$1,450,000. Final bid. PSA 10 1998 3rd Place Trophy Pikachu. Hammered Monday at Goldin.
It is the only PSA 10 of the card in existence. That is not a marketing line. That is the population.
Three days earlier, a CGC 8 Pikachu Illustrator cleared $204,000 at PWCC. The week wasn't a one-lot story.
The Goldin Sale
The 3rd Place Trophy Pikachu sold for $1,450,000 on May 18 as part of Goldin's Spring TCG & Manga Elite Auction. The auction ran April 24 through May 17 with a Monday extension that carried the headline lot to a six-day-old bid book.
The card was originally awarded to 3rd-place finishers at the 1998 Pokemon Card Game Tropical Mega Battle in Japan. Sister cards exist for 1st and 2nd Place. Those are even rarer.
A PSA 10 on a 1998 Japanese trophy promo with a single-copy pop report is the kind of card the top of the market shows up for. It showed up.
PWCC Goes CGC
May 16. PWCC Premier Auction. A CGC 8 Pikachu Illustrator (1998 CoroCoro promo) closed at $204,000. PWCC has called it the highest-selling CGC card on its platform.
The same auction moved a CGC 8 Kangaskhan at $38,400 and a CGC 9 Lucky Stadium at $17,700.
That is three CGC lots clearing five and six figures in a single PWCC session. CGC is not a curiosity slab on this platform anymore. It is a price.
The #NoPSAMay boycott is still ongoing through the month. May be contributing to where collector spend is routing. The PWCC CGC sweep is the most concrete signal so far this month.
The Pokemon Crystal Cross-Pollination
Context for where the vintage Pokemon money is coming from. Goldin's Winter 2026 Pop Culture auction earlier this year sold a sealed PSA 9.8 Pokemon Crystal for $73,244.
Sealed vintage video games and vintage Pokemon TCG sit on the same collector shelf for a lot of buyers. Sealed Pokemon Crystal at $73K and a Trophy Pikachu at $1.45M are not unrelated. Same wallet. Same nostalgia.
Trackers Also Flag the Sealed Japanese Market
Secondary-market trackers are reporting sharp moves on a handful of vintage Japanese sealed products this spring. Treat the numbers as tracker-reported, not Nerdbeak-verified.
Sky Legend booster box, Pikachu EX Red & Blue Collection Box, Holon Research Tower sealed pack, and HGSS Triumphant Prime Challenge Box all show up on the rising-comp lists. The Armored Mewtwo story has variant-confusion problems. The Japanese 365/SM-P printing with the movie logo is the one trackers tend to flag, and the dollar figures floating around it should be treated as "trackers report" until clean comps surface.
The verified six and seven-figure trophy and promo sales this week are the actual news. The sealed-Japanese chatter is the secondary signal.
Vending Machines: Selective Pull, Net Growth
The TPCi vending program got selectively trimmed this spring and the headlines around it have been sloppy. Here are the numbers.
1,871 machines across 28 states as of May 2026. 207 machines removed since summer 2025. 562 added in the same window. Net growth of 27% year over year, up from 1,473 machines in May 2025.
TPCi's statement says machines "are being gradually removed from select retail locations" to "improve stock consistency, reduce regional shortages, and provide a more reliable experience for all players." The underlying problem is what you would expect. Scalpers buying $4.49 MSRP packs and flipping at $12 to $20 on eBay. Glitch exploits to bypass per-customer limits. Theft from children. Physical altercations on the sales floor. Several retailers independently yanked their own kiosks.
This is selective culling of high-conflict locations. Not a wholesale pullback. The program is bigger than it was a year ago.
What's Loading Next
May 22. Three days out. Mega Evolution Chaos Rising drops with 120+ cards and 35+ Special Illustrations. Mega Greninja ex, Mega Pyroar ex, Mega Floette ex, and Mega Dragalge ex anchor the chase. Build & Battle Box prerelease started May 9.
June 19. First Partner Illustration Collection Series 2. $14.99 USD. Johto (Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile), Unova (Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott), and Galar (Grookey, Scorbunny, Sobble). Each box ships one promo pack with 3 of 9 Illustration Rares, 2 booster packs, and a sticker sheet. Paldea is Series 3 later in 2026, not this one.
Bottom Line
Trophy and promo Pokemon are the index right now. The only PSA 10 of a 1998 Japanese trophy promo cleared $1.45M. A CGC 8 Illustrator cleared $204K three days earlier. The vending program is bigger than last year. The chase moves up.
