Since late September, five public sales of 2015 Pokémon Art Academy contest cards have added up to nearly $19 million. This week's $4,880,000 Mudkip at Goldin is the latest. Here's every Art Academy sale we can trace to a source, and what the board says. Signals, not appraisals.
What Art Academy cards are
The Pokémon Art Academy × Pokémon Card Game contest ran in Japan from Dec. 14, 2014 to Feb. 1, 2015, per Bulbapedia). Entrants drew Pokémon in the Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Art Academy. Goldin's lot descriptions say the first promotion had 10 winners, and each winning artist received 100 copies of their own card. They were never sold in packs. For the full backstory, read Raincoat Pikachu, explained.
The board
| # | Card | Grade | Price | Venue · date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Fujishima Pikachu ("Raincoat Pikachu") | PSA 10 | $8,400,000 | Fanatics Collect · Sept 28, 2026 | Fanatics lot |
| 2 | 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip | PSA 10 (pop 3) | $4,880,000 | Goldin · Oct 25–26, 2026 | Goldin lot |
| 3 | 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Daisuke Ochiai Mudkip | PSA 10 | $3,720,000 | Fanatics Collect Premier · Sept 25, 2026 | SI Collectibles |
| 4 | 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Iwaiya Sableye | PSA 10 (pop 4) | $976,000 | Goldin · Oct 25, 2026 | Goldin lot |
| 4 | 2015 Japanese XY Promo Art Academy Rina Gourgeist | PSA 10 (pop 17) | $976,000 | Goldin · Oct 25, 2026 | Goldin lot |
Prices include buyer's premium. PSA populations are as stated on Goldin's lot pages. Rows 2 and 3 are the same card and grade; we could not confirm whether they are the same copy. This is a board of sales we could source, not a complete list.
Three patterns on the board
1. Pikachu sits alone at the top. The Raincoat Pikachu's $8.4 million is 1.7 times the next result. Same contest, same print run of 100, very different price. The subject still carries the most weight.
2. Mudkip moved $1.16 million in a month. A PSA 10 sold for $3.72 million on Sept. 25, then another PSA 10 sold for $4.88 million on Oct. 25 (Goldin lists only three PSA 10s). With so few copies, every sale moves the tape. That makes the next one hard to predict.
3. Population didn't set the price. Sableye (PSA 10 pop 4) and Gourgeist (PSA 10 pop 17, per Goldin) sold for the same $976,000 in the same auction. On cards this scarce, a pop report is one input, not the answer. Bidder demand on the night did the rest.
AOM signal: Art Academy is now a seven-figure lane, but it's built on five sales across two auction houses in five weeks. That's a cluster worth researching, not a market with depth. Watch whether the next public result holds these levels.
Verify before you buy: Art Academy promos
- Run the cert on PSA Verify and match the label: 2015 Japanese XY Promo, Art Academy, the artist's name, #XY-P.
- Check the artist line. The label names the winning artist (Fujishima, Daisuke Ochiai, Iwaiya, Rina). Same Pokémon by a different artist is a different card.
- Look for the Art Academy mark printed on the art panel, as on the Mudkip in Goldin's photo.
- Ask for the trail. At this level, there should be a public auction record. Compare photos to rule out a swapped slab.
- Treat live bids as current asks, not results.
Check Current Listings
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Keep Exploring
- Raincoat Pikachu, explained
- This Week in Record-Breaking Sales: Oct 19–25
- Trophy Pikachu, explained
- Pokémon terminal
- PSA Verify
Signal, not an appraisal. Figures from Goldin and Fanatics Collect lot pages, SI Collectibles and Bulbapedia, as linked; verify live before buying or selling.
