'Kabuto King' looks to corner market on common Pokémon card

An anonymous collector going by Kabuto King has gone viral in the quest to collect “every first-edition Kabuto in the world,” acquiring 1,783 of the cards since first posting on X in August.

The first-edition Kabuto cards come from Pokémon's Fossil set, released in 1999, and, until Kabuto King’s quest made waves on the internet, was far from a glamorous card.

Prior to Kabuto King’s hunt, a first-edition example in Near Mint condition could have been purchased for less than a dollar, according to TCGPlayer. Today, the going rate for an NM card is $37.43.

Tuesday morning, the Kabuto King account posted an update of the collection, featuring 35 new additions as well as the full box of cards, including both raw and slabbed examples.

GameStop, always quick to get in on any internet meme with a whiff of absurdity, announced Monday it would offer Kabuto King “first dibs on any PSA-graded Kabutos traded in to GameStop.”

Prices for the card have taken a big jump, with four PSA 10 copies selling Tuesday morning for four-digit price tags: $1,025, $1,045, $1,199 and $1,225.

A meme coin called $KABUTO has been launched to help Kabuto King acquire more cards, with all creator fees going toward the collector. The Solana-based coin was launched this week and has risen 263.3% in the past 24 hours.

This is not the first time a collector or speculator attempted to corner the market on a previously overlooked card, whether in an attempt to “pump” the market or simply for the love of the game.

Earlier this year, a collector group going by the handle “Pickle Vault” intentionally pumped Ben John’s Leaf Pickleball rookie card from $20 to more than $200, acquiring 950 of the 3,935 total production.

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Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.