Charizard was the king lizard this past weekend March 4-5, 2022 at the Trading Card Games Signature Auction by Heritage Auctions. What the auction represented was an opportunity to compare two key high-end trading cards: The Black Lotus from Magic: The Gathering and Charizard. The Charizard was a PSA GEM MT 10 and the Black Lotus was a BGS 9. To make the comparison fair we did provide a BGS 10 Pristine grade that had a buy it now price outside of this auction.

The Charizard PSA GEM MT 10 First Edition sold for $336,000.00 on March 4, 2022 after 69 bids (see card image below). The PSA population of a GEM MT 10 Charizard 1st edition is 121. The card had a bid of $220,000.00 after 65 bids on March 3, which equaled $264,000.00 after the buyer’s premium. In two days and four bids the card was on its way to making another $100,000.00 look easy.

Collectors Dashboard had written about the PSA 10 First Edition Charizard that was bought by rapper Logic for $220,574.00 on October 12, 2020. However the known record for the card is still owned by Goldin Auctions selling for $390,000.00 net after the auction house 20% buyers premium above the gavel price of $325,000.00.

According to Heritage, that was THE Charizard card to own. The Auction listing at Heritage Auctions said:

“The card that will instantly become the centerpiece of your collection! Offered here is arguably the hottest card in the entire hobby, a 1st edition Base Set Charizard, and it’s graded a PSA GEM MT 10. Yes, you read that right, GEM MT 10! Charizard is the final evolved form of Charmander, and if you watched the Indigo series, you might recall Charmander as kind and innocent. But as soon as he evolved into Charmeleon, everything changed. Charmeleon was rebellious, did not listen to Ash’s commands, and things only got worse when he evolved into Charizard…. The artwork is by Mitsuhiro Arita. PSA has certified 121 copies earning GEM MINT 10 grade.”

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. It may seem odd to think of a Pokemon or MTG card in the same light as stocks and bonds, but when people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars it’s frankly undeniable that this is an alternative asset. Another issue is that collectors with a deep passion often to compete directly against investors whose only desire is to make a profit in the future.

The image below is from Heritage Auctions