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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: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:55AM
Paltry compared to what some would pay to suppress an aristarchus submission. We know. We have seen the balance books. They really do not want you to see the aristarchus submissions! I wonder why, but, then again, I do not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @07:33AM (1 child)
numbers on a computer system for a real physical object? Sounds like a real bargain.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday October 31 2019, @02:21PM
(Score: 5, Funny) by gtomorrow on Thursday October 31 2019, @11:27AM (1 child)
..."There's a sucker born every minute."
And when the going gets hard, you can eat your credit card.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:40PM
Also, becoming a collector of anything is a great way to spend a lot of money on something that isn't useful or really even fun.
Really, you don't gotta catch 'em all. It will be OK, even if you've caught absolutely none of 'em.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Thursday October 31 2019, @11:32AM
They could have had Eagle Prime [youtu.be]
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Thursday October 31 2019, @01:29PM (5 children)
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:08PM
Someone who can afford to spend $200k on a Pokemon card probably doesn't have a mortgage, at least on their primary residence.
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:33PM (3 children)
> I can think of bragging rights I'd rather have. For example, "dude, I don't have a mortgage."
To be fair, whoever bought this probably never had (or needed) a mortgage. I doubt the card was bought by an average Joe. The people who spend this kind of money on collectables generally have all their other life requirements comfortably sorted out. A bit like people who can spend big money on old artwork or classic cars.
(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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday October 31 2019, @01:37PM
Investment seems weird, but people pay odd prices for what they consider art.
Something tells me that this one will never be shuffled in a deck in competition....
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday October 31 2019, @02:00PM (3 children)
If it brings the buyer or seller happiness to do such a thing, and doesn't harm anyone, who are we to judge?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday October 31 2019, @02:58PM (2 children)
He who is without sin, let him cast the frist post . . . err... something like that.
Seriously, though, it's not likely to have rendered said person destitute. I'm guessing this is more like random piece of art sold for $250,000. This is only significant, because it's a card game. Also, it's a really compelling reason not to get into those trading card games. These trading card games have always tended to be on the expensive side of things. Sure, you can just get one pack and be good, but that's not how it's designed to be played. It's designed for your to buy 50 packs of this release, so you can get most of the cool ones. Then, they release another series. Rinse, repeat. That gets super expensive at $20 a pack . . . (either I found an expensive listing on Amazon or it's much more expensive than I originally thought.)
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:19PM (1 child)
The much smarter way to do it is don't buy packs at all; buy the individual cards you need online and get them shipped to you.
But yes, TCGs are a money pit, especially if you play the rotating formats.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday October 31 2019, @03:22PM
And I think the most expensive individual pack of MtG was around $15, but that was a uniquely expensive set, Ultimate Masters. Your run-of-the-mill set packs are only $4 each.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @05:26PM (2 children)
Really disgusting.
So many problems in the world that need funding.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 31 2019, @05:35PM
Fallacy. The person getting the fifth of a million can choose to donate to charity.
Money is meant to move around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 01 2019, @04:35AM
True, but feeding the once means they will be hungry again soon. Allowing them to breed means next time more money will be needed.
How about addressing the root cause?
How many warlords could 1/4 solve?
How many farms tools could be purchased and shipped complete with a guard to make sure they are not stolen for use in war?
How many korans could this buy?
How many green eyed slaves could be rented for a night from an Islamic State market?
How many wells could be dug?
Seeds purchased?
Snips done?
Lives saved? Calculate it.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Thursday October 31 2019, @06:15PM
How about "Pokémon Card sold for $195,000"? Or maybe "The buyer also paid $29,500 to the auction house as their commission"? At the very least, don't use a headline that's contradicted by the text of the article.
Out of curiosity, what were the buyer's travel costs to and from the auction site? How about lunch?
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