When passion prevails over reason… An anonymous collector paid the astronomical sum of $87.840 (about 80.000 euros) for a Pokémon-shaped chip. This Flamin' Hot Cheeto, nicknamed "Cheetozard", was sold at auction by Goldin, reports CNN. A sale that arouses as much fascination as incomprehension.
Measuring 7cm in size, this crispy chip is reminiscent of Charizard, one of the most iconic Pokémon.
To protect it, it was sealed in a transparent box and mounted on a Pokémon card. Discovered between 2018 and 2022 by a company specializing in sports memorabilia, it is now completely inedible… but apparently priceless in the eyes of some collectors.
Put up for sale at $250 in mid-February, the chip sparked a wave of interest from bidders, with 60 successive bids until reaching this record sum.
On social media, the sale has not failed to provoke reactions. "This is a bit stupid," commented one Internet user, while others see it as a perfect example of the explosion of the market for Pokémon-related objects.
The phenomenon is not new: in 2021, a first edition Charizard card sold for 418.000 euros, and in 2023, a Pikachu Illustrator card was offered for 1 million euros on eBay.
And this isn't the first time a chip has become an object of desire. In 2017, another Cheeto, whose shape resembled Harambe, the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, sold for nearly $100.000 on eBay.
