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Someone paid $195,000 for a Pokemon card
Turns out catching 'em all can be a pricey endeavor, especially with Pokemon fever growing as the release of Sword and Shield draws near. A single Pokemon card sold for $195,000 last week, making "Pikachu Illustrator" the most expensive one in existence, according to Kotaku.
This card was never sold in packs like regular ones, but awarded to the winners of a Japanese comic contest in 1998, the auction noted. Only 39 were released, and 10 of those are believed to still exist. The artwork, by Pikachu creator Atsuko Nishida, is pretty delightful.
The buyer actually paid $224,500 for the card -- Weiss Auctions added a 15% buyer's premium to the winning bid, the auction house confirmed via email.
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Thursday October 31 2019, @08:05PM (2 children)
See, here's where my Bullshit Detector™ (© 1977 Joe Strummer) sounds off: spending that kind of cash on Art or Classic Cars I can theoretically justify: they're both an investment with a virtually guaranteed return, better than stocks in most cases. This example is another bubble. Wait five years and that card will be worth slightly more...than the cardboard it's printed on.
Think of the trading card rush of the late 1980s/early 1990s or comic books of that period. We're not talking Action Comics No. 1 here, are we...?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday November 01 2019, @01:42AM
Pogs.
When I think of all the kids who spent all day doing hard work to pay for those things.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Friday November 01 2019, @12:09PM
> See, here's where my Bullshit Detector™ (© 1977 Joe Strummer) sounds off: spending that kind of cash on Art or Classic Cars I can theoretically justify: they're both an investment with a virtually guaranteed return, better than stocks in most cases.
I agree, I would rather spend money on art or classic cars than on a pokemon card, but some people do feel there is value in other things (be it pokemon cards, stamp collections, vintage cameras, model trains, etc...).
The first question is how much is $195,000 really worth to the buyer? If its their life savings, then yeah its mental to blow it all on a card, if its one days income for them, then it doesn't surprise me at all. They might spend all their time buying up whatever takes their fancy just because they can.
Without context of how rich the buyer is, we can't judge whether the card was worth what was paid for it. For them it might just be gambling money they are throwing at a speculative investment.