The Most Valuable Pikachu Cards In The Pokemon TCG

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has seen its share of ups and downs in popularity through the years, but even its downs have kept it safely in the stratosphere of the most popular five or six-card games worldwide. And when it’s hot, it’s hot — the Sword & Shield era has seen a serious resurgence, and Scarlet & Violet doesn’t seem to be slowing things down.

The little electric mouse has captured our hearts, just like we have captured them by the millions throughout Pokemon’s over 30-year journey. If you’ve been collecting Pikachu cards over the years, you might be lucky enough to have a few of these high-value cards from the trading card game.

These prices are from TCGplayer.com’s Market Value and do not take into consideration private sales or graded cards.

Updated on December 13, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: The most expensive Pikachu card is a hotly contested title that features an incredible group of rare Pikachu cards to pick from. We’ve updated Pikachu’s best cards with three new entries, including the most expensive Pikachu card from Surging Sparks.

Market Price: $170.11

A very specific Japanese promo card, the Mega Tokyo’s Pikachu promo card was only available in Japan for around four weeks. The 98/XY promo card was made to celebrate the Pokemon Center Tokyo moving from its original location in Hamamatsucho to its new location in Ikebukuro.

You could only get this card if you visited the new location, and it even has the Pokemon Center Mega Tokyo logo in the bottom right corner of the art box. If you weren’t visiting the Tokyo Pokemon Center during that narrow window, you missed out on this exclusive card.

12

Pikachu ex: Surging Sparks (Hyper Rare)

Market Price: $182.38

Hyper Rare and Gold Secret Rare cards typically draw the ire of many as their color patterns usually overwhelm the Pokemon’s design. However, the Pikachu ex Hyper Rare from Surging Sparks stands tall as one of the most gorgeous Pikachu cards you can find, with the gold background accentuating Pikachu rather than drowning it out.

This card began its TCG career hovering around the $100 mark, but once its pull rate was revealed to be much lower than the Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rare from Surging Sparks, this card began to skyrocket. It hit a high above $200 but has backed off from that high for now.

Market Price: $188.82

This might be one of the most infamous Pikachu promos of all time, considering the sheer volume of press covering the scalping and theft of this card en masse. While this is indicative of the attitude toward Pokemon cards shifting more toward business than a hobby for some, this card could have been a positive touchstone if it was embraced for the artistic style it emulates.

As things stand this Pikachu’s value saw huge fluctuations from its release as it ended 2023 on the downswing at around $140, dropping to $80 before a massive resurgence pushed this card into the $200 range.

10

Pikachu V: Prize Pack Series (Ultra Rare)

Market Price: $221.56

This series of promotion cards came during the Sword & Shield expansions, and are only available through small booster packs you could get through participating in Pokemon Organized Play events.

The Pikachu V card has alternate artwork from the original card, though it is mechanically the same as the Pikachu V from the Vivid Voltage expansion. Featuring art from PLANETA Tsuji, this card also has the Organized Play logo on it.

Market Price: $248.03

Another Poncho-Wearing Pikachu promo card, this one featuring three Pikachu, one in a Mega Audino poncho, another in a Mega Lucario poncho, and the final one in a Mega Slowbro poncho.

Continuing the trend of surprisingly difficult cards to obtain, this Pikachu promo card was only available to those who spent a certain amount of money at specific Pokemon Centers in Japan. If you weren’t there and didn’t spend enough money on Pokemon TCG products, you missed out on this promo card.

Market Price: $270.00

Despite wearing a poncho of an Alolan Vulpix, this Poncho-Wearing Pikachu is an Electric-type card with an interesting attack. Its first attack is Power Snow?, question mark, and all.

This promo card was one of two available in a special bundle that came with sleeves, deck box, and more. Among the two, the Alolan Poncho Pikachu is more valuable and arguably more visually striking.

Market Price: $275.00

What happens when you accidentally stick Jungle Pikachu (the very first Pikachu card ever made, mind you) in a field of ivy rather than the grassier terrain the card is known to feature? You get a pricey, pricey Pikachu, that’s what happens.

At least, that’s the conventional story. In truth, it takes an extra step before your “Ivy Misprint” Pikachu is worth thousands. This little anecdote about just how easy it is to make a lucky few individuals far wealthier overnight seems like a fitting way to kickstart the list.

6

Pikachu (Red Cheeks): Base Set First Edition

Market Price: $320.00

How does an extra few hundred dollars sound right about now? Probably sweet, even if you’re fairly well off. If so, check to see if you still have a high-quality First Edition Jungle Pikachu with red cheeks hanging around. If you aren’t sure, then it’s unlikely it’s in particularly solid condition, but you may be able to snag a hundred or so even if it’s got some visible blemishes.

There’s not a lot of exact science involved in this one. The First Edition Jungle Pikachu is the first widespread Pikachu card on the market, dating back to the TCG’s inaugural expansion. First Edition Pikachu is the gatekeeper to all the rest of them.

Market Price: $350.46

This gorgeous card is a bit of an odd one when it comes to collecting, even for a Pokemon card. This promo came around as a collaboration between the Pokemon Company and the Japan Post Service, where a collection of Pokemon-themed stamps were printed.

The illustration for this full-art card is an homage to a 17th-century style of woodblock prints called nikuhitsu-ga in the style of ukiyo-e, specifically the work “Beauty Looking Back” by Hishikawa Moronobu.

As time passes and this card’s demand continues to rise, it’s likely to regain most of the value it lost when this card dipped in 2023.

4

Pikachu ex: Surging Sparks (Special Illustration Rare)

Market Price: $488.80

The Pikachu ex SIR from Surging Sparks already claimed the set’s top spot, and it’s back to make a run as one of the best Pikachu cards from the modern era. This card debuted with incredible support, soaring above the $400 mark with relative ease.

This card also appears in the Japanese set, Super Electric Breaker, where it sells for about half of the English version’s value.

While this card currently stands at over double the price of the all-gold Hyper Rare version, there’s a strong likelihood the gap between these two cards might continue to grow narrower over time. However, there’s no doubt that this card boasts an impressive lead that will be hard to catch.

3

Pikachu Star: Holon Phantoms (Ultra Rare)

Market Price: $999.99

The Pikachu Star from Holon Phantoms can rock your bank account, largely due to its rarity, especially in NM conditions. This card features Pikachu in its iconic cross-armed pose and a shiny color palette, a stunning combination that makes this one of the best Pikachu cards on the market.

Holon Phantoms, a late expansion during the Pokemon TCG’s EX era, touts a shiny variation on its Pikachu card. And it just happens to be one of the most beloved Pikachu cards ever. Ergo, it happens to be outlandishly expensive.

Market Price: $1,200.00

The Mega Charizard Y Poncho-Wearing Pikachu was another Japan exclusive, this time coming from a Special Box that was only available for a limited time. Pikachu can also be found in a Charizard X poncho, though the Y one is the only one with a listing at the time of this writing.

The rarity of the card pumps up the price, but also the Charizard Tax, a somewhat infamous phenomenon where any Charizard card is a bit more expensive than you would expect thanks to the Pokemon’s popularity.

Market Price: $1,2500.00

Just a scant few months after the release of the Charizard Special Box, The Pokemon Company released a Rayquaza version, this time Pikachu wearing a Shiny Rayquaza poncho.

The only way you could get this special card was by heading to the opening of the Skytree Town Pokemon Center in Tokyo on July 6, 2016. If you were lucky enough to snag one of these bundles, you got yourself one of the most valuable Pikachu cards around.