Cosplay Pikachu
XY Promos · #99/78 · Common · 2013JPN
Price history
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Graded values
Grades 1–6 are estimates modeled from the raw price — PSA/CGC/BGS 7–10 and Ungraded are live tracked market values.
PSA 10 chart is building — graded values are tracked nightly, a new point appears each day.
Graded population census · updated 2026-07-07
Population data from PriceCharting, updated monthly.
CardPrice Score B-TIER
A genuinely scarce Japanese Pikachu promo with a four-figure floor and novelty appeal — held back from an A only by grading economics that give gem copies almost no edge over raw.
- A Japanese XY-era promo tied to the Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire Cosplay Pikachu craze.
- Common rarity on paper, but a promo distribution puts real scarcity behind it.
- Raw copies already sit in serious four-figure territory — this isn't a bulk Pikachu.
- Grading economics are upside-down here: gem copies don't command the premium you'd expect over raw.
- A collector's chase piece, driven by the Pikachu name and cosplay novelty more than playability.
This analysis covers every printing of Cosplay Pikachu — the score and live figures use our primary tracked printing, and the price panels above follow whichever printing you have selected.
Where Cosplay Pikachu fits in the hobby
Cosplay Pikachu is one of the more charming footnotes of the XY era. The character debuted alongside *Omega Ruby* and *Alpha Sapphire*, a Pikachu that dressed up in a rotating wardrobe of costumes tied to its various forms. That gimmick carried straight into the TCG, and Japanese promo channels put a Cosplay Pikachu into collectors' hands as card 99 of the XY promotional run.
Promos like this occupy a funny space in the hobby. The rarity slug reads "Common," which undersells the reality — promotional Pikachu cards are distributed outside the normal booster ecosystem, so supply is dictated by how the card was handed out rather than by pull rates. That's why a card labeled common can trade well above the price of chase holos from the same window.
Add the Pikachu tax on top. Pikachu is the franchise's face, and anything featuring a novel, one-off version of it — a costumed Pikachu you won't see again — draws crossover interest from theme collectors who don't otherwise chase XY promos. Cosplay Pikachu leans hard on that novelty. It's less a competitive relic and more a personality piece, the kind of card that anchors a Pikachu-variant subcollection.
Market read
This card sits at the intersection of two durable demand pools: Pikachu completists and Japanese-promo specialists. That overlap keeps raw prices firm well into four-figure territory, and the card has been trading close to its all-time high rather than deep in a correction — a sign the floor here is holding. Supply is thin by promo standards, and the population that has been graded skews toward a modest gem rate, meaning clean high-grade copies are not a given.
The unusual wrinkle is the grading math. Gem-grade examples don't carry the multiple over raw that you'd normally expect, so the incentive to crack and submit is weak. In practice that means the raw market and the slabbed market move closer together than on most cards this valuable, and the decision to grade is more about protection and provenance than chasing a spread.
- Pikachu branding — the single most collectible name in the franchise, pulling buyers from outside the XY niche.
- Novelty character: Cosplay Pikachu is a one-off costumed variant, catnip for theme and variant collectors.
- Promo scarcity — distributed outside boosters, so real-world supply is limited despite the "Common" label.
- Japanese-original appeal for collectors who prioritize first-language and promo-market pieces.
- Its role as an anchor piece in Pikachu-variant and XY-era set-building projects.
Exact figures — price, population, gem rate, grading EV — are live in the panels above and refresh nightly.
Why the art matters
The card depicts Cosplay Pikachu, the special Pikachu introduced in *Omega Ruby* and *Alpha Sapphire* known for dressing up in themed outfits. The art plays up the personality-driven charm that made the character a fan favorite — a Pikachu that's less battler, more performer.
Artist credit isn't confirmed in our data for this printing, so we'll leave that attribution open rather than guess. What's certain is the visual hook: a costumed spin on the most recognizable creature in the entire franchise, which is exactly what gives the card its pull.
Collector guide
Promos live and die on surface and edges. Look hard at the corners and any glossy areas under angled light — handling marks and print lines show fast on Pikachu art. Because raw copies already command real money, buy on photos of the actual card, not stock images.
Set expectations before you submit: the gem rate on this card is only moderate, so a high grade is far from automatic. And with slabbed copies carrying little premium over raw, grading here is best treated as protection and authentication rather than a value play. Crack-and-resubmit strategies don't make sense on this one.
Treat it like the four-figure card it is: penny sleeve inside a snug top-loader or one-touch, stored upright, away from heat, humidity and direct light. For raw copies you plan to hold long-term, a sealed one-touch guards the surface that graders scrutinize most.
Given the price band, verify you're buying a genuine Japanese promo printing and not a proxy or reprint. Slabbed copies from a major grader remove most of that risk; for raw buys, lean on trusted sellers and clear high-resolution scans.
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Frequently asked questions
How much is Cosplay Pikachu #99/78 worth today?
As of August 14, 2026, a raw Cosplay Pikachu #99/78 trades around $3,000.00, and a PSA 10 copy around $2,408.09. Prices update nightly from live market data — the chart above has the full history.
Is Cosplay Pikachu worth grading right now?
The numbers currently say no: after grading fees, expected value is about $1,298.74 negative unless your copy is an exceptional gem candidate. Grade for the slab, not for profit.
Why is a Common-rarity Pikachu worth so much?
The "Common" label refers to the rarity slug, not the actual supply. As a promo, this card was distributed outside the normal booster ecosystem, so real-world availability is limited. Combine thin supply with Pikachu's universal collectibility and a costumed-novelty hook, and you get a card that trades far above typical common prices.
Is it worth grading my Cosplay Pikachu?
Mostly for protection and provenance rather than profit. Gem-grade copies here don't carry the premium over raw that you'd see on most valuable cards, so the spread rarely justifies the cost and risk of submission. If you value authentication and long-term preservation, grade it; if you're chasing a markup, the math is thin.
What is Cosplay Pikachu?
It's a special Pikachu introduced in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire that dresses up in a series of themed costumes. The character was a fan-favorite novelty, and that charm carried over into this Japanese XY-era promo card.
Is this the same as the English Cosplay Pikachu cards?
This is the Japanese XY promo printing, card 99. English-market Cosplay Pikachu cards exist separately and trade in their own market. Collectors who prioritize first-language pieces specifically seek out the Japanese original, which is part of what supports demand here.
How hard is it to find a high-grade copy?
Not trivial. The share of submissions earning a top gem grade is only moderate, so pristine examples are meaningfully scarcer than the raw population suggests. Surface and edge wear on the Pikachu art is the usual culprit that keeps copies out of the top tier.
How much is Cosplay Pikachu #99/78 worth?
Cosplay Pikachu #99/78 is a Common Japanese card from XY Promos (2013) — today it trades at roughly $3,000.00 ungraded.
A PSA 10 copy runs about $2,408.09 and a PSA 9 about $809.69 — a 0.8x premium over raw, so condition and grading costs matter here. 2,097 copies have been graded to date, and 58% of them came back a 10 — worth knowing before you pay grading fees.
We update this valuation every night from live market data and verify it against real completed sales — see the chart above for how Cosplay Pikachu has moved over time.