Not only has YouTuber Logan Paul set the world record for his $5.275 million Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card, but he’s now revealed how he managed to get his hands on it in the first place – and it’s just as wild as the price.
Logan Paul turned Pokemon card collectors’ heads when he made his WrestleMania debut on April 2, 2022. The 27-year-old wore a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card in an $80,000 diamond-encrusted Poke Ball pendant, which he later revealed he bought for a whopping $5.275 million.
Shortly after the event, it was announced that his purchase of the insanely rare collectible had broken the Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokemon card sold in a private sale. While that’s impressive in itself, the story of how it came to be in his possession is one for the history books.
Logan Paul reveals how he bought Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card
“The Pikachu Illustrator is the rarest Pokémon card in the world,” he tweeted on April 4. “Only 39 of them exist, and this is the ONLY PSA 10 (perfect condition). Until this weekend, there were no pictures or videos of this card ANYWHERE.”
The YouTuber then followed it up by explaining how he got his hands on it. “The previous owner was extremely private, and its existence was only a rumor,” he continued. “With a connection made by collectible expert [Jeremy Padawer], I finally found the seller and insisted he sell it to me.
“I travelled to Dubai last year to secure it after five months of negotiation.”
The previous owner was extremely private, and it’s existence was only a rumor. With a connection made by collectible expert @JeremyCom, I finally found the seller and insisted he sell it to me.
I travelled to Dubai last year to secure it after five months of negotiation (cont’d)
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) April 4, 2022
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In a news article by Guinness World Records on April 2, it was revealed that Logan part-exchanged a PSA 9 Pikachu Illustrator he purchased from another collector in Italy for the $5 million card.
“Paul exchanged a PSA Grade 9 Pikachu Illustrator card worth $1,275,000 that he had purchased from renowned sports card collector Matt Allen,” they wrote. “This Grade 9 card plus $4,000,000 equalled the cost of the pristine Grade 10 Pikachu Illustrator card.”
The content creator flew to Dubai in July 2021 to make the sale, keeping his massive purchase hidden until April 2022.
Pikachu Illustrator card was given out as a prize for an art competition held by Japanese magazine CoroCoro back in 1997. There are only 39 copies known to exist, with Paul owning the only PSA 10.
The card also holds the record for the most expensive Pokemon card sold at auction, with a PSA 7 selling for $900,000 in March 2022.
