Heritage Posts Record $12.18 Million Trading Card Games Auction Led by $5 Million Pikachu Illustrator

Heritage Auctions just held the biggest Trading Card Games auction in its history, generating more than $12.18 million in sales over two days and setting a string of new Pokémon records along the way. The September 18-19 Trading Card Games Signature Auction finished at $12,182,188, smashing Heritage’s previous TCG auction record of $7,790,094 set in June. The difference was more than $4 million, and Heritage says it marked the fifth consecutive auction in which its Trading Card Games department surpassed the sales record established by the previous event.

At the center of the auction was the $5 million sale of a PSA Mint 9 Pikachu Illustrator carrying a Mike Baker Authenticated Gold Diamond designation. As CollectiblesNews.com reported following the sale, the 1998 Japanese promo is one of 15 Pikachu Illustrators graded PSA 9, with only one example graded higher. This copy is the only PSA 9 identified by Heritage as receiving the MBA Gold Diamond designation. The $5 million result established a record for a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator and became the second-highest auction price ever paid for any Pokémon card, according to Heritage.

But the Illustrator was far from the only record-setting Pokémon item in the sale. A sealed First Edition Pokémon Base Set booster box sold for $750,000, which Heritage says is the highest auction price ever paid for a sealed Pokémon Trading Card Game box.

Several individual cards also reached remarkable prices. A PSA Gem Mint 10 Charizard from Legendary Collection with the set’s distinctive reverse-holo treatment sold for $575,000, while a PSA 10 Gold Star Charizard from EX Dragon Frontiers brought $475,000. A PSA 10 Gold Star Mewtwo reached $262,500, and a PSA 10 Legendary Collection reverse-holo Psyduck sold for $200,000.

The auction also produced $150,000 for a PSA 10 Japanese Sky-Splitting Deoxys Movie Commemoration card tied to the release of Destiny Deoxys, while a PSA 10 Legendary Collection reverse-holo Dark Vaporeon finished at $137,500.

“The market is in an incredible position,” Garcia says. “The TCG Department started in 2021, and to see how far the market has come in such a short time is remarkable. We’re very excited about the future of TCG. We have an outstanding TCG team who have worked extremely hard over the last few months curating this auction and having it become our highest-grossing auction.”