The Dubai Collection: Pokémon Red, Blue & Yellow PSA Lot Sells for $2 million

A Landmark Sale in Graded Video Games

Nostalgix has brokered the private sale of a trio of sealed, PSA-graded first-generation Pokémon titles, for $2 million from The Dubai Collection. The lot, comprising Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow in their Japanese first-print releases, represents the highest recorded sale of Pokémon video games in history.

The Collection and Its Significance

Each cartridge in this lot carries its own distinct weight within the collector community.

Pokémon Yellow Version (1999) holds a PSA 10 Sealed A++ designation, the ceiling of the grading scale for sealed software. Pokémon Red Version (1998) matches that grade and carries the Sandshrew Screenshot variant, a print run distinction that collectors of Japanese Game Boy titles have long tracked as a marker of production-era authenticity. Pokémon Blue Version (1998) grades at PSA 9.8 Sealed A++ and presents both the Sandshrew Screenshot and "Red" text variants, making it among the most visually and historically specific examples of the blue cartridge known to exist.

The three pieces were assembled under the informal designation "The Dubai Collection," reflecting their provenance and the care with which they were held. As a unified lot, they cover the complete original Generation 1 release slate for the Japanese market, each copy in sealed condition across a span of titles released between 1998 and 1999. The convergence of grade, variant specificity, and completeness as a set is what places this transaction in a category of its own.

How the Deal Came Together

The transaction was arranged entirely through Nostalgix, with both parties operating under full anonymity throughout the process. A private collector with deep roots in graded gaming brought the lot to market through Nostalgix's discreet sourcing network. The buyer, a private collector with a longstanding focus on sealed Japanese gaming material, was identified and qualified through that same network.

No public listing was created. No auction house was involved. The entire process, from initial valuation to transfer, was conducted privately, with funds held in escrow until both parties confirmed satisfaction with the terms and condition of the lot. This structure, standard for Nostalgix transactions at this scale, allows sellers to control the narrative around their holdings and buyers to acquire without competitive exposure.

A Marker for the Category

The $2 million final figure reflects several compounding factors: the scarcity of sealed Japanese first-prints at top PSA grades, the variant-specific documentation on two of the three cartridges, and the cultural weight the Generation 1 titles carry across a now multi-decade collector market. Graded video games as a broader segment have seen sustained institutional attention, and the Dubai Collection's sale will likely serve as a reference point for how the market prices completeness, provenance, and condition in combination.

Read more on Gempire Cards blog.

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