Internet personality, boxer, and Pokémon investor Logan Paul recently spent $US6 million (around $8 million) on a very rare Pokémon card and then wore that card during his WrestleMania 38 appearance. Why? Because the internet and speculators have destroyed reality.
27-year old Paul first teased his Pokémon card accessory on April 2 when he revealed he was planning to wear the very rare Pikachu Illustrator card to WrestleMania 38, the largest WWE event of the year. Before April 2, Paul had spent a reported $US6 million dollars on the card via Professional Sports Authenticator’s (PSA) sales database.
.@LoganPaul wearing the most expensive @Pokemon card in the world right now at #WrestleMania! 🤑🤑🤑 pic.twitter.com/ZnCTZD8ln9
— WWE (@WWE) April 3, 2022
So why did Logan Paul spend that much money on a single Pokémon card and then wear it like a necklace? Part of it is because his entire business revolves around him continuing to do stunts like this and then using his fame to make more money so he can keep doing stunts to make more money and, well, you see how this works.
However, the card Paul purchased — Pikachu Illustrator — is indeed a rare card, in fact, it might be the rarest Pokémon card that we know of in 2022. (Though probably not worth $US6 million…)
This particular version of Pikachu Illustrator was recently rated as GEM Mint 10 by the PSA grading company, indicating it is a near-perfect condition. That makes it the only recorded Pikachu Illustrator card to have received this rating and would make it rare and sought after, considering it’s believed only about 40 of these cards were ever created and released at all.
Though it’s nearly one of a kind, it’s still not accurate to say this card was worth $US6 million before Paul purchased it. The exact value is hard to figure out, but it’s likely that now after wearing it and spending so much on it, Paul could try to sell it for more, inflating the price of the card in the process.
Congratulations to @LoganPaul on achieving his first Guinness World Records title!
His PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator is the most expensive Pokémon card sold in a private auction – $5,275,000
Read more: https://t.co/ghZiQ0yQO3 pic.twitter.com/opulLbzTsY
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) April 3, 2022
Later, after his match, the Guinness Book of World Records claimed that Paul had set a new world record for the most expensive Pokémon card sold in a private auction. (Guinness records the price at $US5,275,000 (let’s say around $7.4 million), which is likely what was spent on the card after fees are removed.)
This is just the latest high-profile incident in the ongoing Pokémon card craze that has continued to sweep around the globe, leading to card shortages, crowds causing chaos at stores, and auction prices on rare cards continuing to skyrocket as more people try to get a piece of the pocket monster pie.
And let’s not forget that time Logan Paul wore another very rare Pokémon card before a big event. That time it was a Charizard card that Paul claimed was worth a million dollars after his match with boxing star Floyd Mayweather. Or that other time he blew a bunch of money on some crappy G.I. Joe cards.