eBay User Wants $100,000 for Rare Pokemon Card

[StewShearerOld]

eBay User Wants $100,000 for Rare Pokemon Card

Scott Pratte believes he'll be able to sell his rare Pikachu Illustrator card for at least $50,000.

There was a brief period of time where I played the Pokemon collectible card game. While the passage of time has left most of my memories of it in a fairly vague state, one thing that I can remember is that the cards were pretty much slips of card stock with pictures printed on them. That in mind, eBay user Scott Pratte apparently owns the rarest slip of card stock there is and he wants <a href=http://www.ebay.com/itm/360722199528?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649>$100,000 for it.

Granted, that's only the Buy it Now price listed on eBay, and one that even Pratte knows he's unlikely to reach. That being the case, he apparently believes that he'll be able to sell the rare collectible for at least $50,000. As high as that might sound, one interested buyer has apparently already offered as much as $47,000 to buy the card.

At this point you're probably wondering what card could ever merit that kind of money. In this case, it's a <a href=http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Illustrator_%28CoroCoro_promo%29> Pikachu Illustrator card. Distributed as a promotional reward for the 1997 Pokemon Card Game Illustration Contest, only six were ever produced and it's considered by many collectors to be the rarest Pokemon card in existence. In the past it's been estimated to be at least <a href=http://luxurylaunches.com/other_stuff/pikachu_illustrator_card_valued_at_20000_is_worlds_most_expensive_pokemon_card.php>$20,000 in value. Pratte's Trainer, in turn, has been graded to be in mint condition by the Professional Sports Authenticator, substantially boosting its value. With nine days left in his eBay auction, he's thus far received 450 offers. Who the eventual buyer is and how much they wind up paying in the end is something we'll definitely be interested to see.

Source: <a href=http://www.ebay.com/itm/360722199528?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649>eBay via <a href=http://luxurylaunches.com/auctions/most-expensive-pokemon-pikachu-illustrator-card.php>Luxury Launches



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[GamemasterAnthony]

...and just when we thought people went nuts over the holographic Charizard card from the first set!

 

[Vivi22]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

 

[Exterminas]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

How so? We accept people paying multiple times that amount to buy a car that has no further use than a car that costs a tenth of that sum. There is nothing wrong with people spending their money on whatever they enjoy.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

How many collectors spend more than this on paintings or old cars? How is this any different?

 

[Vivi22]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

How so? We accept people paying multiple times that amount to buy a car that has no further use than a car that costs a tenth of that sum. There is nothing wrong with people spending their money on whatever they enjoy.

A car actually has it's uses though. And a more expensive car can actually be damn fun to drive, better built, etc. But this is a card. A card for a card game. The only thing that separates it from other Pokemon cards is that there are six of them.

Now, I could see paying a bit of a premium for a rare, collector's item card. I don't have a problem with the inherent concept. But let's keep in mind that the person who does pay for this, is paying enough money to buy a decent mobile home or a very nice car, and all this will ever do is sit in a display case or something like that. Hell, it will never even be held outside of that card sleeve. No matter which way you slice it, this is people paying an obscene amount of money for something that will literally never do anything except exist under glass.

 

[Vivi22]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

How many collectors spend more than this on paintings or old cars? How is this any different?

Asked and answered above, but as an added note, you assume I agree with the practice of paying obscene amounts of money for art either. And like I said, cars are a different case altogether, though if I saw someone pay, say, $500,000 for a Model T I'd question their sanity as well.

 

[Doom972]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

How so? We accept people paying multiple times that amount to buy a car that has no further use than a car that costs a tenth of that sum. There is nothing wrong with people spending their money on whatever they enjoy.

A car actually has it's uses though. And a more expensive car can actually be damn fun to drive, better built, etc. But this is a card. A card for a card game. The only thing that separates it from other Pokemon cards is that there are six of them.

