$2.7 Million for a PSA 9 Illustrator, in a $3.9 Million Week

The week ending August 31 was the second-biggest of the summer, $3.94 million across the top five, and two-thirds of it was one card: a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator, sold privately on August 31 for $2.7 million.

The Ladder Fills In: On August 20 we charted the Illustrator's 2026 sales and noted the missing rungs. Here is one. A PSA 9 at $2.7 million sits above the BGS 9 at $2.0 million from July and the BGS 8.5 at $1.0 million from August 15, and well below the single PSA 10 at $16.5 million. Fifteen PSA 9s exist. Chart of the Day has the updated ladder.

The Other Four: The First Edition Neo Genesis Lugia PSA 10 at $360,000 (last Thursday's lead), a First Edition Neo Genesis Typhlosion in CGC Pristine 10 at $336,000, an eleven-card lot of 2015-16 Japanese XY promo Pikachus, all PSA 10, at $336,000, and a 2008 Great Encounters Palkia LV.X in PSA 10 at $204,000, the first Diamond & Pearl-era card to clear $200,000. All four at Fanatics Weekly on August 30.

PSA Over BGS: The new rung is the interesting one. A PSA 9 at $2.7 million against a BGS 9 at $2.0 million five weeks earlier is a 35 percent gap between two labels that say the same number. Part of that is the market moving between July and August; part of it is the PSA label premium at the very top of the hobby, where PSA's population report is the one everybody quotes.

Still Missing: No Illustrator in 7 or 8 has sold publicly this year, and that is where most of the surviving population sits. With the 8.5 at a million and the 9 at $2.7 million, a 7 under $700,000 would now be a surprise.

Vintage +0.4%, Eight for Eight; Holon Phantoms Leads

The Pack Report Index tracks two baskets: the ten most-traded cards in each of twelve vintage sets (1999-2007) and twelve modern sets (2016 on), priced by our own engine from public comps, grade by grade, and compared with the same day last week.

Eight for Eight: Vintage added 0.4%, the eighth positive reading in eight, with only 18 of 114 cards lower, the fewest yet. EX Holon Phantoms led at +3.4% on a PSA 10 Rayquaza δ re-mark, Expedition +2.7%, EX Deoxys +2.1% and Base Set +1.8%, its largest reading to date. Neo Genesis gave back 0.4% after last week's Lugia jump. Modern was flat: Classic Collection +1.7%, Generations +1.3%, Ascended Heroes -1.1%.

Vintage sets

Modern sets

Torchic Gold Star: the 9 Is the Real Number

Alt's current auction, closing Thursday, has a PSA 10 Torchic Gold Star at $1,968,000 and a PSA 9 of the same card at $90,336, both live bids with premium as of Saturday. The 10 is the headline. The 9 is the information.

Why the 9 Matters More: Nineteen PSA 10 Torchics exist; 233 PSA 9s do. A 10 at seven figures is a handful of bidders fighting over one of nineteen objects, and the next one could clear at half or double. A 9 at $90,000, against a public sale of $22,000 in June, is a four-fold move on a card with a real population, which means it is a repricing that 233 owners can act on. That is the Gold Star story of the last month in one number.

The Rule: When a card has a tiny top-grade population, read the market from the grade below. The 10 tells you what one buyer will pay once; the 9 tells you what the card is worth.

• Next Era Up: A 2008 Great Encounters Palkia LV.X in PSA 10 sold for $204,000 at Fanatics Weekly, the first Diamond & Pearl-era card we can find above $200,000. The LV.X cards were their generation's chase and have been priced like mid-tier modern for a decade. When a repricing runs out of EX-era and Neo cards, this is where it goes next.
• Pristine, Again: A First Edition Neo Genesis Typhlosion in CGC Pristine 10 made $336,000 in the same auction, a week after the Pristine Rayquaza Gold Star cleared a million. Two of the summer's five biggest CGC results carry the all-10-subgrades label.
• Eleven for $336,000: A lot of eleven 2015-16 Japanese XY promo Pikachus, every one PSA 10, sold for $336,000, about $30,500 a card. Complete, perfect Pikachu runs are their own market, and the 30th Celebration set puts thirty new Pikachus into circulation next Wednesday.
• Tomorrow: PSA's fortnightly backlog update is due Tuesday. Two weeks ago: 10.9 million cards, Regular tier at 70-80 business days. The question is whether the 475,000-a-week pace held through the 30th Celebration pre-order rush.

Record Week: 434 Rippers, and Two Rayquaza VMAX Alt Arts Out of the $25 Machine

Rip Check: The biggest week yet. 2,908 packs by 434 collectors in the seven days to Monday, nearly double the week before (1,480 by 150). The $25 machine did 1,475 on its own and the $50 machine 1,114. All-time: 13,865.

Pulls of the Week: Sunday morning the $500 machine gave up a 2023 151 Charizard ex special illustration rare in PSA 10 ($1,426) and, an hour later, a White Flare Reshiram ex black-white rare in PSA 10 ($1,170). Friday the $200 machine produced a 2007 EX Power Keepers Charizard holo in PSA 9 ($1,400). And the $25 machine did it twice: a 2021 Evolving Skies Rayquaza VMAX alternate art in PSA 9, estimated at $1,030, on Friday night, and another one Saturday night. Forty-one times the ticket, twice. See what is live HERE.