There is no shortage of stunning high-end graded Pokémon TCG cards setting records weekly on the secondary market. Sometimes, though, a collection of cards comes along that deserves special plaudits due to historical significance, tremendous scarcity, or sheer aesthetic beauty. The English Southern Islands Promos from 2001 certainly fit that bill.
Southern Islands was an unusual release from the beginning. The collection first appeared in Japan in 1999 alongside the second Pokémon movie, with its 18 cards divided between themed Tropical Island and Rainbow Island portfolios. Smaller three-card sets were also released, each focusing on a particular area of one of the two islands and forming a larger panoramic scene when placed together.
That interconnected artwork is a huge part of Southern Islands’ enduring appeal. Prolific Pokémon TCG illustrator Naoyo Kimura illustrated the Tropical Island scenes, while Keiko Fukuyama handled Rainbow Island, with each individual card essentially serving as one piece of a much larger picture.
When Wizards of the Coast released the collection in English in 2001, all 18 cards were packaged together in a decorated folder alongside postcards and three booster packs, while preserving the original, highly unique island art style that made the Japanese release so distinctive. The holos are also particularly striking, with shimmering swirls and sparkling patterns dotting nearly the entire card rather than remaining confined to the artwork box, giving those already distinctive illustrations even more visual impact.
But what of the recent record sales of some of the cards from the Southern Islands set? Let’s take a look at three graded Southern Islands grails that hit nearly $1.2 million combined at auction recently.
PSA 10 Southern Islands Holo Mew #1 – $840,000
Showcasing its sheer collectability and widespread fan devotion, the Southern Islands Holo Mew’s supremacy as the most valuable card from this set is underscored via its sky-high $840,000 price tag for this PSA 10 slab.
While Naoyo Kimura has the far longer and more prolific PTCG illustrator career, Keiko Fukuyama’s work on the Southern Islands cards is arguably more memorable, as the deeply saturated colors and almost chibi-like art style (just look at Pidgeot’s softened features and dark eyeliner). That style certainly suits this eminently desirable Mew grail, which also features the always-popular Charizard in the bottom-left corner of the card’s art.
With only 20 PSA 10 copies of Southern Islands Holo Mew in existence worldwide, seeing this card hit six digits seems about par for the course – especially in 2026, when everything from vintage grails to the most valuable cards from Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration has attracted serious collector attention.
While a far cry from $840,000, $168,000 for a Holo Togepi is still deeply impressive. It once again features the distinctive artwork of Keiko Fukuyama, who illustrated only 20 cards during her Pokémon TCG career. Rainbow Island accounted for several of them, while Fukuyama also contributed a number of gorgeous e-Reader-era cards from deeply desirable sets like Expedition, Aquapolis, and Skyridge.
Sure, this Togepi slab doesn’t quite reach the heights of the second-most valuable Pokémon card of all time, which sold for $8.4 million recently, but $168k for this sometimes-overlooked Baby Pokémon is still rather impressive.
Before ravenous Poké-fans knew this ‘mon’s name, it was billed unofficially as “Pikablu” due to its apparent resemblance to everyone’s favorite Electric Mouse Pokémon. Of course, the collected “electric rodent” group of ‘mon is now a codified part of the Pokémon franchise, as well as an expected element of any new Pokémon video game.
This staggering PSA 10 Marill slab retains the beautiful “Reverse Cosmos Holo” foiling that typifies the Southern Islands Holos, and this is also the only card in this group that is illustrated by Naoyo Kimura, whose iconic illustration for Aquapolis Lugia helped buoy the card to a record $360,000 result in this same auction.
An Eminently Collectible Island Paradise
Southern Islands has always occupied a particularly unusual corner of the Pokémon TCG. It lacks the booster-pack nostalgia of Base Set or Neo-era expansions, instead building its identity around a tiny, predetermined collection, interconnected artworks, and a presentation unlike virtually anything else Wizards of the Coast released during its time with the game. More than two decades later, those qualities have aged remarkably well.
Mew’s extraordinary $840,000 result will understandably grab most of the attention, but Togepi and Marill fetching $168,000 apiece might say even more about just how desirable Southern Islands has become. When beautiful art, an intriguing backstory, and deep-pocketed collectors combine, that’s how three somewhat obscure 25-year-old Pokémon cards can hit nearly $1.2 million at auction.