Who Is Buying Pokémon’s High-End Slabs? What the Records Show
TCG Ultra · Research checked September 30, 2026
An Art Academy Pikachu at $8.4 million. A Mudkip at $3.72 million. A first-edition Misdreavus at $408,000. Fanatics Collect’s late-September posted auction results put both trophy-style promos and niche Pokémon slabs in the spotlight.
There is evidence that professional investors are participating in collectibles. There is much less public evidence about who bought these particular cards. That distinction matters before calling the latest results a Wall Street takeover.
Three results worth examining
| Exact card and grade | Posted result (USD) | Sale context / direct source |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 Japanese XY-P Art Academy Fujishima Pikachu · PSA 10 | $8,400,000 | Fanatics WA245, lot 468F1 · September 27 auction |
| 2015 Japanese XY-P Art Academy Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip · PSA 10 | $3,720,000 | Fanatics September Premier, lot 39 · displayed sold September 25 |
| 2001 Neo Revelation 1st Edition Holo Misdreavus #11 · PSA 10 | $408,000 | Fanatics WA245, lot 15903 · September 27 auction |
All three amounts include the buyer’s premium and are auction-house posted results. Public pages do not independently establish payment settlement or identify the buyers. Fanatics’ date displays differ across browser and web-extracted views for the weekly auction; we identify the September 27 event rather than assign an unverified exact closing time.
These examples support a story about exceptional results at the top end. They do not establish that the typical Pokémon slab is rising, that transaction volume has increased across the market, or that another copy would attract the same price.
Professional capital is part of the story
There is a development from today: Solari Capital’s September 30 announcement identifies Treasure Trove as a business it incubated to own scarce cultural assets. The release’s $350 million figure spans investments across multiple sectors. It is not a disclosed Pokémon buying budget.
There is also a named buyer on record. In a Significance of Wealth interview, AJ Scaramucci confirms that the Pikachu Illustrator purchase was made through Treasure Trove. The interview was promoted on April 22, so this is historical context, not evidence that he bought the latest September lots.
In its February 27 SEC Form D, Solari Capital Treasure Trove I, L.P. identifies itself as a venture capital fund. It does not disclose individual card holdings or the amount allocated to Pokémon. We should not automatically relabel that vehicle as a private-equity buyout fund.
Backing a grading company is a different transaction
Large investment firms have also backed the businesses around collecting. Blackstone’s July 2021 announcement described an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Certified Collectibles Group, the grading-services parent. That is evidence of investment in industry infrastructure. It does not identify the buyers of any of this week’s slabs.
What collectors should take from this
The evidence supports professional participation and striking individual auction results. The drivers and representativeness of these results remain open questions. Establishing a wider trend would require a consistent group of cards, matched grades and printings, comparable time periods, sale counts and repeated results. Explaining the buyers would require named purchasers or relevant ownership disclosures.
When checking a comparable sale, match the card number, language, edition, finish, grading company and grade. Check whether the total includes buyer fees. A record result is a data point, not a standing offer for every copy or a guarantee of future resale value.
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Need help distinguishing printings? Read our Pokémon card rarity guide.