Pokémon, gotta catch ’em all — especially the ones you can eat!
A Flamin’ Hot Cheeto shaped like beloved Pokémon Charizard, affectionately referred to as “Cheetozard,” has sold at auction after nearly a month for nearly $88,000, according to Goldin, the online marketplace that auctioned it off.
The New Jersey-based marketplace put the unique collectible — which measures at 3 inches in length and comes with its own custom Pokémon card — up for auction in its 2025 February Pop Culture Elite Auction, where it earned an initial bid of $250 on Feb. 10.
Warner Bros. Pictures via Getty
Charizard the Pokemon
Exactly 60 bids later, the spicy, critter-shaped snack earned a winning bid of $72,000 on Sunday, March 2. And, with Goldin’s buyer’s premium, the total cost of the Pokémon-shaped Cheeto came to a whopping $87,840.
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The company announced the sale on social media later the same day, and the reaction to the snack — and its selling point — were mixed.
In the comments of Goldin’s announcement, a joint Instagram post with eBay, people questioned who would spend such a high sum on the Cheeto, while others expressed their fondness for it.
“If I was on death row. I’d want this to be my final meal,” one person wrote. “What is wrong with people 😂😂,” a different user questioned.
Goldin Auctions
Cheetozard
Another, meanwhile, joked that the person who bought Cheetozard must be the “same guy who bought the banana with tape,” referring to the viral artwork of a yellow banana duct-taped to a wall that sold for $6.24 million last year.
The official Cheetos account also acknowledged the sale, commenting just one emoji: “👀.”
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Cheetozard was initially discovered and preserved sometime between 2018 and 2022 by 1st & Goal Collectibles — a collectibles store in Holly Springs, Ga. — and “surged in popularity” online last year, Goldin said.
The collectible’s viral moment is evidenced by an April 2024 Instagram post 1st & Goal Collectibles shared, which garnered over half a million likes.
“Cheetozard continues!” the store wrote alongside a video of the snack.
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“We’ve had the Cheetozard for about 5 years now,” the store continued in part, “and we totally forgot we had it until cleaning out the safe!”
For anyone disappointed that the Pokémon-shaped snack is now off the market, do not despair — Cheetozard was not alone. From Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Loch Ness Monster, eBay is absolutely brimming with cheesy snacks shaped like all sorts of characters.
Read the original article on People
