The 1998 Pikachu Illustrator has sold six times in 2026. On September 7 the ladder had four rungs and the 9 was $2.7 million. It now has six, and the 9 is $5 million.
| Grade | Price | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSA 10 | $16,500,000 | Goldin | February 16 |
| PSA 9 | $5,000,000 | Heritage | September 18 |
| CGC 9 | $2,806,271 | Goldin | September 19 |
| PSA 9 | $2,700,000 | Private | August 31 |
| BGS 9 | $2,000,000 | Private | July 25 |
| BGS 8.5 | $1,006,500 | Goldin | August 15 |
What moved the 9
Between August 31 and September 18 the following printed: a Rayquaza Gold Star at $1.02 million, a Torchic Gold Star at $2.7 million, a First Edition Charizard at $1,000,953, two Lugias at $360,000 and $367,220, a Snorlax LV.X at $253,680 and a Call of Legends Lugia at $367,220. Every one of those is a comp for the buyer deciding what the finest commonly-available grade of the most famous card in the hobby is worth. The $5 million is not an outlier; it is the number you get when the whole ladder beneath it has moved up.
The label gap
A PSA 9 at $5 million and a CGC 9 at $2.8 million, 24 hours apart, from two of the three largest auction houses, with every serious buyer aware of both. The gap is 78 percent of the CGC price. On September 7 we estimated the PSA premium at this level at 20 to 35 percent based on the PSA 9 against the July BGS 9. It is larger than that, or the market moved a great deal in one day, or both. Either way the lesson holds: at the top of the hobby, PSA's population report is the reference and a 9 on another label trades as something closer to an 8.5.
The shape now
From the 8.5 to the PSA 9 is five times. From the PSA 9 to the 10 is 3.3 times. For the first time the ladder is steeper in the middle than at the top, which means the unique-object premium on the single PSA 10 has narrowed. If the 10 came to market tomorrow, the February price would be the floor, not the ceiling.
Sources: SI Collectibles, September 21, 2026; SI Collectibles, September 7; SI Collectibles, August 17.
Chart of the Day ran in The Pack Report, September 21, 2026: An $11 Million Week: Two Illustrators, $7.8 Million. Published by Rip Station.