A Pokémon card collector known as Kabuto King is determined to make the world fall in love with his namesake. After a recent charity auction, he might be a little closer to succeeding. The man, who is collecting every first-edition card of the prehistoric monster he can find, had Logan Paul sweating an eBay bidding war in early December. The ruckus was over a card that few seemed to care about up until very recently: Kabuto.
No, the Kabuto isn’t graded highly — which might normally explain the high price point for a first-edition card. Actually, the card is worn and signed by Kabuto King himself. Despite all of this, the auction concluded at $51,100. People were willing to pay an arm and a leg for this otherwise unremarkable card because Kabuto King promised the proceeds would go to charity.
Kabuto King and his 1,800 Kabuto cards have gotten a lot of publicity lately due to the unusual object of his affection. As Kabuto King collects more cards, the demand for first-edition Kabuto has gone up. So has the price. It’s still unlikely that Kabuto will ever become a holy grail card that regularly sells for thousands of dollars. But stunts like these probably won’t help lower the price of first-edition Kabuto cards anytime soon, either. A card that one could purchase for a couple of dollars just a few months ago now has many eBay listings for $20 or more as of this writing.
The $51,100 will be donated to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Kabuto King promises. Kabuto King maintains that he will never sell any of his collection, and that the charity auction will be the single exception to that rule. Otherwise, he’s using the occasion to further his Kabuto agenda. While some accuse him of trying to manipulate the card market, Kabuto King is adamant that he’s in it for the love of the game. All he wants is more Kabuto cards, he says — but if other people appreciate their own cards, that’s good too.
“To everyone who recently bought their first Kabuto… hold it, cherish it, display it and know that YOU are part of a movement that adds some good in the world,” Kabuto King wrote on social media site X over the weekend. “Kabuto isn’t just a Pokémon. It’s a symbol for what happens when we all get together for something fun & positive.”
