Pokémon Snap Bulbasaur Sells for $809,943 as Rare Promo Cards Soar at Goldin
A group of some of the rarest Pokémon cards in the hobby delivered massive results at Goldin, led by a 1999 Pokémon Snap Bulbasaur that sold for $809,943.
The auction also saw a Snap Charmander sell for $640,500, a Snap Squirtle reach $555,100, a Prerelease Raichu sell for $640,500 and a Pikachu Illustrator bring $585,600.
The results put several of Pokémon collecting’s hardest-to-find promotional and early cards into above a half million each during the same auction.
Snap Bulbasaur Leads at $809,943
The biggest result was a 1999 Pokémon Japanese Promo CoroCoro Best Photo #1 Snap Bulbasaur graded PSA NM-MT 8, which sold for $809,943. The card originated from a Japanese photo contest connected to the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap.
Rather than featuring conventional commissioned artwork, the card uses a winning image captured by a player inside the video game.
The CoroCoro Best Photo contest selected winning photographs that were turned into physical Pokémon cards, creating some of the most unusual promotional releases from the franchise’s early years.
Snap Charmander Sells for $640,500
A 1999 Pokémon Japanese Promo 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo #4 Snap Charmander graded PSA NM-MT 8 sold for $640,500.
Like the Bulbasaur, the Charmander features a photograph taken within Pokémon Snap. The card was distributed through the 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo contest rather than the CoroCoro competition.
Its combination of extremely limited distribution and player-created imagery has made it one of the most distinctive Charmander cards in the hobby.
Snap Squirtle Reaches $555,100
The third major Pokémon Snap result came from a 1999 Pokémon Japanese Promo 64 Mario Stadium Best Photo #7 Snap Squirtle graded PSA EX-MT 6. The card sold for $555,100.
With Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle all selling in the same auction, the results provided a rare look at the upper end of the market for the Pokémon Snap promotional series.
Combined, the three Snap cards sold for more than $2 million.
Prerelease Raichu Sells for $640,500
A 1999 Pokémon Base Set Prerelease Holo #14 Raichu graded PSA EX-MT 6 also sold for $640,500.
The Prerelease Raichu is one of the most famous early English-language Pokémon rarities. The Goldin example was graded PSA 6 and was listed as one of only two examples at that grade level in PSA’s population report.
The $640,500 sale places the card firmly among the most valuable early English Pokémon cards to sell publicly.
Pikachu Illustrator Brings $585,600
A 1998 Pokémon Japanese Promo Holo Pikachu Illustrator authenticated by PSA sold for $585,600.
Pikachu Illustrator was created for illustration contests held through CoroCoro Comic and has become one of the most recognizable trophy and prize cards in Pokémon collecting. The Goldin example carried a PSA Authentic designation rather than a numerical grade.
Even without a numeric grade, the card still crossed the half-million-dollar mark.
Black Label Japanese Charizard Also Featured
The auction also included a 1996 Pokémon Japanese Base Set Holo #6 Charizard graded BGS Pristine Black Label 10.
The card represents one of the highest possible graded examples of the original Japanese Charizard, which sold for $518,500.
A Beckett Black Label requires perfect 10 subgrades across centering, corners, edges and surface, making the designation exceptionally difficult to obtain.
The six cards represented several different areas of elite Pokémon collecting, from early Base Set rarities and trophy cards to the extraordinarily scarce Pokémon Snap contest promos.
But the strongest result belonged to Bulbasaur. At $809,943, the PSA 8 CoroCoro Best Photo Snap Bulbasaur emerged as the top sale among the group and one of the most significant public results yet for a Pokémon promotional card.