Everyone has a stack of Pokémon cards hidden away in their childhood bedroom, but not everybody has a card that’s worth several thousand dollars in that collection. To be frank, in this list of the 20 rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards, the odds that you own any of them are slim. Still, we can hope, right?
In this list, we’re running through the peak of Pokémon card collecting. Owning even one of these cards in mint condition makes your collection worth more than pretty much all of your friends, which is the most important thing. Just scroll through our list below for some of the most expensive examples from the wide range of Pokémon Trading Card Game collectibles.
For more Pokémon, take a look at our lists of the best Pokémon games and the best starter Pokémon.
Value: $40,800
Remember the Game Boy Advance e-Reader? This bulky piece of tech would connect to the handheld console, and you could unlock exclusive minigames and content by scanning special cards. Naturally, Pokémon took advantage of this, creating a line of Pokémon cards that could be scanned. This is the rarest of such cards, with just over 100 PSA 10-graded cards known to exist.
2004 Pokemon EX Team Rocket Returns Holo Torchic Gold Star
Value: $43,200
Another Gold Star card, and only 300 or so of these Torchic cards have been graded, making it highly sought after. Making them even rarer, only 17 of those 300 have been determined to be mint condition.
Value: $45,100
This beautiful card emblazoned with the legendary Rayquaza is a Gold Star card, which means it was rare even when those packs were new. Now, years later? Finding a mint-condition card is like finding gold dust.
1996 Pokémon Japanese Base Set Holo Venusaur
Value: $55,000
Like many other first-edition cards from the 1990s, this Venusuar is one of the rarest and most valuable cards out there today. Ones that fit the criteria for the tens of thousands of dollars are marked by their lack of a rarity stamp, which was only introduced in later reprints and editions. There are a handful of such cards out there, but only five have been graded a 10 by PSA – meaning they’re in perfect condition.
Value: $60,000
It’s odd how, in many cases, the second-place card for a tournament is harder to track down than the first-place card. While more are given out, they may not be as highly prized by the owners, as they serve as more of a reminder of coming up short. Still, those that did hold onto them can make a quick buck from them today.
2003 Victory Orb Mew Trophy
Value: $60,000
This card was given out to each of the top three players in the Japanese Battle Road Summer events in 2003 and 2004. These promo cards are very rare today, with just 14 having been officially PSA Graded.
Value: $60,000
What a price jump! This is a Topps Chrome card, which makes it unlike most of the other cards on this list, but one collector shelled out $60k for this beauty. They can sometimes appear on eBay and other auction sites at lower prices, so if you’re a collector you should set up some listing alerts.
2006 EX Dragon Frontiers Gold Star Charizard
Value: $60,066
This sweet card is a rare example of a Dark-type Charizard, and the art depicts the shiny version of everyone’s favorite creature. This card was printed as part of the Dragon Frontiers set in 2006, and currently, there are only 59 at Grade 10 around today, making them quite high-value at auctions.
Value: $63,000
Shortly after Pokémon Snap released on the Nintendo 64, a contest was was held to get the best shot of a Pokémon in the game. Your reward was getting your photo printed onto an official Pokémon TCG card. This particular competition was hosted by the Japanese TV show 64 Mario Stadium, and the winners received 15 copies of their card, and only one of these Chansey cards is known to still exist.
1999 Pokemon Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle Tropical Wind Trophy Card
Value: $65,100
This card is gorgeous, and it’s another incredibly limited rarity. It was a participation award in a 1999 TCG tournament in Honolulu, and only 50 of the world’s best players were invited. This isn’t the kind of card you’ll happen across in an old collection unless you know someone who was very good at card games in the late ‘90s.
Value: $70,000
This is yet another card that was given away to top-performing players in the competitive TCG scene. The Pokémon Players Club used to use an XP system for its rankings, and if you were able to earn 70k XP during their fourth season, you’d be given this card as a reward. The highest PSA grade one of these has ever received is a 9.5, making it extremely rare to find one in top condition.
1998 Pokemon Japanese Promo Tamamushi University Prize Magikarp
Value: $78,000
It’s Magikarp! And yep, you guessed it, the value is attributed to how absurdly rare this one is. This card was only given out as a reward for winning a battle during the Tamamushi University Hyper Test. You need to have some incredibly strong connections or deep pockets to add this to your collection.
Value: $90,000
This card has an extra cool layer of mystery to it. Not only was it given out to the winners of the regional heats in 1999, but it served as a ticket to the Super Secret Battle. It's not just a name either, as this tournament was held on August 22, 1999, at an undisclosed location. Seven cards have been graded, and the most recent sale went for $90,000. However, one is currently up for sale at a starting price of $198,000, so it may become much more valuable if someone buys it.
1998 Trophy Pikachu Gold
Value: $128,900
Retro tournament cards are often some of the most valuable due to how few get printed. This particular card was given out in 1998 to the top 3 players of the Japanese Pokémon Lizardon tournament. Only seven of these have ever appeared for grading, and one was most recently sold for $128,900.
Value: $144,300
Everyone loves Lugia, so it's no surprise that this card is on the pricey side. Cards from this particular Neo Genesis set have been classed as very hard to grade due to a number of printing errors during their early runs. Only about 40 of these cards have ever been graded, with a mint condition card being sold for $144,000 in May 2021.
1998 Kangaskhan-Holo #115 Family Event Trophy Card
Value: $150,100
If you've ever tried to convince your parents to play the Pokémon TCG with you, then you'll know how difficult it is. Still, those who managed it in Japan 1998 were in for a reward, as those who won enough matches in a Parent/Child Mega Battle tournament got this exclusive card as a reward.
Value: $247,230
The astute among you may have noticed that this card isn't actually of a Pokémon. It instead depicts Tsunekazu Ishihara - the founder and president of The Pokémon Company. It was printed in 2017 and given to the company's staff as a celebration of Ishahara's 60th birthday. This particular version of the card is signed by the man himself, boosting its value.
If you wondered just how overpowered such a card would be. The ability: "Red Chanchanko" makes the card immune to all damage, effects, and abilities of opposing cards. The name of the ability is a reference to the red garb traditionally worn in Japan on someone's 60th birthday.
If that wasn't powerful enough, try the GX attack "60 Congratulations!" which - along with dealing 1060 damage, asks you to flip 60 coins. For each heads, you must take a present. Truly a worthy celebration of a legendary figure in gaming.
Also, he's classified as an Ultra Beast - we'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.
1998 Pokemon Commission Presentation Galaxy Star Holo Blastoise
Value: $360,000
This is one of the rarest cards ever sold as it was never officially released to the public, and thus there are only two in existence. These cards were originally made by Wizards of the Coast - creators of Magic: The Gathering - as part of their bid to win the rights to produce the English version of the Pokémon TCG. While it's been confirmed that two exist, only one has ever been seen out in the wild. In January 2021, this card was sold for a whopping $360,000.
Value: $420,000
This is the card that everyone swears was in their collection somewhere once, but is now lost to time. If you happen to have a mint condition 1st Edition Charizard card in your collection, then you might as well save it for retirement at this point.
1998 Pikachu-Holo Illustrator
Value: $6,000,000
The peak of Pokémon card collecting. It depicts an adorable little Pikachu doodling other Pokémon cards. Beautiful. This was a prize in an art competition back in the ‘90s, and there are fewer than 20 in existence. Prices for this card have been climbing over time, peaking recently at $6,000,000. Possibly worth it for one of the only – if not the only – mint condition versions of this card.
