" We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. On the card front, contestants received a special message: Not only did contest winners receive multiple copies of a card that featured their very own winning design, which was exciting in its own right, each of them also received a copy of the Pikachu Illustrator card as an additional prize. Little did they know then that these contests would give rise to one of the rarest and most valuable of all Pokémon cards: the Pikachu Illustrator.
POKEMON GOLD CARD SERIES
PSA 10 Lugias have sold for $76,000 and $129,000 before, but the BGS 10 brought home an even bigger price tag in May 2021 at $144,300.ģ) 1998 Japanese Promo Pikachu Illustratorĭuring the late 1990s, CoroCoro Comic, a Japanese manga magazine, held a series of illustration contests in which entrants submitted their own unique Pokémon designs and attacks. Print issues are a problem for the entire Neo Genesis set, and the Lugia card is no exception.Īround 2% of the Lugias graded by PSA have received the PSA 10 grade, while even fewer BGS have received the BGS 10 Pristine label. However, the difficulty of finding this card in top condition propels it even further into the upper echelons of expensive Pokemon cards.
The 2000 Neo Genesis set was the first to feature second-generation Pokemon from the Gold and Silver video games that built off the massive success of the Red and Blue games.Īnd Lugia had the great fortune of being chosen as the character to be featured on the box art of the Pokemon Silver game.Ĭonsidering the massive boost in notoriety that Charizard and Blastoise received for being the box art characters for the Red and Blue games, respectively, the same is true for Lugia. " The Pokémon Card Game Official Tournament's runner-up winner is recognized here, and this honor is praised."ħ) 2000 Neo Genesis First Edition Holo Lugia
Sticking with the tropical theme for the cover art, an image of Exeggutor, a dual-type grass/psychic Pokemon that resembles a palm tree, sits in the middle of the card with text below it that reads:
If a player were fortunate enough to make it far enough through the competition to finish in second place overall, he or she would receive this number two trainer card. To be invited, players had to first win a local tournament in their respective regions.ĭuring the final match of the Tropical Mega Battle, each player received the same 90 cards that they would use to make their own 40-card deck to battle for the championship. Held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village from 1999 to 2001, the Pokemon Tropical Mega Battle gave the best players from the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe the chance to test their skills against each other. 16) 1999 Pokemon Japanese Tropical Mega Battle Number 2 Trainer