Good morning E4! It has been awhile since I’ve posted. Over the last year that I have got back into collecting; my collection has taken some major upgrades. I wanted to start diving into the Art Academy Cards, as the rarity and creativity is something I find awesome.
My question would be, what would you guys put a value range on these cards? I know they have definitely gone up over the years, but definitely interested in hearing prices ranges I should expect to pay. Thank you for your time!
Overall I’d say the prices are currently 650-1250 USD for the Pikachu Art Academy cards. Five of the twelve have yet to pop up, so those could be either lower when the winner decides to sell a bunch, or much higher if the winner only puts one on eBay (as we’ve seen with the two Mew Art Academy cards sold thus far, for 1,302.23 euros (~1,500 USD) and 2,921.63 euros (~3,330 USD) respectively).
I personally bought my six Art Academy cards for these prices:
As you can see, the prices has been going up over the years. I’ve heard some sellers sold Art Academy cards for 100-250 USD at the end of 2015 / start of 2016 not too long after they’ve received their 100 copies. Some however were already selling them for 500 euros even then (the Spanish Dress for example, which luckily for me remained that price even after two years).
The only one I’m missing from the ones that have popped up is the Space Pikachu. I’ve heard less than five copies were sold thus far (I know of three sold copies for sure), and right after the winner sold them she got ill. Due to superstitious she refuses to sell any more copies since she thinks it’s connected to her illness… 
I think one is being offered up for sale for 8k USD right now, which is ‘a bit’ beyond what I’m willing to pay.
I’ve also been in contact with another collector who bought three Art Academy Pikachus last month. I won’t mention his name, but here are the prices he bought them for:
So perhaps my low end of 650 USD in my original estimated range was a bit on the low end of the spectrum. They are clearly rising in value however. I hope the missing five copies will hit the market sooner than later, before the winners see they can sell them at 1.5k+ USD per card in the upcoming years…
PS: Since your title mentioned Pikachus I only focused on those, even though you mentioned Art Academy cards in general in your post. And to be completely honest, I don’t know anything about the pricing of the other cards except for the two sold Mew copies. I do know these have been sold at least once for sure though: Goomy; Gourgeist; Tangrowth; Chespin; Kecleon; Delphox. I’m not sure whether Primal Kyogre; Sableye; and Mudkip have been sold.
Greetz,
Quuador
I bought the CHEF pikachu from the winner about 1.5 years ago. I payed 350£. PSA9. I hope the value is 5000$ now 
Sad to hear about her illness, hope she’s better now. What a shame, great art though 
I get asked every single week about Art Academy cards. You won’t find a Pikachu under $500 anymore. The last round I listed on eBay sold at full asking price within 24 hours and privately, I’ve been offered north of $1000 to find specific ones multiple times.
The only one I wouldn’t buy immediately is Meli Pikachu because the seller is always selling, has a lot more, and could hurt the value at any point in time. Better off waiting until they’re either permanently sold out or the original artists has a life event that forces a sale.
I think the average collector that remembers prices from 2-3+ years ago is out of touch with what today’s collector is offering on them. The $3K+ auction on the Mew wasn’t even remotely surprising to me knowing what private offers exist for these types of things.
The reality is, no one has them for sale. Your odds of getting in contact with an original winner are many many times worse than they were right after release. I don’t have contact with the people anymore and I don’t know anyone who has reliable contact with the old Pikachu artists that most people want information for. I also think there’s this dream out there that the original artists are still selling at dirt cheap prices. That’s not really a thing.
You’re only going to finish the collection at this point by making the strongest public offers you can. And even then, you’re competing with more people than ever, more money than ever, and you’re fighting the uphill battle of convincing collectors to sell.
It’s possible! But my best advice, as the single person who has sold the most copies and the widest variety over the last three years, is to disregard anything that sold in the past. Those price points are entirely irrelevant to what they can earn in today’s market. These are officially over the high end threshold and that changes the rules. Expect to never get a deal on them. Getting a deal in high end means having a chance to buy at all.
Good luck!
Most people know my feelings on this amateur run. They’re a complete joke. A rash on the arse of the hobby.
But I was thinking about it today. I was trying to think of examples of similar marketing tactics and their affect, (either positive, negative, or of no consequence) on the related product.
I wonder if anyone here can come up with something?
why are you the most polarized person on this forum?