Pokémon cards work just like any other collectible, save for one thing: the cards themselves aren't worth the paper they're printed on. There's a huge market for Pokémon cards, and the cards themselves aren't rare. But the cards and the cards they're packaged in, and the images and the language and the card names and their text and all the little details that make up the cards themselves are all worth a lot of money.

A new collector’s market has emerged over the past several years, with the world’s top Pokémon cards selling for ten-figure sums. And if you’ve ever thought about trading your cards or selling them off for cash, now is the time to make the jump. Collectors often hold cards in high regard, but there are some that sell for astronomical amounts. These are the cards that make collectors worldwide drool. Here are the five most valuable Pokémon cards in the world, the highest-selling cards in the Pokémon TCG.

The Pikachu Illustrator

The promotional card of Pikachu is one of the earliest cards that are out for the Pokémon franchise. It was given to the winners of an illustration contest that happened in 1998. There are. An estimated 20 to 39 copies were given. And in the year 2016, one of them was sold at the Heritage Auction for about $54 970.

The Master’s Key Prize Card

There are 34 copies of the Master’s Key prize card given during the 201-card championship in Japan. Scarcity is one of the reasons why this card had a high price when it was out on the market. One of its ungraded cards sold for about $22,000.

The Tropical Wind Tropical Mega Battle

This is another card that is given to the winners of the tournament. It was given in the 1999 Tropical Mega Battle Pokémon World Championship in Honolulu, Hawaii. This card is believed to have only 14 PSA, 9 cards in circulation. And it is selling for about $70,000.

The Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard

Being a holographic card is one of the reasons why it has become rare. Shadowless card where the image is typically present at the base of a holo. This Holographic Shadowless First Edition Charizard can sell for between $3,000 for a PSA grade of 8 up to $55,650 for a PSA of 10.

The 20th Anniversary Gold Pikachu Card

This card is made of a 24k gold between the Pokémon company and the Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka. Its main reason is to bring back life the special version of the base set of the Pikachu card. And this card is forever framed in a special case. Its original price was around $2000 when it was out. Its limited edition is solid gold Pikachu cards which have recently been sold for about more than $9,000.

Collecting Pokémon cards can be a fun but expensive hobby. If you wanted to make the best use of your money, you could go out and buy the most valuable Pokémon cards in the world. Even if you happen to live in the U.S., it's hard to find the rarest cards without traveling to Japan. The result is that the most valuable Pokémon cards in the world are quite expensive. Collecting Pokémon cards is far from only a childhood interest--it's something that people of all ages enjoy. It's also becoming an increasingly popular hobby, with many collectors seeking rare cards that are rarer than the standard cards.

Pokémon has long since become one of the world's most famous brands. Because the game has been around for so long, there are just so many Pokémon cards that have been printed that many of them are worth real money.