Is the Pikachu Illustrator the rarest Pokemon card of all time?
Pokemon was introduced in Japan, back in late 1996. In 1997, a little known drawing contest took place. This contest was held in Japan 3 different times during 1997. In each contest, two of the best children's drawings were selected and the prize was a rare Japanese Pokemon card. This card came to be known as "the Illustrator" or the "Pikachu Illustrator" as it is sometimes called.
But, Is this card the rarest Pokemon card of all time?
I believe the answer is yes. It is the rarest Japanese Pokemon card by a longshota and I would say that it is the rarest Pokemon card the world has ever seen. There was a total of only six of the Pikachu Illustrator cards ever produced. But to make it even more rare, most of the cards were given out to very young children. The only one I have ever seen was given out to a 6 year old boy in Japan. So, of the 6 cards that were given out 13 years ago, how many exist today? And in what condition? Nobody knows exactly how many, but there have only been 1 or 2 of these cards to surface in the 13 years that I have been following Pokemon. There was an illustrator card for sale on Ebay for $32.500.00, however it is now gone. One card sold several years ago for $22,000. A small fortune for most of us, but the card has been steadily increasing in value ever since its creation in 1997. These cards are very difficult to find in mint condition because they were mainly given to very small children.
The card is a beautiful holofoil that has the word "Illustrator" instead of "Trainer" on the top of the card. It portrays Pikachu holding a paintbrush and has two stars at the bottom of the card indicating its rarity. In addition, it also has a paintbrush logo on the bottom of the card instead of a series mark. This is the only card which has ever had this series mark.
Other people may argue that some of the other rare Japanese Pokemon cards are just as rare or more rare. For example, the Pikachu trophy trainer no. 1 card, the Super Secret Battle Mewtwo 1st place gold trophy card, or the Tropical Mega Battle no. 1 trainer with Exeggutor on it come to mind. These are all very rare Japanese promo cards and some of them like the Tropical Mega Battle no. 1 card was produced in the same extremely low quantity, but I would still have to say the Pikachu Illustrator would have to be the rarest Pokemon card of all time. Just because it seems to be almost impossible to find. I have seen the other cards surface once every 4-5 years for about $4000-7000 per card, but the Illustrator is always at least double the price. Maybe due to the fact that Pikachu is a more popular character, but I still believe that the Pikachu Illustrator card is the rarest Pokemon card of all time.
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