Auction house confirms historic sale
Goldin’s Pokémon and trading card auction concluded with what I think is a pretty staggering result. The PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card, previously owned by Logan Paul, sold for $16,492,000 after extended bidding that went into early Monday morning. That’s not just a big number—it’s now officially the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction, according to Guinness World Records certification.
What’s interesting is how the sale played out. Paul had originally planned to hand-deliver the card to the winner, but the buyer, AJ Scaramucci of Solari Capital, was already at Goldin’s headquarters when the hammer fell. The transaction completed right there on the spot. Scaramucci’s firm invests in blockchain and crypto projects, which perhaps adds another layer to this story about value and collectibility in digital-native circles.
Community and spectacle
Ken Goldin, the auction house founder, called it a historic night for the entire collectible community. He pointed out that these key items people love keep setting records and bringing people together. I’m not sure if that’s entirely accurate—record prices can sometimes create barriers rather than remove them—but the sentiment is there.
Paul himself seemed genuinely excited about the community aspect. He talked about meeting other collectors and connecting over shared passion. The whole event had a theatrical quality to it, with a first-edition Pokémon box break livestream on Paul’s YouTube channel featuring a Guinness representative and previous auction winners. They pulled rare Mewtwo, Chansey, and Blastoise cards during that stream, adding to the spectacle.
Broader market signals
The auction wasn’t just about one card, though that’s obviously the headline. There were more than 300 lots in total, including graded cards, sealed booster boxes, original artwork, and vintage video games. The bidding was competitive across multiple price tiers, which suggests to me that demand in the trading card market remains broad rather than concentrated at the very top.
Some other notable sales: a 1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition Holo Charizard graded PSA 10 went for $954,808. A 1996 Japanese Base Set holo uncut sheet fetched $613,801. A factory-sealed 1st Edition booster box realized $496,000. Several rare promotional items and sealed Game Boy titles set category highs too.
What comes next
Goldin is positioning itself as a destination for elite trading card collectibles, pairing what they call globally recognized consignments with digital reach. They’ve got more auctions lined up—a Pokémon 151 auction on February 20 timed to the game’s 30th anniversary, and a Winter Vintage Elite Auction closing February 21 featuring a newly discovered 1909 T206 Honus Wagner.
The Pikachu Illustrator sale shows something important, I think. At the highest levels of collecting, rarity combined with narrative—the story behind the item, who owned it, its cultural significance—can command prices that compete with fine art. It’s not just about the cardboard or the ink anymore. It’s about history, celebrity, and perhaps a bit of speculative fever too.
But let’s be honest—$16.5 million for a trading card is extraordinary. Whether this represents sustainable value or peak market enthusiasm is hard to say. The market will tell us in time. For now, it’s a record that will likely stand for a while, until the next ultra-rare item with the right story comes along.
