The Raincoat Pikachu card has sold for $8.4 million, turning a fan’s contest prize into the second-most expensive Pokémon card ever. Only 100 copies were printed, none reached store shelves, and bidders responded to that scarcity with the financial restraint one expects from high-end collectibles.
The sale arrived days after resellers complained that the Pokémon 30th anniversary set offered disappointing returns. A market preoccupied with modest profit margins was suddenly confronted with one card costing more than many very comfortable homes.
Why is the Raincoat Pikachu card so rare?
The PSA 10 Gem Mint 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Fujishima Pikachu sold on September 28 through Fanatics Collect. It attracted 64 bids and reached $8.4 million after the auction house’s 20% buyer’s premium was added.
Collectors call it Raincoat Pikachu because the artwork shows the franchise mascot holding an umbrella while wearing a red raincoat. Its condition helped drive the price, with Professional Sports Authenticator awarding it the highest possible grade of PSA 10.
Scarcity did the rest. Artist Y. Fujishima created the design for a global competition connected to the Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Art Academy. The entry won the Dress-Up Pikachu category after standing out among thousands of submissions.
The prize included 100 officially printed copies of Fujishima’s artwork. The Pokémon Company never released the card through shops, leaving collectors to pursue the handful of copies that eventually entered the secondary market.
How did the price rise so dramatically?
Raincoat Pikachu cards remained in the low five-figure range until very recently. A PSA 10 copy sold through Fanatics Collect for $12,600 in July 2024, while another reached $19,200 in June 2025.
The latest result is roughly 440 times the June 2025 price. That is less a steady increase than a complete rejection of the card’s previous market value, achieved in just over a year.
Its sudden rise also reflects the increasingly aggressive demand for top-grade Pikachu cards. Collectors tend to pay heavily for limited promotional releases, unusual artwork and perfect grading. This card combines all three, then adds a contest origin story and a print run of only 100 copies.
For about a decade, the card remained an obscure prize from a discontinued Nintendo 3DS art game. It has now become an eight-figure-adjacent trophy for collectors with very substantial auction budgets.
Which other Pikachu cards have surged in value?
The Raincoat sale followed two other striking Pikachu results during the previous week, both involving PSA 10 cards.
A 2002 Legendary Collection reverse holographic Pikachu, valued at $510 in December 2017 and sold for $264,000 in June, reached $780,000. Meanwhile, a 2006 Holon Phantoms Gold Star Pikachu fetched $480,000 after selling for $148,800 through Goldin in February.
Those results suggest the $8.4 million auction was not an isolated burst of enthusiasm. High-grade Pikachu cards have been climbing rapidly, although Raincoat Pikachu’s jump remains exceptional even by the market’s increasingly flexible standards.
The card still finished well below the overall record. Logan Paul’s Pikachu Illustrator sold for $16.4 million in February, securing its position as the most expensive Pokémon card ever sold.
Raincoat Pikachu now occupies second place. A design submitted by a fan, printed only as a competition reward and unavailable in any store has joined the very top of the collectibles market. Apparently, an umbrella and a red raincoat can add several million dollars under the right auction lighting.
