Pokémon PSA 10 First Edition Charizard Card Sells for Record $1.385 Million at Alt

One of the most recognizable Pokémon cards in the hobby has crossed the million-dollar mark at public auction. A PSA 10 Base Set 1st Edition Charizard sold for $1,385,274 at Alt, setting a new record for the card and, according to Alt, becoming the highest public sale ever recorded for any Charizard card. The 1999 Pokémon Base Set Charizard #4 is the holographic First Edition version from the original English-language set. Alt announced the $1,385,274 result following the close of its auction.

The result puts one of Pokémon collecting’s most familiar grails firmly into seven-figure territory. First Edition Base Set Charizard has spent decades near the center of the vintage Pokémon market, and examples receiving PSA’s Gem Mint 10 grade occupy the highest end of that already closely watched card.

The sale also comes during an extraordinary stretch for high-end Pokémon cards. In September, a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator sold for $5 million at Heritage Auctions, while just days later a Pokémon Art Academy Mudkip graded PSA 10 sold for $3.72 million through Fanatics Collect.

English-language cards have been producing their own major results. A PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star sold for $2.7 million at Alt in September, becoming the most expensive English Pokémon card at the time of that sale. More recently, a PSA 10 Legendary Collection reverse-holo Snorlax sold for $651,001 at Alt.

Trophy cards have also remained active at the top of the market. Earlier this month, a 2014 Pokémon World Championships No. 1 Trainer Pikachu Trophy Card graded CGC Mint 9 sold for $292,800 at Goldin. Those results show just how broad the current demand has become, stretching from competition-issued trophies and Art Academy cards to Gold Stars and recognizable vintage set cards.

The Charizard result is particularly notable because it does not rely on the extreme scarcity of an Illustrator, trophy or contest-issued card. It is a card produced for Pokémon’s original English Base Set, but in the combination collectors have traditionally valued most: First Edition, holographic and PSA 10.

Charizard has also remained one of the characters most closely associated with high-end Pokémon collecting, making the new Alt result an important benchmark. Even as multimillion-dollar sales have pushed other Pokémon into the spotlight, First Edition Charizard continues to be one of the cards most immediately recognizable both inside and outside the hobby.