American DJ and Producer Steve Aoki has purchased a Pokémon Illustrator card for $420,000.
The rare card is one of the most coveted Pokémon cards in the world. Given out to winners of the Japanese CoroCoro Comic Illustration Contest in 1998, there are approximately 39 of these cards in existence.
For his Pokémon YouTube channel, Aoki’s Cardhouse, Aoki receives the card he purchased from Japan for $420,000 in a raw ungraded condition. The video then follows his journey to PSA in Southern California to grade the card – Aoki’s card grades as a PSA 9.
With only eight PSA 9s and one PSA 10 on the database, the increase in the value of this card from a raw to graded 9 state is unfathomable. There are no recent sales to note, however, in December 2020 a collector known as Poke_Mafa on Instagram traded $900,000 worth of value in Pokémon TCG for a PSA 9 Illustrator card.
Aoki’s collection is becoming increasingly impressive, earlier this year he showcased his Gold Star Pokémon cards on his podcast and aims to continue building towards even greater heights.
Steve Aoki has a large presence in the Pokémon community and regularly raises money for his charity, the Aoki Foundation, through box breaks and other events. Currently, on the Aoki Foundation website, there is a campaign to raise money for autism and brain health in collaboration with many famous Pokémon community members – Donate here.
Earlier this month, The Pokémon Company announced a collaboration with Katy Perry and other unnamed musical acts, will Steve Aoki be part of that list?
John-Anthony Disotto – Ludkins Media Editor
