Pikachu is one of the cutest Pokémon ever, a point that no trainer would ever try to argue. But what if you put Pikachu in a cute little poncho that looked like another Pokémon? Cuteness squared! Collectors certainly agree, because a rare Japanese Pokémon card from 2016 – featuring a ful art Pikachu wearing a Charizard poncho – just sold for $16,250.
This rare Pokémon card is formally identified as “208/XY-P”, the 208th promo card from the Japanese XY-Promo series that was released from 2013 to 2017. L’il 208 was one of two promo cards in the ‘Mega Charizard Y Poncho-wearing Pikachu Special’ box set – which had contents pretty similar to an elite trainer box – which was released on January 1 2016.
Not that many copies of this poncho-wearing Pikachu were ever printed, fewer have made it outside Japan, and with the ongoing Pokémania, the fact that a PSA Gem Mint 10 copy sold on September 3 for $16,500 via Heritage Auctions is perhaps unsurprising – though still eyewatering. And it wasn’t the only cutie-patootie Pikachu to reach a high price in that auction, nor was it the only one wearing Pokémon-themed waterproofs.
Three other cards printed via the XY-P promo series were sold in the same auction. 207 is 208’s non-identical twin, released at the same time as part of a matching special box set for Mega Charizard X. It’s wearing a dark grey and blue Mega Charizard X poncho and making just the cutest ickle roar. A PSA Mint 9 copy sold for $9,375.
Two other Pikachus in the auction were originally released in the exact same box, the ‘Rayquaza Poncho-wearing Pikachu Special Box’ set in July 6 2016. Number 230 is dressed in a regular green Rayquaza poncho, while 231 has a black shiny Rayquaza rain cover. With a relatively lowly PSA Near Mint 8 rating, they went for $7,500 and $6,875 respectively.
Source: Wargamer
