Mudkip Tops $10.65M Pokémon TCG Sales Surge

Pokémon Collectors Push Weekly TCG Sales Past $10.6 Million

Pokémon once again dominated the high-end trading card market, as the five biggest TCG sales of the week combined for $10,650,600. The total nearly doubled last week’s $5.35 million mark and came entirely from sales completed through Goldin on October 25, according to Card Ladder data.

The latest roundup was led by a 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Art Academy Mudkip that sold for $4.88 million, while three cards from the same 2015 Art Academy competition accounted for more than $6.8 million of the week’s total. The results reinforced a familiar theme in the upper end of Pokémon collecting: the biggest prices are not always reserved for the franchise’s most recognizable characters.

Mudkip Sets the Pace at $4.88 Million

The week’s top sale was a 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Art Academy Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip #XY-P PSA 10, which sold for $4,880,000 through Goldin. The card finished well ahead of the rest of the field and represented nearly 46% of the combined value of the week’s top five TCG sales.

The result also marked a sharp rise from a previous sale of the same card. One month earlier, another PSA 10 example sold for $3.72 million through Fanatics Premier. The new Goldin sale was $1.16 million higher, a 31% increase in just 30 days.

According to the source material, PSA population reports show only three PSA 10 examples of the card. That scarcity, along with the card’s unusual artwork and competition-based origin, has helped push Mudkip into an unexpected tier of the Pokémon market.

Three Art Academy Cards Drive the Week

The 2015 Pokémon Art Academy competition produced three of the five highest sales of the week, with two cards finishing at the same price and another taking the top spot outright. The competition invited participants to create original Pokémon illustrations, and winning designs were turned into promotional cards rather than standard pack releases.

That unusual background continues to separate Art Academy cards from more familiar Pokémon issues. Their limited availability and distinctive artwork have made them highly desirable to advanced collectors, even when the featured Pokémon are not among the franchise’s most traditionally sought-after characters.

Sableye and Gourgeist Match at $976,000

The first of the two six-figure Art Academy sales was a 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Art Academy Iwaiya Sableye #XY-P PSA 10. The card sold for $976,000 through Goldin.

Related coverage includes Mudkip’s $4.88M Sale Powers a $10.65M Pokémon Card Week.

Another Art Academy card matched that figure exactly. A 2015 Pokémon Japanese XY Art Academy Rina Gourgeist #XY-P PSA 10 also brought $976,000 through Goldin, placing two lesser-known Pokémon just shy of the million-dollar mark.

Together with the Mudkip sale, those three Art Academy cards accounted for more than $6.8 million of the week’s total, underscoring how much demand exists for the competition’s most elusive cards.

Gold Star Umbreon Continues to Command Attention

Rounding out the list was a 2007 Pokémon POP Series 5 Gold Star Umbreon #17 PSA 10, which sold for $738,100 through Goldin. The card remains one of the most sought-after Gold Star Pokémon cards and continues to draw strong interest from high-end collectors.

Unlike traditional booster-pack releases, POP Series cards were distributed through Pokémon Organized Play promotional packs. That distribution method adds another layer of collectability, especially for a Gold Star card in PSA 10 condition.

The sale showed that classic Gold Star cards still hold major appeal even when they are competing with multimillion-dollar promotional rarities from later years.

Trophy Pikachu Brings Historical Weight to the Rankings

The week’s second-highest sale came from one of Pokémon’s earliest competitive trophies. A 1997 Pokémon Japanese Gold 1st Place Trophy Pikachu #1 PSA 8 sold for $3,080,500 through Goldin.

Trophy cards like this were not pulled from packs. They were awarded for competitive achievement during Pokémon’s early tournament era in Japan, which gives them a different kind of rarity than standard chase cards or promotional releases.

This example was the only card in the top five that was not graded PSA 10. Even so, its historical importance and scarcity helped it outpace every card on the list except the Mudkip. The result also showed that condition is only one part of the equation at the very top of the market, where provenance and significance can matter just as much.

Weekly Pokémon Sales Keep Reaching New Levels

Pokémon has now swept all five spots in the TCG sales countdown for another week, continuing a remarkable run of high-end results. After a rare Japanese Pokémon telephone card led last week’s rankings, the focus shifted to the 2015 Art Academy set, which supplied three of the five biggest sales and nearly two-thirds of the total value.

The week’s numbers also highlighted how broad the Pokémon market has become at the top end. The list included a trophy card from the franchise’s earliest competitive era, a Gold Star card from the mid-2000s, and multiple Art Academy promotional cards from 2015. Together, they formed a snapshot of a market where rarity, story, and condition can all drive extraordinary prices.

With Mudkip leading the way at $4.88 million, the latest sales roundup showed once again that some of Pokémon’s most dramatic results are coming from cards that would not have been obvious headline names a few years ago.

For collectors watching the premium Pokémon market, the latest Goldin results offer another reminder that competition cards, promotional issues, and historically important trophies continue to set the pace when the market reaches its highest levels.