SomePokémon Trading Card Gamecards have achieved legendary status thanks to their incredibly high value. Cards like the Pikachu Illustrator and Shadowless Charizard have made headlines for selling in the millions.
According toTCG Player, there areover 200,000 cards in play as of 2024(and even more card sets have been released since that data). Among these, promo cards tend to be especially lucrative, and none are more well-known and high-value than the Black Star Promo cards.
Black Star PromoPokémoncards arespecial promotional cards released outside the main sets. you may recognize a Black Star card by the black star symbol located somewhere on the card, either on the bottom right or by the card’s name. Unsurprisingly, the limited number of Black Star cards has led tosome of the most expensive Pokémon sales ever.
10Japanese Mario Pikachu #294/XY-P (2016)
Sold For $14,900 In 2025
This special card is what happens when two fandoms intersect. The XY-P Black Star promotional card depicts afull-art illustration of Pikachuconfidently striding forward, whilewearing a Super Mario outfit. The adorable card includes the Black Star icon as well as a special Mario Pikachu stamp.
In homage to Mario’s coin-collecting tendencies, both the card’s attacks are based around coins.
The crossover has met with mixed reactions from fans, but this hasn’t stopped its price from skyrocketing to become one of the most valuable Black Star cards in existance, with the most expensive sale in 2025 for $14,900 oneBay.
Of course, there’s also amatching Luigi Pikachu card, but it typcally sells for closer to $10,000, making this just one more case of Mario upstaging his brother.
9Japanese X/Y Poncho-Wearing Pikachu (Charizard) (2015)
Sold For $15,860 In 2025
The poncho-wearing Pikachu card collection is one of the most iconic promotional cards in thePokémon TCG.The cards are adorned with aPikachu dressed in ponchos that look like various other Pokémon.These Black Star Promo cards were only available in Japan, where they were given out in limited quantities in special events and with sales of otherPokémonproducts.
As is typical for theTCG, whereCharizard tends to be highly sought-after, theMega Charizard-poncho Pikachu is one of the most valuable.There are only about 220 copies of this card, and a Black Label 10 fetched $15,860 at auction in 2025 onGoldin.
8Japanese X/Y Pretend Gyarados Pikachu (2015)
Sold for $15,860 In 2025
Another valuable poncho-wearing Pikachu card is the Gyarados variation. This variation, along with its Magikarp counterpart, was one of the first card to depict Pikachu dressed like another Pokémon. Both the Gyarados and Magikarp Pikachu were released in a special box that wasonly available at the Hiroshima Pokémon Center in 2015.
The Gyarados card is, naturally, more valuable than its pre-evolution—even if they both are just a Pikachu playing pretend. While the Magikarp-wearing Pikachu typically sells for about $4,000 on the higher end, a Pretend Gyarados Pikachu sold for $15,860 in 2025 onGoldin, making this one expensive find.
7Japanese Y. Fujishima Art Academy Promo Pikachu (2015)
Sold For $16,100 In 2025
In 2014 and 2015, The Pokémon Company held an international Pikachu dress-up contest that asked fans tosubmit artworks created in thePokemon Art Academyfor the Nintendo DS. Several selected winners had their design printed on an official Pokémon card, some of which received the coveted Black Star Promo card designation.
Y. Fujishima’s winning entry shows acharming smiling Pikachu wearing a bright rain ponchoand holding up an umbrella in the rain. The card’s cute design won collectors over, as it’s nowone of the most valuable promotional cardson the market, with aneBayauction closing for $16,100 in 2025. The high price tag makes sense for this unique find, as only 100 of each card were ever printed.
6World Championship Staff #26 Tropical Wind (2004)
Sold For $16,500 In 2023
The August 2004 Pokémon World Championship was the first to be hosted after Wizards of the Coast stopped producingPokémoncards. This madethe event’s promotional cards all the more special,and the Tropical Wind Staff cards are one of the rarest and most valuable cards to come from the event.
