If you were alive in the late 90s/early 2000s, you probably remember just how big the Pokemon craze was. The trading cards were going crazy in the streets with kids even getting stabbed over them. It was alarming in a way. Of course, the craze has died down immensely over the years but Pokemon cards still hold high value.
A very rare Pokemon card of Pikachu has been sold for nearly $200K on auctioneer website Invaluable. The "Pikachu Illustrator" card created by Atsuko Nishida was sold at $195K and shows Pikachu holding paintbrushes. The rare card was made over 21 years ago in 1998 with only 39 of the cards being made. It was later awarded to winners of the CoroCoro Comic Illustration Contest for Pokémon. What's even crazier about the card is that it has roughly tripled its value since 2015. It was initially sold for $55K in 2015 on Heritage Auctions.
Pokemon cards are going for a serious amount of cash these days. Earlier this year, a set of first edition Pokemon cards were sold for $100K. "While the cards have rounded corners, they are still very difficult to attain in GEM MINT condition. In fact, many cards have population counts below fifty in the aforementioned condition. Demand for this set in high-grade continues to grow," it read in the description for the set of cards. It seems likely that the same people dropping six figures on Pokemon cards could be the same ones interested in Pokemon-themed weddings which are, in fact, real in Japan.