Now, I could see paying a bit of a premium for a rare, collector's item card. I don't have a problem with the inherent concept. But let's keep in mind that the person who does pay for this, is paying enough money to buy a decent mobile home or a very nice car, and all this will ever do is sit in a display case or something like that. Hell, it will never even be held outside of that card sleeve. No matter which way you slice it, this is people paying an obscene amount of money for something that will literally never do anything except exist under glass.

A collectors' car can cost 10 times as much as a modern luxury car (depends on many variables) - making the difference much bigger than the price of this card. Collectors' cars are rarely used, and usually end up on display, while the owner drives a different car. So it's basically expensive and useless (also very unsafe to drive).

It's a rare card that could make the difference between a complete collection and an incomplete collection.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Whoever wins this thing must be pretty loaded if they can drop $50-100k on a piece of card. By the looks of it it isn't even part of the card game, so it has no functional use besides sitting on a shelf.

 

[Vivi22]

A collectors' car can cost 10 times as much as a modern luxury car (depends on many variables) - making the difference much bigger than the price of this card. Collectors' cars are rarely used, and usually end up on display, while the owner drives a different car. So it's basically expensive and useless (also very unsafe to drive).

It's a rare card that could make the difference between a complete collection and an incomplete collection.

You missed my post immediately after that one above. And even then, the price difference even on a car that cost ten times that of a modern luxury car would actually be less extreme than the difference in a trading card (ignoring that it was a promo and therefore, likely cost nothing, and subbing in the price paid for a typical booster).

 

[Aeshi]

You could basically sum up this article as "Man sells old thing for a lot of money"

Must be a slow news day, huh?

 

[Slycne]

Now, I could see paying a bit of a premium for a rare, collector's item card. I don't have a problem with the inherent concept. But let's keep in mind that the person who does pay for this, is paying enough money to buy a decent mobile home or a very nice car, and all this will ever do is sit in a display case or something like that. Hell, it will never even be held outside of that card sleeve. No matter which way you slice it, this is people paying an obscene amount of money for something that will literally never do anything except exist under glass.

I think you're missing a key factor here. It won't "literally never do anything", unlike say a fancy car collectors items appreciate in value. Cars are actually terrible places to put your money, with the old adage that you loose 1/2 the value just driving a new car off the lot. This person is making an investment based on their ability to perceive that it's not going to diminish in value.

 

[Vivi22]

Now, I could see paying a bit of a premium for a rare, collector's item card. I don't have a problem with the inherent concept. But let's keep in mind that the person who does pay for this, is paying enough money to buy a decent mobile home or a very nice car, and all this will ever do is sit in a display case or something like that. Hell, it will never even be held outside of that card sleeve. No matter which way you slice it, this is people paying an obscene amount of money for something that will literally never do anything except exist under glass.

I think you're missing a key factor here. It won't "literally never do anything", unlike say a fancy car collectors items appreciate in value. Cars are actually terrible places to put your money, with the old adage that you loose 1/2 the value just driving a new car off the lot. This person is making an investment based on their ability to perceive that it's not going to diminish in value.

If I consider the idea of a card costing this much to begin with absurd, then I'm not missing the idea that it may appreciate in value. I simply recognize that concept as also being absurd.

 

[Vivi22]

There is something deeply wrong with the people who pay this much for cards, regardless of rarity.

If someone has the money, they should be able to buy anything they want. Some may see more value in certain things than others. No need to pass judgment.

I'm not saying they can't buy whatever they want. I'm saying it's ridiculous.

And I can pass judgement on whatever I want to be honest.

 

[Dragonbums]

I really wish the Pokemon company will just troll the hell out of collectors and just for the sake of it reprint all the "super rare" cards and watch as those same people piss their pants in anger.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

If people want to spend that much money on that kind of stuff, I don't see why not. There are avid collectors among us, and some of them tend to spend obscene amounts of money on their passions. I don't see why anyone should fault what they do.