Pokemon “Pikachu Illustrator” Trainer Promo Hologram Trading Card
Source: Ha.Com
Social media influencer and wrestler Logan Paul made history last week when he sold a rare Pokemon card for $16.5 million, a world record for an auction trading card. Winners see it as an investment.
AJ Scaramucci, the son of investor and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, won a bidding war for the Pikachu Illustrator card, which was created in 1998 and is one of only a few dozen cards in existence.
This is the crowning achievement of the Solari Capital founder’s short collecting career, which began with trading cards during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I mean, Picasso is great,” he said in an interview, explaining the importance of the illustrator card. “But Pokemon means more to people than just a Picasso painting.”
Scaramucci said after his win that purchasing the card was the first act of what he called a “planetary treasure hunt.” He said the goal he and his brother are working on is to collect a large number of real-world rare assets across various categories.
The trading card market has experienced explosive growth in recent years. Monthly sales volume in secondary transactions has nearly doubled over the past two years, according to data from Card Ladder, an analytics firm that tracks trading card prices and sales.
E-bay CEO Jamie Iannone detailed in last week’s earnings call that collectibles contributed the most to the increase in total circulation in the fourth quarter, particularly “driven by continued strength in trading cards.”
Paul himself purchased this illustrator card in 2021 for nearly $5.3 million, and it is understood that he sold it at a profit margin of over 200%. Card Ladder’s “Pokémon Index” has increased by 145% over the past year. Compare those profits S&P500an increase of 15.2% over the past year. Or compare that to the beloved Alphabet of the Magnificent Seven, which is up 73.4% over the past year.
“The growth, especially in 2025, has been astronomical,” said Ken Goldin, founder and CEO of Goldin Auctions, an eBay company. Goldin helped facilitate an auction of illustrator cards last week. “There are people who are buying it just because they really like it, or because they strongly believe that trading cards and collectibles are a legitimate alternative asset class.”
AJ Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of Solari Capital, speaks at the Skybridge Capital SALT New York 2021 conference on September 15, 2021 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Scaramucci is someone who buys Pokemon cards for both his own enjoyment and investment potential.
“The compound annual growth rate on these cards is out of control,” he said. “And they should be treated as investments, because that’s what they are. That makes sense.”
Scaramucci added that these cards are a way for investors, fearful of a country’s currency devaluation, to do a “downgrade trade” by moving money into real assets.
Viewing collectibles as alternative assets, however unorthodox, is nothing new.
Other collectibles, such as wine and art, have been used in the past to diversify portfolios.
Photo: Image Source | Getty Images
Paul Karger, co-founder and managing partner of wealth advisory firm Twin Focus, said he works with clients who collect art, wine, watches and even guitars. But while some people view these products as investments, Karger doesn’t advise his clients to fall into that mindset.
“Think of it like a passion first and an investment second,” he said. “You’d hope it would go up over time, but it’s by no means a replacement for financial assets. It’s probably just a supplement to the breaking point.”
Karger warned that the illiquidity of collectibles and their dependence on others to determine their value, often through auction, poses additional risks.
Casey Lucon, family office managing director at Brighton Jones Wealth Management, also said the risk is that capital gains on collectibles are taxed at 28%, which is higher than the roughly 15% or 20% capital gains tax on stocks.
Despite the risks, Goldin predicts more people will consider collectibles, especially trading cards, as an alternative asset. He said more headlines detailing big sales like Paul’s and more data will lead to more participation as price discovery becomes easier.
Scaramucci will embark on a treasure hunt through a new company called Treasure Trove. But he gave no details about what the company would look like or how it would operate, other than that it would receive funding from Solari Capital. Scaramucci also declined to say whether he plans to sell his illustrator cards and other collectibles if their value increases.
Scaramucci also said he would like to get the Declaration of Independence as part of his hunt after earning his Illustrator card, though he acknowledged that it is a goal that will require a lot of effort to achieve, although he has not yet said how.
But the problem is that his future plans are not clear at the moment.
“For now, if you think I’m just a crazy person hoarding rare real-world assets, that’s all you need to know,” he said.
