On February 16, 2026, Goldin Auctions sold Logan Paul's PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator for $16,492,000.
In the process, it earned the new Guiness Book of World Records title for not just the most expensive Pokémon card ever bought (which Logan previously earned when he bought this same card for $5.125 million), but it also shattered the record for the most expensive trading card ever sold at public auction.
This is a monumental sale.
The final sale price of Logan Paul’s PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator on Goldin: $16,492,000.
And, a sale price of this magnitude is no accident...
Goldin didn't just list the card for sale, they executed a masterclass in marketing spectacle designed to extract the highest possible price for this card, including:
Covering the consignment agreement in their Netflix show,
Having Logan Paul aggressively push the idea of buying the card,
Producing a livestream throughout the last several hours of the auction to draw more and more live attention to the sale, and
Identifying the top candidates to purchase the card and brining them to the set of the livestream...
This was spectacle.
And it created something unique for the top bidders: a platform.
Both Goldin and Logan Paul understand that the more attention they can generate, the more valuable their items are. And it paid off: the buyer of this card was buying more than a trading card..
They were buying a platform to announce their new business venture, and the on-going marketing value they can extract from owning the world's most expensive trading card.
If you ask me: it's still a bit much.
The buyer, A.J. Scaramucci, is the son of Anthony Scaramucci, a wealthy financier and founder of the multi-billion dollar SkyBridge Capital investment firm. This kid was born into considerable wealth. To A.J.'s credit, he's had his fair share of successes, reportedly having made many successful investments himself.
Now, it appears A.J. is targeting the ultra-high end of collectibles markets as his next big investment, starting with the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator. A.J. used the purchase to announce his new venture, TreasureTrove.com, (watch this announcement from the livestream here) where he also plans to add a T-Rex fossil, as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and I'm sure much more. This is a "planetary treasure hunt", as A.J. calls it.
A.J.'s narrative is that he's chasing true rarity, of which this 1-of-1 Pikachu Illustrator is the perfect example. From here, I expect the news of this sale, and the "true rarity" narrative to lift the vintage Pokémon market: It's taken a while for vintage Pokémon to enter the boom phase again, and the time has come.
Over the long-term, it's hard to say what will happen. I always find myself at a bit of a loss when dealing with the ultra-high end of the market like this. I keep wondering: how high can prices really go?
But, I never thought this Illustrator would clear $10 million, let alone $16.5. It's only in hindsight that these seemingly crazy numbers become normalized.
At the end of the day, I think the exposure this sale creates is only good for the Pokémon collecting hobby. It's moments like this that drive awareness, and bring all kinds of new people to Pokémon to grow the hobby.
And we all win when the hobby grows.
As usual,
Thank you so much for reading the TCG Buyers Club newsletter. My name's Grey, I buy cardboard, and I'm on a mission to make collecting and investing in Pokémon simple.
Cheers 🍻
P.S. Yes, I know I’m late again. Life gets in the way sometimes, you know? I continue to target Tuesday morning for my newsletters and will do my best to stick with it. Also: anyone else wish they were buying more vintage cards the past few years??