A retired decorator from Woking, England, who asked to remain anonymous, became an overnight millionaire when his forgotten Pokémon card collection sold for £1.56 million at auction last Wednesday.
The man, who had spent about 15 years with the cards sitting untouched in his attic, had initially hoped to make just “a few quid” from the sale. He first discovered their potential value after reading an article about a single Pokémon card selling for £6,000, which prompted him to dig out his own stash and take a selection to Ewbank’s Auctioneers for expert appraisal.
James Spooner, Head of Trading Cards at Ewbank’s, recalled his astonishment at the find. “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.”
Spooner continued: “When we then discovered that he had 42 such sets, our jaws hit the floor.”
The auction house initially valued the collection at more than £250,000, with Spooner predicting it could reach as high as £270,000. However, pre-sale bids quickly revealed the true market appetite, far exceeding those estimates.
When the hammer finally fell on October 21, the sale had generated what Andrew Ewbank, who runs the family auction business, confirmed was the biggest total the company had ever taken for a single sale. Individual highlights included a Sky Ridge Charizard set valued around £40,000 and a Legendary Collection Complete Master Set featuring a near-mint Charizard card, which alone commanded £100,000.
The anonymous seller explained that he had begun buying the cards on eBay in the 1990s when his son was at school and trading with friends. “I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment,” he said.
He made sure his son never laid hands on the prized collection. “He had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I’m glad to say.”
Andrew Ewbank described the atmosphere during the sale. “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 noted that Pokémon interest is currently “booming” as the generation who grew up with the Japanese franchise now enters their 30s and 40s with greater disposable income. He encouraged anyone with old collections gathering dust to have them evaluated.
The Woking man’s collection was described by the auctioneers as “easily the most valuable” they had handled to date.