Champions Festival (SM78)

Worlds, events and city launch · No. 100 of 195 by PSA 10 value

Champions Festival is card SM78, from the SM series of Japanese promo cards, released on November 18, 2016. It sits at No. 100 of the 195 celebration, collaboration and event cards in our index, and is catalogued as an event, championship or city release. The card face credits Naoki Saito as the illustrator.

Card facts

What the market says

PSA 10 copies are valued at $1,777. An ungraded copy sits at $275, so the top grade carries a 6.5× premium. A PSA 9 is at $500, so the PSA 10 is 3.6× the PSA 9. 90 individual sales are on record for this card, from $51.00 to $1,808, with a median of $252.

Over the 61 months of monthly market values we hold, the PSA 10 figure has moved from $1,557 (September 2021) to $1,777 — +14.1%, including +26.2% over the last twelve months and +55.7% over the last twenty-four.

What each grade is worth

Recent recorded sales

The eight most recent sales of any grade in our record. 90 sales in total.

How many are graded

No PSA or CGC population count is published for this card. The recorded values and sales below still stand; we leave the population out rather than estimate it.

About the artist

Graduated from Tama Art University and worked at Konami before turning to illustration. His cards — vivid, high-contrast and slightly surreal — have been a fixture of the TCG since the HeartGold & SoulSilver era.

In our illustrator index: Naoki Saito — every credited Simplified Chinese card we hold for this artist, in price order.

Other cards by Naoki Saito in this index

• Pikachu 20th Anniversary Festa · 279/XY-P$22,983
• Champion’s Festival · XY-P$5,102
• Pikachu · XY-P$4,800
• Pikachu · 61/SM-P$3,887

Showing the four highest-value of the 27 cards by this illustrator in our 195-card index; the rest are on the card index.

Across those 27 cards PSA has graded 10,107 copies, of which 6,073 are PSA 10.

Artist credit as printed on the card face (Illus.). The official Pokémon card database lists no entry for this card, so the card face itself is the source for the credit.

Where this card came from

Champions Festival was released on November 18, 2016, as part of World Championship promo. It carries the card number SM78, from the SM-series Japanese promo line.

Promo cards are not sold in booster boxes. They reach collectors through a specific campaign — a store, a museum, a film, an anniversary or a championship — which is why the printed number is the only reliable identifier: the same Pokémon can appear on dozens of promo cards across the same era, and the number is what separates them.

That is also why this card appears in our celebration, collaboration and event index rather than in a set list: nothing here came out of a booster box.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Champions Festival worth?

PSA 10 copies are valued at $1,777, against $275 for an ungraded copy and $500 for a PSA 9. That is our most recent recorded market value, not an asking price.

Who illustrated Champions Festival?

The card face credits Naoki Saito. We hold 26 other cards by this illustrator in the same index. Every illustrator we can verify is listed on our illustrator page, card by card.

When was Champions Festival released?

Champions Festival was released on November 18, 2016. It carries the card number SM78, from the SM-series Japanese promo line.

Has Champions Festival gone up in value?

Over the last twelve months the recorded PSA 10 value moved +26.2%, from $1,408 to $1,777. Over twenty-four months it moved +55.7%.

How often does Champions Festival come up for sale?

90 individual sales are on record for this card, from $51.00 to $1,808, with a median of $252. Thinly traded cards can go a long time between sales.

How much does the grade change the price of Champions Festival?

An ungraded copy is at $275, a PSA 9 at $500 and a PSA 10 at $1,777. The PSA 10 figure is 6.5 times the ungraded figure.

Illustrated by Naoki Saito — every card credited to them, by language and by era.

Sources

Sources and further reading

1. Pokémon Card Game official card database — card name, printed card number, series and illustrator credit for SM78. This is the source for every identity detail above.
2. CardSpicy — every illustrator, card by card, for the artist entry and the count of cards we hold for that illustrator.
3. Recorded secondary-market sales for SM78 — the value, grade ladder and sale list on this page. Figures are documented results at the dates shown, updated as new sales are recorded.
4. CardSpicy — card grading: how it works, for the grade scale used in the table above.

Related reading

• Celebration, collaboration and event cards — the full ranked index
• Every illustrator behind the cards we track, card by card
• Card grading: how to read a PSA, BGS or CGC label
• Why we only sell PSA 10
• The most expensive Pokémon cards, with sale dates and venues
• Pokémon set codes, decoded

Shop cards and protection

• All PSA 10 graded cards
• PSA 10 — Simplified Chinese exclusive — our highest-premium line
• Penny sleeves, 35 PT to 360 PT — 100 per pack, acid-free and PVC-free
• Toploader 3" x 4" rigid card holder
• All card protectors

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