Retired Decorator Discovers £250,000 Pokémon Card Collection in Attic
A hidden trove of rare Pokémon cards, amassed over 15 years, is expected to fetch a quarter of a million pounds at auction.
A retired decorator from Woking, Surrey, is poised to earn £250,000 from a Pokémon card collection he stored in his attic for 15 years. The collector, who has chosen to remain anonymous, was unaware of the potential value until he read a newspaper article about a single Pokémon card selling for over £6,000 at auction.
Upon discovering he possessed similar cards, he brought a sample to Ewbank's Auctioneers in Surrey for appraisal. The collection originated in the late 1990s when the decorator's son began collecting and trading Pokémon cards at school.
“I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment,” the decorator stated. He later sourced complete sets from a seller in Malaysia via eBay. This seller offered him the opportunity to purchase complete master sets, which he found more economical than buying sealed packs in hopes of completing sets.
The first master set, the Sky Ridge Charizard, cost around £300 and is now estimated by Ewbank's to be worth between £20,000 and £40,000. All the cards remained in the father's attic after his son lost interest and are preserved in bespoke binders in mint condition.
Staff at Ewbank's expressed astonishment at the collection's condition and the owner's lack of awareness regarding its value. James Spooner, head of trading cards at Ewbank's, noted the disbelief upon discovering the owner possessed 42 such master sets. The auction house has described it as the most valuable collection they have handled to date, with an estimated total value of £250,000.
The decorator confirmed that his son never handled these particular cards, adding, "I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true."
The collection is scheduled for auction on October 21. This discovery follows a similar find in April of this year, when teacher Andrew Braund sold three rare Pokémon cards from his 20-year-old collection, kept in his parents' attic, for £32,800, using the proceeds to fund his wedding.
Pokémon's popularity has seen a significant surge, with cards initially worth a small sum now commanding high prices. The franchise, originally released as a Game Boy game in Japan in 1996, launched its trading card game later that year. Over 85 million Pokémon cards have been produced to date.