academy game for Nintendo 3DS. Fujishima won in the Dress-Up Pikachu category with an illustration featuring Pikachu wearing a red raincoat and carrying an umbrella.
Rather than appearing in packs, the winning artwork became an extraordinarily limited prize card. Each winner received just 100 copies featuring their own illustration. And there’s an interesting connection to last week’s countdown: another card created through the same Art Academy competition, Daisuke Ochiai’s Mudkip, led last week at $3.72 million.
Another Eight-Figure Week for Pokémon
For the second time in three weeks, the five biggest TCG sales combined to top $10 million.
This week’s $10,534,650 total also shows just how many corners of the Pokémon market are attracting serious money. Team Aqua’s Kyogre represented the XY era, Misdreavus brought Neo Revelation, Rayquaza added another Gold Star, and a Legendary Collection Pikachu reached $780,000.
But ultimately, this week belongs to one card. At $8.4 million, the Fujishima Art Academy Pikachu accounted for almost 80% of this week’s countdown—and added another extraordinary sale to the blazing-hot Pokémon and TCG card market.
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Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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