The Charizard-shaped potato chip fetched for 350 times more than the starting bid
After Logan Paul bought a Pokémon card for more than $5 million, we shouldn’t be too surprised that a Cheetos collaboration – if you can call it that – has fetched five figures.
We probably shouldn’t be, but we are. I still don’t quite understand why collectors place such high value on these trading cards, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. My brother and I once filled three entire albums with them.
A few years ago, I set out on a mission to find our old collection, hoping it could make us a decent profit. But, much to my dismay, I realized that my mom had probably sold them for next to nothing at a flea market. While many of us, myself included, might have no such luck, one collector hit the jackpot when he bought a Pokémon-shaped Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Charizard for a staggering price at an auction in New Jersey.
The listing at Goldin Auctions described it as: “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.”
Bidding for the Pokémon-shaped Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Charizard began on February 11 at $250. Initially, progress was slow — it only reached $350 by the following week — but soon, the bids began to surge.
By February 20, the highest bid had climbed to a solid $2,100. Just two days later, it shot up to $4,250, and by the end of the month, a $10,400 bid seemed poised to take home the coveted snack.
However, the real excitement happened in March. On Saturday, March 1, the bid closed at a respectable $13,400, but things truly went wild the following day. Bidders initially raised the price by $1,000 increments, then $2,000, until the value reached $30,000.
The strategy then shifted, with participants raising bids by $3,000 at a time. Still, the stakes only grew higher, culminating in an eye-watering bid of $52,000.
Determined bidders continued to outdo one another, pushing the price up by $5,000 at a time. Ultimately, the final bid hit an astonishing $72,000, and with the buyer’s premium added, the total soared to a jaw-dropping $87,840.
So, who is the lucky recipient of such a hefty fee?
The mystery buyer is an anonymous individual who initially purchased the prize for just $250 from Arena Club, an online marketplace for trading cards. That same item was later resold for an impressive $10,000 by 37-year-old Paul Bartlett.
In an interview with The New York Times, Bartlett explained that he bought the card back in 2019 for only $350 — $150 less than the asking price at the time. Afterward, he placed it in his safe and essentially forgot about it. It wasn’t until last year, when he shared it on Instagram, that the card began gaining attention and eventually went viral.
