One-of-a-kind “prerelease” Raichu Pokemon card sells for over half a million Dollars

A prerelease Raichu card from the 1999 Pokemon Base Set has sold for $555,000 during Heritage Auctions’ Trading Card Games Signature Auction.

The holographic Raichu, graded EX-MT 6 by PSA, is the only authenticated copy of its kind. Long considered a rumor within the collecting community, the card originated from a production error during the printing of prerelease Jungle Clefable cards. Its existence was unconfirmed until 2006, when a former Wizards of the Coast employee released photographic evidence.

The card offered at Heritage came from Damon Edmondson, who was a Wizards of the Coast project manager in 1999.

He obtained two copies after a colleague discovered them while clearing her desk. Edmondson gave one away as a gift and preserved the other for nearly 25 years. His card remains the only prerelease Raichu to be encapsulated by PSA.

Heritage Auctions

PSA exception and authentication

According to Heritage Auctions Trading Card Games Consignment Director Jesus Garcia, PSA typically only grades items that were officially released through retail or sanctioned tournament channels. The company made an exception after verifying Edmondson’s employment and the card’s authenticity.

“PSA generally restricts grading to items that were officially released, either made available for purchase through retail channels or distributed at sanctioned tournaments,” Garcia said.

“This example was the result of a factory error. In such instances, PSA’s policy is typically not to grade the card unless it was part of an official release. For the company to make an exception, it must be absolutely certain of the card’s authenticity.

He added: “It’s really exciting for us to be able to offer this incredibly rare piece of Pokemon Trading Card Game history.”

This prerelease Raichu error card isn’t the first rare card to go up for auction over the last few weeks, either. On September 12, a PSA 9 graded Pikachu Illustrator card sold on eBay for four million dollars.