Pokemon Illustrator: Is It The Rarest Pokemon Card Ever?
In 1997, just after Pokémon was introduced in Japan, a little-known drawing contest was held. This contest was held a total of 3 times during 1997 in Japan. Each time, two of the best drawings were selected and the prize was a rare Japanese Pokémon card. This card came to be known as “the illustrator” or the “Pikachu illustrator” as it is sometimes called.
Is this card really the rare Pokémon card of all time?
I think the answer is definitive. “Yes”. It is by far the rarest Japanese Pokemon card of all time and I would say it is the rarest Pokemon card the world has ever seen. There were a total of only six of these cards ever produced. But to make it even weirder, most of the cards were given to very young children. The only one I’ve seen was given to a 6 year old. So, of the 6 cards that were given out 13 years ago, how many exist today? and in what condition? No one knows for sure, but only 1 or 2 of these cards have appeared in the 13 years I’ve been following Pokémon. The one currently on sale is priced at a whopping $32,500.00 A small fortune for most of us, but the value of the card has risen steadily since its inception in 1997. Very rare considering the card was primarily issued to very young children.
The card is a beautiful holofoil that says “Illustrator” instead of “Coach” at the top of the card. It shows Pikachu holding a brush and has two stars at the bottom of the card indicating the rarity of it. Additionally, it also has a brush logo at the bottom of the card instead of a serial mark.
Other people argue that some of the other rare Japanese Pokémon cards are just as rare. For example, Pikachu’s trophy trainer no. 1 card, the Super Secret Battle Mewtwo 1st place gold trophy card, or the Tropical Mega Battle no. 1 trainer with Exeggutor on it comes to mind. These are all very rare Japanese promo cards and each one was also produced in extremely low numbers, but I would still have to say that Pikachu Illustrator would have to be the rarest Pokémon card of all time, simply because of the fact that the card looks be almost impossible to find. The other cards show up from time to time and they are all valued at around $4000-7000 per card, but the Illustrator is king of all in my book.