Off The Record

At Auction, A Rare Pokémon-Shaped Cheeto Fetches An Astounding Price

Published on March 8, 2025

We shouldn’t be shocked that a Cheetos collaboration, if you can call it that, has brought in five figures after Logan Paul paid over $5 million for a Pokémon card.

We ought not to be, yet we are. I’ll never understand why these trading cards are so valuable to collectors, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate them—my brother and I once had three albums full of them.

I tried to find them a few years ago in the hopes that they may bring in a good sum of money for us, but I eventually realized that my mom probably sold them at a flea market for almost nothing.

Even if I and millions of others may not be lucky, one collector struck gold when he paid an incredible sum at an auction in New Jersey for a Pokémon-shaped Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Charizard.

The description, at Goldin Auctions, read: “Presented is a 3-inch long Flamin’ Hot Cheeto in the shape of the Pokémon Charizard, affixed to a customized Pokémon card and encapsulated in a clear card storage box.”

“It was initially discovered and preserved sometime between 2018-2022 by 1st & Goal Collectibles. The Cheeto surged in popularity on social media platforms in late 2024.”

After a rather sluggish start—it was at $350 a week later—bids quickly started to increase after starting at $250 on February 11.

The highest bid was a solid $2,100 by the end of business on February 20. Two days later, it rose to $4,250, and by the end of the previous month, a price of $10,400 appeared set to win the potato chip.

However, it was not to be. Things got extremely goofy on Sunday, March 2, when the day ended on Saturday, March 1, with the bid at $13,400.

The bids increased in size over time; first, hopefuls were just $1,000 above the top bid, then they increased to $2,000 and finally to $30,000.

After that, the strategy changed a little, with bidders placing $3,000 higher bids than the existing one—that is, until an astounding $52,000 was promised.

However, bidders continued to outbid one another by $5,000 until the total amount reached an incredible $72,000, which increased to $87,840 with the buyer’s premium included.

So, to whom does such a fee go?

A mystery prize was bought for $250 by an unidentified buyer from Arena Club, an online trading card marketplace, which bought it for $10,000 from Paul Bartlett, 37.