When it comes to trading cards selling for surprisingly high amounts, Pokemon cards tend to take the cake. The popularity of the franchise, combined with the extreme rarity of certain cards, makes for some shocking final sale numbers. Just look at Logan Paul’s diamond-encrusted Pikachu Illustrator card, which recently sold for over $16 million USD. But Pokemon isn’t the only trading card game out there, and it’s not the only big-ticket collector’s item, either. From baseball cards to other trading card games like Magic: The Gathering and beyond, there are plenty of other rare cards in the resale market.
Recently, I was looking into the most expensive Pokemon cards ever sold, and I came across some surprisingly high price tags for other TCG auctions. In fact, some of those sales actually outpace the most expensive Pokemon cards, even if they didn’t quite make the rounds in headlines the same way. If the collectible market fascinates you as much as it does me, I thought it could be interesting to look at the other most expensive trading cards ever sold, outside of Pokemon. So, here are the highest price tags recorded for trading card sales (that aren’t Pokemon).
5) Magic: The Gathering – Timetwister
This card is part of the so-called rare Power Nine cards from the game’s early core sets. As the name implies, they are widely considered to be among the strongest cards ever printed for Magic: The Gathering. They’re also fairly rare, landing the Timetwister card a spot on the most expensive trading cards list.
Back in April 2023, a Limited Edition Alpha version of this card sold for $84,000 in a Fanatics Collect Premier Auction. The card in question was a PSA 10 Mint, making it especially valuable compared to other copies on the market, which are often rated lower.
4) Magic: The Gathering – Lord of the Pit
In 4th place, we have another rare Magic: The Gathering card. Lord of the Pit is an interesting card, as it has actually been reprinted quite often. Modern reprintings go for as little as $0.50 on sites like TCG Player. However, the card’s first run was fairly limited, which is why an Alpha once sold for a shockingly high price.
In January 2023, a CGC 10 graded 1993 Limited Edition Alpha Lord of the Pit card sold in a Fanatics Collect auction for $105,000. At the time, this made it the second most expensive Magic: The Gathering card ever sold. It has since been unseated thanks to more recent high-tier sales, but it remains a piece of TCG collectible history.
3) Yu-Gi-Oh! – Tyler the Great Warrior
As a huge Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, I was happy to see that this TCG claims at least one spot among the highest-value trading cards on record. This card is incredibly rare, with only one copy in existence. It was a special design created by a teenager battling cancer as part of a Make-A-Wish partnership. Despite being an official card approved by the Yu-Gi-Oh! creator, it was never mass-produced. And that makes it highly rare and valuable today.
Tyler, the teen who designed the card, sold it on eBay in April 2023 for a staggering $311,211 USD. At the time, it was graded at a Near-Mint 7 by BGS, and it hasn’t re-entered the marketplace since. Though it is valuable as a collector’s item, Tyler the Great Warrior is not a tournament-legal card due to its one-off print status.
2) Magic: The Gathering – The One Ring
As you might suspect from its name, The One Ring was printed as part of MTG’s Lord of the Rings-themed Universes Beyond lineup. While many copies of The One Ring card exist, collectors were all of them deceived, for just one Gold-Foil Art card was made. Wizards printed a single One Ring card printed in the Black Speech of Mordor, rather than English. It’s this card that is quite rare and ranks among the highest-priced trading cards ever sold.
The special serialized The One Ring card was sold to none other than Post Malone back in August 2023 for $2 million USD. It is rated PSA 9 and has not reappeared on the market since. As far as we know, Post Malone also hasn’t turned it into a gold-and-diamond necklace like Logan Paul’s Pikachu.
1) Magic: The Gathering – Alpha Black Lotus
The most expensive trading card ever sold, besides the famous Pikachu Illustrator, is this rare Magic: The Gathering card. The Alpha Black Lotus was part of the initial print run for the TCG back in 1993, making it among the rarest cards out there. It also remains an incredibly powerful card, and one that Wizards doesn’t plan to reprint. As such, Mint Condition versions of this holy grail card can fetch quite a high price.
In March 2024, a CGC Pristine 10-rated Alpha Black Lotus sold for $3 million in a private auction. While this is the most valuable sale on record for the card, other editions also make the top echelons, including a 2022 artist proof sale to apparently MTG fan Post Malone. Interestingly, this mint edition card is not signed by the artist, though many other versions of the Alpha Black Lotus are. Despite missing the signature, this card’s incredibly pristine condition earned it the highest grossing sale to date for non-Pokemon trading cards.
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