It's no secret to the Pokemon community that the trading card game continues to be popular among players and collectors alike. Fans of Pokemon often spend ludicrous amounts of money to obtain rare cards and card collections, and now a Pokemon trading card has once again broken world records for how much money it has sold for.Pokemon cards are of varying rarity, with some simply being uncommon but theoretically acquirable, like those who have been lucky enough to find holo Charizards while opening Pokemon TCG packs have experienced. However, others are so rare that only a few were ever produced, and the Pokemon Illustrator card is one of them.The Pokemon Illustrator card, also known as the Pikachu Illustrator, is what has now broken records once again. The Pokemon Illustrator card previously sold for huge sums, but it has now shattered the record, selling for a whopping $900,000 USD. While this is a new record for the Pokemon series, what's particularly surprising is that this card wasn't in the best condition it could have been. It was graded as Near Mint 7 by PSA out of a possible 10. Near Mint 7 is noted to include minor defects like surface wear, slight fraying, wax staining, or even minor picture blemishes.
Those who would hope to find this card in a pack and make it rich will be disappointed to learn that's impossible. The Pokemon Illustrator card was originally awarded to winners of a Pokemon fanart contest way back in 1998, exclusively in Japan. There are evidently 39 of them that were awarded, though it's unclear how many of those have survived and how many are in a condition worthy of selling. In any case, it's an extremely rare card and not one that someone will ever find opening up a pack.
That being said, it's not impossible for fans to discover high-value cards. The aforementioned holographic Charizard, for example, has frequently sold at auction upwards of $100,000 USD, even being sold at over $300,000 when in perfect condition. While one holo Charizard tragically went through a washing machine, destroying its value, fans who find one of these cards in good shape could find themselves much richer.
While some collectors likely hunt for and sell these cards just to make a buck, the buyers spending hundreds of thousands on the cards likely have a strong emotional attachment to the series. Pokemon was a big part of growing up for multiple generations, and many of those who are still fond of it are willing to spend huge sums to add a special piece to their Pokemon collections.
