At an auction in Beverly Hills, a Pokémon Illustrator card fetched an eye-watering $54,970, setting a new record for Pokémon card prices.
According to Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations for Comics at Heritage Auctions, a Pokémon Illustrator card went for around $23,000 during the early 2000s. As noted on Go Nintendo, this latest auction smashed that record.
The Pokémon Illustrator card was a prize for CoroCoro Comic illustration contests in the late 1990s. A total of 39 cards were awarded, and as Bulbapedia points out, it’s unknown as to how many still exist. Those that do are worth a whole bunch.