DALLAS, TX.- A PSA Mint 9 Pikachu Illustrator boasting a Mike Baker Authenticated Gold Diamond enhancement to its grade sold for $5 million — the highest amount ever paid for a PSA 9 Illustrator and the second highest amount paid at auction for any Pokmon card — at Heritage Auctions’ Sept. 18–19 Trading Card Games Signature Auction.
The result led the two-day auction to a total of $12,182,188, smashing Heritage’s previous Trading Card Games auction record of $7,790,094 set at the June 26–27 Trading Card Games and Manga Signature Auction by more than $4 million. It continued the five-auction streak of besting the total sales record set by the previous auction by Heritage Auctions, the world’s leading Trading Card Games auctioneer.
The copy is one of 15 certified by PSA with a Mint 9, with only one example graded higher. It is the only 9-graded copy to earn the MBA Gold Diamond, indicating it is exceptional for its grade. Because PSA grades in whole numbers between 1 and 10, an MBA Gold Diamond means MBA would consider it worthy of a 9.5, says Heritage Auctions Trading Card Games Managing Director Jesus Garcia.
The auction overall saw numerous records across various price points. A First-Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box sold for $750,000, the highest amount ever paid at auction for any sealed Pokmon Trading Card Games box.
Other noteworthy records include:
• A rare Gem Mint 10 Charizard 3 Legendary Collection reverse holo card sold for $575,000
• A PSA Gem Mint 10 Gold Star Charizard 100 from the EX Dragon Frontiers expansion set achieved $475,000
• A PSA Gem Mint 10 Gold Star Mewtwo holo card reached $262,500
• A PSA Gem Mint 10 Psyduck 88 reverse holo card from the Legendary Collection realized $200,000
• A PSA Gem Mint 10 Sky-Splitting Deoxys Movie Commemoration, released in Japan alongside the film Destiny Deoxys, sold for $150,000
• A PSA Gem Mint 10 Dark Vaporeon 9 from the Legendary Collection went for $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.”
