Raiders player’s Pokémon card fetches $672K at auction
The estimates flew freely as Raiders linebacker Blake Martinez put his Pokémon Illustrator card up for auction.
Martinez himself said it could be worth up to $1.5 million.
Not quite. But the rare item fetched $672,000 online at Goldin Auctions over the weekend. The top bid was $560,000, with the buyer’s premium pushing the total to its final tally.
Final Sale Price for the Illustrator Pikachu a.k.a The Swirllustrator: $672,000 pic.twitter.com/VXjhYbUeZk
— Goldin (@GoldinCo) October 30, 2022
The buyer’s premium is the extra charge, typically a percentage, that a buyer is charged based on the item’s closing price.
Martinez’s card is one of just four in existence, and as such exceedingly rare in the Pokémon culture. Experts have dubbed it “The Holy Grail” of Pokémon card collecting.
Martinez was packing the card during a fan event Friday at Gold & Silver Pawn, where he appeared alongside “Pawn Stars” co-stars Austin “Chumlee” Russell (himself an avid Pokémon collector) and Rick Harrison.
I asked about the card’s value. Martinez ran the numbers.
“Maybe $500,000 to, who knows? Eight-hundred, 1.5 mil.,” Martinez said as he was about to meet fans at Gold & Silver Pawn, the home base of the History series “Pawn Stars.” “It’s crazy. It’s insane to me, 100 percent.”
Docksiders disembark
A yacht rock band attempting to generate name recognition, playing a new room in an off-Strip resort undergoing an ownership change, has proven a tough sell.
You could kind of see the trouble on the radar for The Docksiders, a solid, focused and fun show that is nonetheless closing at The Duomo at the Rio. The show performs Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. This is a fine act and a great group of individuals that has learned a hard lesson.
Cool Hang Alert
Vocalist Sage Waters hosts “Meet Me at Eight” live-music and cigar hangs at Eight Lounge at Resorts World every Wednesday. What would the start time be? At 8 p.m. Easy to follow. No cover. Light it up.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
