Goldin closed its Pokémon & TCG Auction with a $16.492 million sale of Logan Paul’s PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator, setting a Guinness World Records-certified benchmark for the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction.
Record-Breaking Sale and Guinness Certification
The auction house said the Pikachu Illustrator — the only example graded PSA 10 — closed at $16,492,000 after extended bidding into early Monday morning. The result established a new high for any trading card sold at auction and was certified by Guinness World Records. The coveted card had been personally owned by Logan Paul and featured prominently in Season 3 of Netflix's King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch.
Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin, stated: “This is an historic night for not only the Pokémon community, it is an historic night for the entire collectible community. We just keep showing there are no barriers. These key things that we all love and appreciate keep going up, keep setting records, and keep bringing people together.”
Buyer Revealed, On-Site Transaction
Originally, Paul had agreed to hand-deliver the card to the winning bidder. Instead, the buyer — AJ Scaramucci of Solari Capital — revealed he was already present at Goldin’s headquarters, allowing the transaction to conclude immediately after the hammer fell. AJ Scaramucci is the son of Anthony Scaramucci, Skybridge Capital founder and digital currency advocate. His firm Solari Capital also invests in blockchain, crypto, and fintech, including bitcoin-mining plays such as American Bitcoin.
Paul commented: “This right here is what makes collecting so special–this hobby is unbelievably fun. I love the community aspect of it, getting to meet other collectors and connect over our shared passion. It has been amazing working on this with my friend Ken Goldin, who has changed Pokémon forever in such a great way.”
Pre-Auction Livestream and Other Notable Lots
In the run-up to the auction close, Goldin and Paul hosted a first-edition Pokémon box break livestream on Paul’s YouTube channel, attended by a Guinness representative and prior Goldin auction winners. The box break yielded rare Mewtwo, Chansey, and Blastoise cards, adding theatrical flair to the event.
Beyond the Pikachu Illustrator, the sale featured more than 300 lots, including graded cards, sealed booster boxes, original artwork, and vintage video games. Competitive bidding spanned multiple price tiers. Additional record prices: a 1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition Holo Charizard graded PSA 10 sold 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 and sealed Game Boy titles set category highs.
Goldin explained in the release that the results further position the firm as a destination for elite TCG collectibles. The company is set to launch its Pokémon 151 auction on Feb. 20, timed to the game’s 30th anniversary, and its Winter Vintage Elite Auction closes Feb. 21, headlined by a newly discovered 1909 T206 Honus Wagner. The latest result suggests that at the upper echelons of the hobby, rarity plus narrative can command prices that rival fine art.