Viral ‘Cheetozard’: Pokemon-shaped cheeto sells for nearly $88K at auction

A Flamin’ Hot Cheeto just became the hottest ticket to going viral on the internet. A single piece of the spicy, crispy snack shaped like the beloved Pokemon Charizard, now fondly dubbed the “Cheetozard,” was reportedly sold for nearly $88,000 at auction, according to the online marketplace Goldin.

As per the website’s bid history, the Pokemon Charizard Cheeto amassed 60 bids beginning at $250 in February. The New York-based marketplace’s official description for the 3-inch-long collectible is “affixed to a customised Pokemon card and encapsulated in a clear card storage box.”

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According to PEOPLE, the unusually epic “Cheetozard” went up for auction in Goldin’s 2025 February Pop Culture Elite Auction. On March 2, a winning bid of $72,000 hit the viral Pokemon collectible, bringing the final price of the Cheeto to a staggering $87,840.

Viral Charizard Cheeto was discovered years ago

Despite the Pokemon-shaped snack’s virality skyrocketing this month, it was initially discovered and preserved sometime between 2018-2022 by 1st & Goal Collectibles. It eventually witnessed a surge in popularity on social media in late 2024.

Documenting that the Cheetozard was “well and alive,” 1st & Goal Collectibles, a collectibles store in Holly Springs, Georgia, shared on Instagram in April 2024: “Cheetozard continues! We’ve had the Cheetozard for about 5 years now and we totally forgot we had it until cleaning out the safe! Loads of offers have come in.”

Goldin, the “Global destination for high-end collectibles,” consequently released ‘The Cheetozard final sale’ announcement via Instagram. The original social media post and the viral news’ wide circulation on X/Twitter ended up fuelling divisive reactions.

Unexpected Pokemon collectible sale catches the internet off guard

The outlandish sale even caught the official Cheetos account’s eye on IG. While some netizens played along and had fun with comments like “If I was on death row. I’d want this to be my final meal,” others couldn’t bring themselves to support spending money on “just about anything” while “kids are starving” across the world.

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“I’m just disappointed in the world right now 😢,” someone wrote in the comments section of the IG post. Someone else disregarded it as “the more stupid Buy in the Pokemon Collector items.”

A different user even joked that the person who finally won the Cheetozard at this hefty price must be the “same guy who bought the banana with tape.” They were referring to the unforgettably bizarre ‘artwork’ of a banana duct-taped to a wall (named ‘Comedian’) that was ultimately sold for $6.24 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City on November 20, 2024.