UltraBall Research · Report
Did Pikachu card prices rise after the $16.49 million Pikachu Illustrator sale?
In the month after the PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator sold for $16.49 million on 16 February 2026, 316 Pikachu cards and grades sold that had also sold before it.
Scope and full summary
28 of them sold for $2,500 or more at one end; one of those sold for 2× or more its last price before the sale and by $5,000 or more, and none fell to half or less by $5,000 or more.
That one: PSA 9 Pikachu ☆ (Holon Phantoms), $5,731 in January 2026 to $19,895 on 15 March 2026. One paid sale at each end; the study does not say the record caused it.
Published · 316 Pikachu card-and-grade pairs with a paid sale before 16 February 2026 and another from 16 February to 17 March 2026, from PSA's sales records (graded sales; same card, grader and grade at both ends)
- 28
- Pairs at $2,500+
- of 316 Pikachu cards and grades that sold before and after
- 1
- Rose 2× or more
- median +247%
- 0
- Fell to half or less
- by $5,000 or more
- Feb 16, 2026
- The event
- Feb 16, 2026 to Mar 17, 2026
Key findings
Of 316 Pikachu card-and-grade pairs that sold in the month after Feb 16, 2026 and had sold before it, 28 sold for $2,500 or more at one end or the other; of those, 1 rose 2× or more and 0 fell to half or less, each by $5,000 or more, against their last paid sale before the event (UltraBall, sales Feb 16, 2026 to Mar 17, 2026).
The biggest rise: PSA 9 Pikachu ☆ (Holon Phantoms, #104) last sold for $5,731 in January 2026; in the month after the event it sold for $19,895 on Mar 15, 2026 (+247%).
Among the cards that rose, the median rise was +247%.
Cite this study
Free to quote and chart with a link to this page
UltraBall Research, ‘Pikachu card prices in the month after the Illustrator record’ (October 2026). https://ultraball.com/news/data/pikachu-card-prices-month-after-illustrator-record-february-2026
What happened on Feb 16, 2026?
The PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator sells for $16.49 million at Goldin, the most ever paid for a trading card at auction.
Source: guinnessworldrecords.com. This study does not say the event moved these prices. It measures what each card and grade sold for in the month after Feb 16, 2026 against its last sale before, and lists the rises and the falls alike.
Which Pikachu cards sold for more after the event?
PSA 9 Pikachu ☆ (Holon Phantoms, #104) last sold for $5,731 in January 2026; in the month after the event it sold for $19,895 on Mar 15, 2026 (+247%).
- 1
- Rose 2× or more
- +247%
- Median rise
| Card and grade | Last sale before | Latest sale after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
 PSA 9 Pikachu ☆Holon Phantoms · #104 | $5,731Jan 15, 2026 · eBay · cert 42090690 | $19,895Mar 15, 2026 · eBay · cert 43071174 | +247%+$14,164 |
Which Pikachu cards sold for less?
No card fell to half or less and by $5,000 or more.
How this was worked out, and its limits
Like for like. Each line is one card at one grader and grade: a PSA 10 against a PSA 10, never a PSA 9 or a CGC 10. A 1st Edition is its own card. The start is the most recent paid sale of that card and grade before Feb 16, 2026; the end is its latest paid sale from Feb 16, 2026 to Mar 17, 2026. A card whose last sale before the event is older than Jan 1, 2025 is left out: the sales record before then is too thin to be sure that sale was the last.
Paid prices only. Best-offer listings whose accepted price is unknown, unpaid auctions and buy-now asking prices are left out; Fanatics sales include the 20% buyer’s premium. Slabs whose cert number sold for contradictory prices are left out.
Floors. The higher of the two prices is at least $2,500, the change at least $5,000 and at least 2× either way, so a cheap card cannot make a large percentage. A start more than 2× from the median of the grade’s 5 sales before it (within 12 months) is dropped, and so is an end more than 2× from the grade’s other sales in the window.
Limits. One sale at each end: a price, not a market. The last sale before the event can be months old (January 2026 at the oldest here).
Pairs left out, by rule
- 11: the earlier sale is before 2025-01-01, when PSA's record is too thin to say it was the last.
- 288: the higher end is under $2,500.
- 15: the change is under $5,000.
- 1: the start is over 2× from the median of the grade's sales before it.
- 38: the card did not sell at this grade before the event.
Questions people ask
Did Pikachu card prices go up after Feb 16, 2026?
Of 316 Pikachu card-and-grade pairs in UltraBall’s sales that sold in the month after Feb 16, 2026 and before it, 28 sold for $2,500 or more at one end. Of those, 1 sold for 2× or more their last price before the event and 0 for half or less, each a change of $5,000 or more; the rest moved less than that or were left out by the rules below. One sale at each end, so read each line as a sale, not a market price.
The figures in this report are fixed as published. For the latest readings see the live data; every term is defined on the methodology page.