Why This Cheeto Shaped Like Charizard Sold for $90,000 Will Shock You!

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This Cheeto is worth a whole lot of cheddar.

Back in March, I was absolutely thrilled when a mind-blowing, one-of-a-kind Flamin’ Hot Cheeto, sculpted to resemble the iconic Pokémon character Charizard, went under the hammer! Believe it or not, this fiery snack fetched an astounding $87,840 after a whopping 60 bids! I can hardly contain my excitement thinking about who ended up winning this unique culinary collectible.

The highly sought-after trinket known as “Cheetozard” was auctioned off via Goldin, a platform for collectibles. It came in a box shaped like a Pokémon card, bearing its clever moniker. This 3-inch spicy snack resembles the fire-breathing dragon from the well-loved Japanese series. The bidding started at $250 on February 10 and eventually reached a high bid of $72,000.

Nevertheless, the lucky purchaser ended up paying an additional $15,840 because of the auction house’s 22% “buyer’s fee”. Although Goldin did not identify who won the quirky art piece, their website did mention that it was found and saved between 2018-2022 by 1st & Goal Collectibles.

Indeed, the collectors based in Georgia posted a video of the Cheeto on Instagram back in April 2024. They wrote, “We’ve owned this Cheetozard for around five years and forgot about it during our cleaning spree. Now that we found it hidden away in our safe, numerous offers have poured in.

Even though the Cheetozard’s high price tag raised some questions, it’s not unique in this regard. For instance, Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork titled “Comedian,” which consists of a banana attached to a wall with duct tape, sold for an impressive $6.24 million in November.

For the first time, this banana art piece made its appearance at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019. It attracted huge numbers of people, with Sotheby’s auction house estimating its worth to be approximately $1.5 million, after it was sold there.

In the video for the auction at Sotheby’s, art critic Nancy Durrant explained that they ultimately had to remove the piece from the wall due to the immense buzz it generated. The crowd became so large that everyone was concerned about the safety of the other artworks.

During the exhibition, a man decided to eat a banana that was displayed on the wall. Given this incident, it wasn’t shocking when the artwork was removed due to safety concerns, as explained by Lucius Elliott, Head of Contemporary Marquee Sales at Sotheby’s.

As for what Cattelan thought about the speculations around his piece?

He shared with The New York Times in April that it’s not advisable to inquire about an artist’s work, as the most impactful art often stimulates numerous queries.

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2025-03-06 17:47