Charizard Ignites the Auction Scene: Rare Pokémon Card Fetches Six-Figures at Auction

Pokémon cards continue to prove they’re not just a childhood fad—they’re serious business for collectors. At Goldin’s recent Pop Culture Elite Auction, an ultra-rare card electrified the market with a six-figure sale—one of the most iconic monsters of them all: Charizard.

The fiery fan favorite from the 1999 Base Set, a 1st Edition Holographic Charizard graded PSA 10, ignited bidding wars before selling for a staggering $213,500. This card, often seen as a coveted holy grail of modern trading cards, was illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita and remains a centerpiece for serious collectors.

But Charizard wasn’t the only Pokémon making waves.

A 1998 Japanese Promo Family Event Kangaskhan card—awarded only at exclusive parent-child tournaments in Japan—captured $68,321. These cards' rarity and unique origin story have made Kangaskhan cards desirable trophies for Pokémon aficionados.

The 1998 Kangaskhan Family Event Trophy Card is one of the rarest and most intriguing items in the Pokémon card universe—and it wasn’t available in stores. You had to participate in a specific tournament held only in Japan to get one.

Here’s the catch: it was a parent-child tag team event, part of an initiative to promote family bonding through the Pokémon card game. Only teams made up of a child and their parent or guardian could compete. Winners of these events received this special holographic Kangaskhan card as a prize. It features the “Pocket Monsters Card Game” logo in gold on the front, distinguishing it from mass-produced cards.

Because the card was never sold commercially and was awarded under such limited circumstances, only a tiny number were ever produced; fewer than 50 graded examples are known to exist today, with very few in mint condition.

In 1999, two unique photo contests were held in Japan to promote the release of the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap: one by CoroCoro Comic and another by the TV show 64 Mario Stadium. Participants submitted their best in-game photographs, and winners had their snapshots transformed into official Pokémon cards.

Each grand prize winner received a limited number of personalized cards—20 copies for CoroCoro winners and 15 for 64 Mario Stadium winners. These cards are exceptionally rare, as they were never mass-produced or sold to the public.

At the recent auction, two of these elusive cards fetched impressive sums:

Even unopened packs are commanding serious attention. At the same Goldin auction, a factory-sealed 1999 Pokémon Base Set "Green Wing" booster box—containing 36 untouched booster packs—sold for $26,840. Collectors weren’t bidding on cards they could see but on the tantalizing possibility of pulling a trinity of holographic legends: Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur. It’s a high-stakes gamble that collectors are happy to make—spending nearly $27,000 for the thrill of cracking a decades-old box and possibly unearthing one of the hobby’s revered treasures.

As someone who still has a binder full of my son’s Pokémon cards from the 1990s tucked away in a closet, I can’t help but wonder if there might be a hidden gem waiting to be rediscovered among his special, carefully selected section full of holographic, shadowless, and first edition cards. Hey, these cards are fair game! Mom bought them, and he left these relics of childhood behind once he started high school. With prices like these making headlines, now might be the perfect time to dust off those old cards and find out if my retirement just got an unexpected boost.

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