Climbing to the Top of the Leaderboard, CGC-certified "Ivy" Pikachu Sells for $3.3 Million in Private Sale

Records are meant to be broken. A new rarity has now overtaken an Alpha Black Lotus for the highest price ever paid for any card certified by CGC®. The (1996) Japanese CoroCoro Comics Pikachu Glossy - Marketing Variation graded CGC 8.5 was sold for an astounding $3.3 million in a private sale in August 2026. CGC has certified two of these coveted rarities, with this particular card pedigreed to The Card Bound Collection being the higher of only two of its kind in the CGC Cards Population Report.

Learn more about this holy grail of Pokémon cards and hear the card owner's story of acquiring it through the CardBound Documentary, which can be found here.

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The "Ivy" Pikachu result is a record for all types of CGC-certified cards, including TCGs, sports cards, and non-sports cards, regardless of grade. It is now at least the seventh CGC-certified card to cross the million-dollar mark. Others include:

• an Alpha Black Lotus graded CGC Pristine 10 that sold for $3 million in April 2024
• a Pokémon Illustrator graded CGC Gem Mint 10 that realized more than $2 million in a PokeColor auction in February 2026
• a Pokémon Illustrator graded CGC 9.5 that realized more than $1.7 million in a private sale in June 2026
• a 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner certified CGC Authentic - Restored that realized more than $1.33 million through Love of the Game Auctions in August 2026
• a Pokémon "Ivy" Pikachu - Glossy, Incorrect Illustrator graded CGC Gem Mint 10 that realized $1.3 million in a private sale in August 2026
• a 1952 Topps #311 Mickey Mantle - Type 1 graded CGC 8 that realized more than $1.25 million through SCP Auctions in December 2022

“It continues to be a record-breaking summer at CGC, with this Ivy Pikachu being the latest example of collectors and dealers entrusting their most prized cards to CGC's industry-leading authentication and grading services,” said Matt Quinn, Vice President of CGC Cards. “Submitters are regularly getting top value out of their CGC-certified cards, emphasizing the confidence that the card collecting community has in CGC to accurately certify some of the most coveted rarities in the hobby.”

This CGC-certified record breaker is the first of five variants of the card, which was showcased in marketing material before the Pokémon TCG was released. Most notably, this version of Ivy Pikachu has a pair of leaves right underneath Pikachu’s left foot — a feature that is not seen in later copies of the card — and Pikachu is also shifted slightly to the right instead of centered in the art box. Additionally, this Ivy Pikachu has the correct illustrator (Keiji Kinebuchi) named on the bottom of the card, unlike its magazine giveaway counterpart.

It is important to note that the marketing variation of Ivy Pikachu likely wasn't meant to be released to the public, which explains why it is easily the rarest of the five variations in the CGC Cards Population Report. Instead, it was featured in early marketing materials, leading to it being called the "marketing variation" of Ivy Pikachu. You can find photos of this Ivy Pikachu variant on several posters showing off the Japanese Base Set of the Pokémon TCG, on the cover of the October 1996 issue of CoroCoro Comic and inside the magazine — in both the Pokémon TCG’s feature article and the magazine’s appendix.

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games, and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs, and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation, and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray, and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.

CGC is part of the Certified Collectibles Group, a global provider of expert and impartial authentication and grading services for collectibles. Since 1987, the Certified Collectibles Group companies have certified more than 110 million collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, cards, autographs, and stamps.