Pokemon TCG Sale Just Broke An Incredible Record

Torchic Pokemon Card Officially Sells For Record-Breaking $2.7 Million Published Sep 12, 2026, 5:07 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Sign in to your TheGamer account In August, a rare Gold Star Rayquaza sold for $1 million, taking the crown for most expensive English-language Pokémon card while also becoming the first English-language card to break the $1 million ceiling. Howver, in under a month, that record has already been broken. The new record holder is a rare 2004 Gold Star holographic Torchic card in Gem MT condition, rated PSA 10, that sold for $2.7 million in a private auction. That means the bar has been raised by $1.68 million, more than doubling the record. A mint-condition PSA 9 version of the card also sold at the auction for $156,336. Torchic More Than Doubles The Record To put into perspective the explosive growth of Pokémon TCG's value in recent years, here are the top five most expensive English-language Pokémon cards in history: Card Sale Price Grade Date 1 Gold Star Torchic $2.7 million PSA 10 September 2026 2 Gold Star Raquaza $1.02 million CGC Pristine 10 August 2026 3 Gold Star Raquaza $682,500 PSA 10 July 2026 4 1999 Base Set Prerelease Raichu Error $550,000 PSA 6 September 2025 5 Base Set 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard $420,000 PSA 10 March 2022 The last 12 months alone have seen the record rise from an already eye-watering $550,000 with the Prerelease Raichu Erorr to finally crossing the $1 million threshold with Gold Star Raquaza, only to then more than double with Gold Star Torchic less than two weeks later. However, even at $2.7 million, Gold Star Torchic doesn't come close to the priciest Pokémon card in history. Earlier this year, in February, controversial influencer Logan Paul sold a Pikachu Illustrator card at auction for nearly $16.5 million, after buying it himself for $5.2 million in 2021 — nearly double the price of the most valuable English card. English-language cards still have a long way to go to close the gap, but $2.7 million is already raising eyebrows, with comments flooding in on getcollectr's post all saying the same thing: "Money laundering." Nobody can quite believe that anyone would pay nearly that much for a trading card. Then again, one financial expert believes that Pokémon cards would be the perfect currency in a post-apocalypse, so maybe they're just stocking up for the future. Franchise Pokemon Original Release Date October 20, 1996 Player Count 2 Age Recommendation 6+ Length per Game Variable Franchise Name Pokemon