The Black Star Promo cards have a cute tropical image of Torchic and Psyduck relaxing on a hammock. What makes this card really special is the combination of “Worlds 04” stamp on the bottom right of the artwork, and"STAFF" printed across the bottom. As this indicates, the card was only given out to event staff, making it incredibly rare and sought-after by collectors and explains how it managed to sell for an incredible $16,500 In 2023 onGoldin.
5Charizard G LV.X #DP45 (2009)
Sold For $18,000 In 2025
The Charizard G LV.X card was part of theDiamond & Pearl Supreme Victorsset andfeatures a rare “G” designation, marking it is part of theTeam Galactic’s Pokémon. The “Owner’s Pokémon” mechanic alone made it a desirable card, as the mechanic was used infrequently until it wasrevisited in 2025.
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The Black Star Promo version is actually anEnglish-language 2009 reprint that sported a new illustration. Instead of being part of the main set, the promo could only be obtained in the 2009 Fall Collector’s Tins. The most valuable copy of the card was sold by CollectiCraze oneBayin 2025 for $18,000.
4Japanese National Championship Finalist Holofoil Master’s Key #068 (2015)
Sold For $21,350 In 2025
The Master’s Key is a unique Trainer card that lets players draw a card, then flip a coin to determine if they should shuffle it back into their deck. The Japanese card has a picture of amystical key floating in holofoil space, and bears the Black Star Promo icon on its bottom right.
The special card was given out to finalists at the Japan National Championships in 2010, andit’s believed that only 36 copies were ever made.This makes the card exceedingly rare, and it doesn’t show up on the market often. In early 2025, a PSA8-rated card sold for $21,350 onGoldin, which indicates that versions in better condition would sell for even more.
3Japanese XY Black Star Promo 20th Anniversary Festa Pikachu #279/XY-P (2016)
Sold for $32,520 In 2023
This promo cardoriginates from the 20th Anniversary Festa, a festival that was held in Niigata and Nagoya in 2016. The special event celebrated two full decades of the franchise, and the promo card reflects this.
It depicts an adorable Pikachu with its little arms out and its mouth open in a smile, while behind it are thethree original gen-1 starters, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. For a promo card, this one has afairly large volume and frequently shows up for sale.
Despite this, the cute style and Black Star Promo status make this a valuable card, with high grades selling in the five digits. A record-breaking sale was made in 2023 onGoldin, cementing this card’s value at $32,520.
2Doug Ferguson GX Farewell Gift Black Star Promo #TPCi01 (2019)
Sold for $61,000 In 2024
Doug Gerguson was Senior Vice President of Product Development at the Pokémon Company for 16 years until he left the company in 2019. Upon hs departure, he was given an extra-special gift: aPokémon card depicting himself clutching a Poké Ball.The card is jumbo-sized and blank on the other side, making it even more collectible.
This card is believed to be truly one-of-a-kind, withonly five copies ever printed.It’s not surprising, then, that one of the cards fetched a neat $61,000 in auction atGoldinin late 2024.
1Tsunekazu Ishihara Sun & Moon Black Star Promo #TPCi01 (2017)
Sold For $240,000 In 2021
While the other Black Star Promo cards are certainly expensive, nothing beats the most valuable of the bunch, the Tsunekazu Ishihara Sun & Moon card. This special cardfeatures an signed illustration of Pokémon Company CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, holding a Rotom and a Master Ball in his hands.
The promo is one of the most exclusivePokémoncards ever made, since it was never given out to the public. The only people who got a copy were those who attended Ishihara’s birthday party in 2018, which is a fairly short list. Due to the card’s scarcity, when one does appear, it tends to sell for incredibly high prices. The most expensive one of these cards ever sold was an incredible $240,000 in 2021, onGoldin.
No one knows exactly how many of these special promo cards were made, but the unique nature of the card makes it one of the most collectible cards in the history of thePokémmon Trading Card Game—a fact that’s reflected in its price.
Sources:TCG Player, Goldin (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), eBay (1,2,3)
