Forgotten Pokémon Card Collection Goes for $2 Million

Reminder to check up on your old cards

The Pokémon TCG collector scenehas taken off in recent years, with particularly sought-after cards fetching obscene prices. However, despite its reputation as a niche space for hardcore collectors, the latest winner of the Pokémon sweepstakes doesn’t fit the usual profile. A British retiree just became a millionaire after auctioning off his forgotten Pokémon card collection, which had been gathering dust in his attic.

As reported by the BBC, a former decorator from Woking, England, just sold his Pokémon collection for £1.56m (roughly $2 million). The sale took place at Ewbank’s Auctions, which claimed it was the UK’s most valuable trading card auction ever.

“I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true," the man, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the BBC. “When my son was young, in the late 1990s, he started getting cards and swapping them at school. I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment. He had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I’m glad to say.” The man said he previously bought card sets on eBay, including one he bought for £300. That set went for £75,000 at auction.

The auctioneers at Ewbank’s were stunned when the man first presented his collection. “When we saw what he had – all in mint condition – we couldn’t believe it,” said James Spooner, the auction house’s head of trading cards. The company's owner, Andrew Ewbank, 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.”

The highest-earning sale was the Legendary Collection Complete Master Set, which went for £100,000. For context, the Legendary Collection is an iconic 2002 release that features many of collectors’ most sought-after cards, while a “Master Set” is a general term for a collection that includes every card in a set, including holographic versions and promotional cards.

What other big sales have happened in the Pokémon TCG recently?

Earlier this year, content creator Logan Paul sold a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card for a staggering $16.49 million at auction, the most ever paid for a trading card. As for why it was worth so much, only 39 to 41 copies of the card were ever printed, and Paul’s card was the only one with a perfect PSA 10 grade, meaning it was in the best possible condition. Love it or hate it, the Pokémon card collecting scene seems to keep growing.