In February 2026, a single piece of cardboard sold for $16,492,000. The 1998 Pikachu Illustrator — the only known PSA 10 example of one of the rarest Pokémon cards in existence — was sold by Logan Paul through Goldin Auctions to A.J. Scaramucci, who called the purchase the first move in a “planetary treasure hunt” for the world’s rarest objects. It became the most expensive trading card ever sold at auction. Card collecting, long treated as a culture at the margins, is now impossible to ignore.

What’s new is what’s driving today’s prices: live-stream ripping has turned pack openings into spectator sport, auctions and secondary markets with advanced data-responsive…

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