Goldin Spring TCG and Manga Elite Auction: Trophy Pikachu Already Past $1 Million With Two Weeks of Bidding Left

Goldin's 2026 Spring TCG & Manga Elite Auction is in full swing, and with two and a half weeks of bidding still left on the clock, the headline lot has already crossed the seven-figure mark. The 1998 Pokemon Japanese Promo Bronze 3rd Place Tournament Trophy Pikachu — one of the rarest tournament-issued Pokemon cards in existence — has reached a leading bid of \$1,050,000 as of this week.

Auction Schedule

The auction opened on April 24 and runs through May 17, 2026. Extended bidding kicks in at 10:00 PM ET on May 17, meaning lots that receive late activity stay open until bidding stalls — which historically has added six-figure swings to top lots in the final minutes.

The Trophy Pikachu

The 3rd Place Bronze Trophy Pikachu was awarded only to runners-up in the 1998 Japanese tournament series. Fewer than ten copies are believed to exist in any grade, and PSA 10 examples have only ever surfaced two or three times publicly. The graded census has not officially been updated for this lot, but the consignment is believed to be one of the highest-graded copies available outside the Logan Paul Pikachu Illustrator stratum.

Trophy cards are the rarest tier in the entire Pokemon TCG. Tournament prizes are pulled from circulation immediately, and only a handful exist in collector hands.

Beyond the Pikachu

The Spring auction is being marketed as a TCG and Manga crossover, and the secondary lots are equally newsworthy:

• 1992 Magic: The Gathering Gamma Playtest uncut sheets — 16 sheets, 252 cards. This is one of the only intact pre-Alpha Magic playtest collections ever offered at public auction.
• 2001 Pokemon Crystal Version sealed Game Boy Color cart — graded sealed copies of Crystal have crossed \$50,000 in past sales.
• 1984 Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #51 — Goku's debut in Dragon Ball.
• 1997 Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #34 — first appearance of Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece.
• 1999 Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #43 — first appearance of Naruto Uzumaki.
• 2021 Baccarat Hiroshi Fujiwara Pikachu crystal collectible.
• Pokemon Origins Episode 4 Production Mewtwo Sketch — original animation art.

Why This Auction Matters

Goldin is using Spring 2026 to test whether the seven-figure ceiling for Pokemon Trophy cards has migrated upward following Logan Paul's record \$16.5 million Pikachu Illustrator sale. A Trophy Pikachu closing above \$1.5 million would set a new public record for the 3rd Place card and signal that institutional money has officially moved into Trophy-tier Pokemon.

The crossover with manga first appearances is also strategic. Pulling Goku, Luffy, and Naruto debut issues into the same auction puts comic-grade collectors and TCG collectors in the same room — a calculated bet that the venn diagram between these two communities is thicker than auction houses have historically assumed.

How to Watch

Lots are open at goldin.co under the Spring TCG & Manga Elite tab. Final bidding will run live the night of May 17 and almost certainly into the early morning of May 18 once extended bidding triggers on the Trophy Pikachu and the Magic Gamma sheets.

If you have a card show planned for the weekend of May 16, plan accordingly — every dealer at every table will have one eye on the Goldin live feed.