The cards are named after the gold star that appears next to the Pokémon’s name at the top of the card, which signifies that the card features alternative-colour artwork different from the common version. Gold Star Pokémon cards are among the most valuable sets of Pokémon cards in existence and command an incredibly high value as a result. Sold for $22,000 in February 2021 The Gold Star Pokémon cards are one of the most valuable Pokémon sets ever produced, with Espeon and Umbreon two of the rarest cards in the set.
Espeon and Umbreon Gold Star POP Series 5Ī pair of Gold Star Pokémon cards from one of the most valuable Pokémon sets of all time Only 36 copies of the card are estimated to exist - equal to the number of participants in all age divisions of the world championships.Ī copy of the Master’s Key card sold at auction in November 2019 for more than $21,000, highlighting how valuable the rare prize card is.ġ2. 1 Trainer and its ilk, this card is a little more recent, being given to competitors in the 2010 Pokémon World Championships held in Hawaii.īoth those participating in the trading card game tournament and its video game counterpart received a copy of Master’s Key - the cards were identical, but came presented in a different trophy case frame depending on the category.
Master’s Key is another rare Pokémon card awarded to participants in a Pokémon TCG tournament. Sold for $21,000 in November 2019 Master's Key is one of the rare Pokémon cards that doesn't date back to the TCG's early days. Until then, it will remain a true Holy Grail. If a legitimate copy of the card were to surface, it may well set a new record for the most valuable and rarest Pokémon card of all time. Whether Prerelease Raichu actually exists remains in contention - no copies of the card have even been professionally certified or sold at auction, despite a number of apparent fakes popping up over the years. However, given the completion date of April 1st, whether the sale was real or an elaborate April Fool’s prank remains dubious. In 2009, the first and seemingly only recorded sale of a Prerelease Raichu was reported by fan site PokeGym, apparently changing hands for $10,500. The few remaining copies are believed to have been given to Wizards of the Coast staff.įor years, Prerelease Raichu was only rumoured to exist, until a copy believed to be genuine surfaced from a former Wizards of the Coast employee in 2006. The game’s English manufacturer, Wizards of the Coast, reportedly destroyed all but a fraction of the copies, leaving 10 or fewer in the wild. So the story goes, a very small number - said to approximately 100 - of Raichu cards from the game’s Base Set were accidentally reprinted with the word “Prerelease” stamped in the bottom-right of the card artwork. Prerelease Raichu was long rumoured to be a card printed by error in the run-up to the English-language release of the Pokémon TCG’s second expansion, Jungle, in 1999. Perhaps the most controversial Pokémon card of all time, Prerelease Raichu may also be the rarest Pokémon card ever made - in fact, it’s so rare that finding out exact details is tricky. Reportedly sold for $10,500 in April 2009 Fact or fiction? Prerelease Raichu may be the rarest Pokémon card of all time - if it's real, that is. We probably wouldn’t recommend trading it in the schoolyard either, unless your friend has a Rolls-Royce to give you in return.
It came in a special frame and box marking the anniversary, which you’d hope might keep it safe given the price tag and rarity.Īlthough the card recreates the original Pikachu card - including the Pocket Monsters Card Game logo on the back and its Japanese text on the front - it’s actually not legal for use in tournaments. If you won, you were given the chance to buy a copy of the limited-edition card for 216,000 yen - or around $2,081/£1,700. The only way to get a copy of the golden Pikachu was to enter a lottery held in 2016. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.
Aren’t you at least a little curious? There might be a retirement fund waiting in your attic. Interest in Pokémon and the Pokémon card game has only continued to grow in recent years, with multiple card sales at auction setting new records in 20 alone, so there’s never been a better time to rifle through your collection and see if you own one of the rarest Pokémon cards of all time. That's why we've put together this list of the rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards, so you know for certain what's hiding in your attic. And valuable really is the word, with a Shadowless Charizard having just sold for $420,000 - in Short, Pokémon cards are big business.
There is a huge amount of Pokémon out there and even more Pokémon Trading Cards, ranging from common Pidgeys to rare and valuable promo cards.