Someone spent $88,000 to own 'Cheetozard,' a viral Cheeto shaped like Charizard from Pokémon

Pokémon fans may recall how coveted those holographic Charizard trading cards were as kids, but apparently, a Charizard Cheeto is more precious.

In late 2024, a 3-inch-long Flamin' Hot Cheeto went viral online for its likeness to the third evolutionary phase of the fire-based starter Pokémon of Gen 1, Charmander. The bite-sized collectible was dubbed "Cheetozard," and Goldin Auctions eventually put it up for sale in a bidding war. Then, in a mind-boggling turn of events, Cheetozard sold for $87,840 on Sunday, March 2, after a total of 60 bids.

Goldin presented Cheetozard as part of the 2025 February Pop Culture Elite Auction with a starting offer of $250. The winning bid was $72,000, but with Goldin’s buyer’s premium, the total cost became nearly $88,000.

According to Goldin's website, the Cheeto was "affixed to a customized Pokémon card and encapsulated in a clear card storage box" for display and preservation purposes. "It was initially discovered and preserved sometime between 2018-2022 by 1st & Goal Collectibles," per the item description. "The Cheeto surged in popularity on social media platforms in late 2024."

Cheetozard was featured in an Instagram post from 1st and Goal Collectibles in Georgia. In a video, which has since amassed more than half a million views, they wrote, "We’ve had the Cheetozard for about 5 years now and we totally forgot we had it until cleaning out the safe!"

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

As kids, some of us hoped someday our Pokémon card collections would be worth a pretty penny years later. It's hard to say if Cheetozard was a good investment. History will confirm one way or the other.

We guess it's not the craziest thing someone somewhere dropped cash money to own. It takes a certain kind of individual with deep pockets to spend $718,750 on the door from Titanic, but at least with that, you don't run the risk of eating it absentmindedly.