Even after decades of development, the Pokémon trading card market still remains extremely large, with rare or historically significant cards almost always catching collectors’ attention. Recently, another extremely scarce Pokémon card with an exceptionally high grading score once again set a record-breaking auction price.
Just this August, at an auction held by Fanatics Collect, a rare limited card, the “Rayquaza Gold Star” from the 2005 English-language expansion “EX Deoxys,” sparked fierce bidding among a large number of collectors. This rare card, which renowned grading team CGC awarded a Pristine 10 rating, ultimately sold at a sky-high price of $1.02 million (NT$32.3 million), surpassing the previous record by $65,000 to become the most expensive single English-language Pokémon trading card in history.
The reason this card was able to reach such an outrageous price is not only because “Gold Star” cards are inherently extremely rare, but also because the CGC team specifically noted that the production process for the “EX Deoxys” expansion pack was riddled with defects back then, with many cards showing wear before they were even sealed. Of the other cards submitted for grading, only 12 have received a Gem Mint 10 rating, and this “Rayquaza Gold Star” up for auction is the first card in CGC history to receive a black label “Pristine 10” perfect score.
Previously, the title of “most expensive American Pokémon card” belonged to a PSA 10 first edition Charizard card unboxed by well-known American influencers Logan Paul and Ken Goldin in 2021, which sold for $954,800 in early 2026. Additionally, Logan Paul also holds the card with the highest recorded sale price across all language versions—a Japanese Pikachu Illustrator card that received a perfect PSA 10 grade and sold for $16 million.
Notably, aside from these old cards with decades of history, even some rare cards pulled from the latest expansion packs can often fetch good prices. For instance, the “30th Anniversary Celebration” expansion pack, expected to debut this September, has already caught the eye of many collectors. At the same time, however, like previous new expansion packs, it has also attracted a large number of scalpers.
Source: KOCPC Chinese