A retired decorator hoping to make a few quid selling old Pokémon cards became a millionaire after his collection sold for a staggering seven figures at auction.
The Woking man, who didn’t want to be named, didn’t realise how much the cards could have been worth until he read an article about a single Pokémon card selling for £6,000.
He knew he had similar cards stashed away in his loft, so he decided to dig them out and see what they might be worth.
He took a selection of the cards, which had spent about 15 years in his attic, to Ewbank’s Auctioneers to have them checked out by the experts.
Much to his surprise, he was told the collection was a valuable one and was given a valuation of more than £250,000.
Head of Trading Cards at Ewbank’s, James Spooner said: “When we saw what he had – all in mint condition – we couldn’t believe it, or the fact that he had no idea what they were worth.”
He added: “When we then discovered that he had 42 such sets, our jaws hit the floor.”
The retired decorator had kept the collection in his loft for years (Ewbank’s)
He revealed that he believed the card collection could sell for ‘as high as £270,000’, but then pre-sale bids began to trickle in that revealed they could sell for a much higher price.
When the cards finally went under the hammer on Wednesday (21 October) they caused a frenzy and ended up selling for a whopping £1.56 million.
Amongst the high earners, was one set that included a rare Sky Ridge Charizard, valued at around £40,000, and A Legendary Collection Complete Master Set, with a near-mint Charizard card, which pulled in £100,000.
Speaking to the BBC, the man said he had started buying the cards on eBay in the 1990s when his son was at school and had begun trading Pokémon cards with his pals.
“I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment,” he said.
The incredible collection smashed though its valuation several times over (Ewbank’s)
“He had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I’m glad to say.”
The lot of cards was ‘easily the most valuable’ collection the auctioneers had handled so far.
Andrew Ewbank, who runs the business, said it was the biggest total the company had ever taken for a single sale.
He added: “The buzz was incredible, especially because the collectors could not believe how good this collection was – extensive, untouched, complete, and with just about every rarity you could hope for.”
Ewbank went on to reveal that interest in Pokémon was currently ‘booming’ as those of us who were young when the Japanese franchise first launched were now in their 30s and 40s and have a bit more disposable income to spend on them than they did the first time around.
He urged anyone who might have an old collection hiding away somewhere to get it out and take a look.
And on that note, I’ll be right back, I’m just going to dig out my old Pokémon cards.
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