Daisuke Ochiai Pokémon Promo Becomes Most Valuable Mudkip Card In History
The week of September 20-26 was a big one for Mudkip collectors, as their cherished Pokémon joined an elite group of characters that have been deemed valuable enough to breach the seven-digit mark for the very first time ever.
One Mudkip card in particular made headlines with an absolutely staggering final auction price that nobody saw coming.
Limited to a POP 3, it went from cute card to the absolute grail of all Mudkip collectibles in a single day.
Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip Goes Nuclear
This is the record-breaking Mudkip, a 2015 Art Academy Daisuke Ochiai Promo from the XY era of the TCG. Graded in a PSA 10, there are exactly 100 of these Mudkips in the entire world and only three of them have ever received a Gem MT grade.
It hit the Fanatics September Premier Auction where it went mostly unnoticed due to the amount of heavy-hitters in other lots, such as the Cooper Flagg 1/1 Debut RPA. Despite that, it ended up as the second-most expensive card from the entire collection.
At $3,720,000, it is the single most valuable Mudkip collectible of all time by a significant margin. As a result, it is also the greatest Mudkip card of all time.
Another Record-Setting Mudkip Sold Just Days Prior
Four days before the Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip concluded at auction, a PSA 10 Gold Star Mudkip from 2004's EX Team Rocket Returns became the Pokémon's first-ever million-dollar card.
It fetched $1,020,000 at a Fanatics Weekly auction and, at the time, was the most valuable Mudkip card ever by a difference of nearly $900,000.
No Gold Star Mudkip had ever sold for more than $70,000 before this exact piece. As things stand, it is now the joint-second most valuable Pokémon Gold Star card ever, sharing the spot with A CGC 10 Rayquaza Gold Star from EX Deoxys and only behind A PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star which is also from EX Team Rocket Returns.
Top Recent Mudkip Sales
The first-ever Mudkip card to get past $100,000 might come as a surprise, since it's not one that's typically talked about on a daily basis. This 2004 Kids' WB promo sold on Alt for $111,931 and instantly became the most expensive Mudkip card ever, even beating out the Gold Star by a hefty margin.
Speaking of Gold Stars, a PSA 8.5 Gold Star Mudkip briefly held the crown four days before a PSA 10 copy completely eclipsed the record it once had.
This card sold for $69,562.80 on September 17th, and at the time it was the best Gold Star Mudkip in the entire world.
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Joaqin is a journalist with a strong passion for the Hobby. He has published work for HLTV.org, Rappler.com, and DLSU Sports. A decade-long Pokémon TCG collector, he recently shifted into sports cards to collect Lakers, Dodgers and Chargers players with growing PCs of Shohei Ohtani and Justin Herbert.