In one of the most highly-publicized collectible auctions in history, Logan Paul sold his Pikachu Illustrator for $16,492,000 early Monday morning at Goldin Auctions.
The sale is the most expensive publicly known result for any card in history, by $3.5 million.
And while the record-breaking price tag is surely indicative of the perceived value and cultural significance of the card within the Pokémon and greater card collecting universe, it is also a prime example of the ways in which splashy auction results have emerged as a vehicle for promotion and PR value, both on the sell-side and the buy-side.
In the run-up to the sale, it is difficult to imagine a card, let alone a Picasso, gaining more wall-to-wall coverage in the modern social media landscape.
First made famous as a diamond-encrusted accessory to Paul’s WrestleMania 38 walk-out, the negotiation and announcement of the sale at Goldin came via season 3 of the Netflix series “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch.”
Then, during the weeks-long auction, Paul promoted the sale to his tens of millions of followers across various social media channels.
More than $14 million was bet on the final price of the card’s auction on prediction markets PolyMarket and Kalshi.
An interesting component of this heavy promotional push is that the card, unlike one of Paul’s CPG products, like PRIME, was likely never going to be bought by someone in his core demographic, or, frankly, anyone who simply saw a post on social media and decided to impulse bid millions.
Unlike a new pair of sneakers or hyped-up designer jacket, the possible buyers for such an expensive item are likely in the dozens and require a white glove approach rather than a scatter-shot campaign.
But the massive coverage wasn’t designed to convince the eventual buyer. It served instead to raise the awareness level of the public that the card was being sold, it was considered a “grail,” and, in so many words, the eventual buyer would not only own the card, but the entire cultural movement that had been created around it.
Then comes Sunday night.
The buyer was A.J. Scaramucci, founder of Solari Capital and son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
He immediately used the attention of the sale to announce his new project, a site called TreasureTrove.com, which will be used to document his hunt for the world’s treasures.
Paul, never one to be outdone or miss the chance to capitalize on eyeballs, used the evening to announce his own new venture, a breaking company called Ripit.
What all of this says is far more interesting than the final price of the card. In today’s age of social media and an increased difficulty to manufacture high-profile monoculture moments that break through the algorithm, it’s the temporary share of the attention economy that is more valuable than the item itself.
We should expect to continue to see the most high-profile items be purchased, not solely with the intent to own them as assets, but to capitalize on the transaction itself for a new kind of earned (or perhaps it is purchased) media.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.