"After My Son Lost Interest, I Put Them in the Attic"... 15 Years Later, They Fetch £1.56 Million

42 Sets of Cards Kept in an Attic for 15 Years
Set Bought for 530,000 Won Sells for 133 Million Won

A collection of Pokemon cards that a man in the UK had kept in his attic for 15 years sold at auction for 1.56 million pounds (about 2.76 billion won). He had bought the cards after his son started collecting them, but reportedly did not realize their true value until recently. The sale set a record for a trading card auction in the UK.

A Pokemon card collection sold at auction for 1.56 million pounds (about 2.76 billion won). Ewbank's

BBC recently reported that a retired interior contractor living in Woking, Surrey, England, sold 42 sets of Pokemon cards through auction house Ewbank's on October 21 (local time). His collection sold for 1.56 million pounds (about 2.76 billion won).

"I learned the cards' value from a news story"

The man said he only learned the value of his cards after reading a local newspaper story about a Pokemon card selling for more than 6,000 pounds (about 10.61 million won). "In the late 1990s, my son started collecting and trading Pokemon cards at school," he said. "They looked great, and I thought they might be worth investing in."

"My son had his own cards, and I wouldn't let him touch the ones I collected. Looking back, that was a good thing," he added.

At the time, the man bought several Pokemon card sets from a seller in Malaysia through the online auction site eBay. One set he bought for 300 pounds (about 530,000 won) sold at this auction for 75,000 pounds (about 133 million won), 250 times its purchase price.

The man kept the cards organized in dedicated binders without opening them. Later, when his son lost interest in Pokemon, he put the cards away in the attic.

Bidders from around the world... UK trading card auction record

The auction house said its staff were surprised to find that most of the cards the man brought in had been preserved in near-mint condition.

The lot that fetched the highest price was the "Legendary Collection Complete Master Set," which includes a Charizard card, featuring the popular character. It had been expected to sell for 15,000 to 20,000 pounds, but ultimately sold for 100,000 pounds (about 177 million won).

Andrew Ewbank, who conducted the auction, said, "Bidders participated from around the world," adding, "Even collectors were amazed by the cards' exceptional condition and rarity."

He cited nostalgia as a reason for the recent boom in the market for Pokemon collectibles. The generation who were children when Pokemon first appeared are now in their 30s and 40s and have the financial means to spend on collectibles, he explained.

Ewbank's said the sale was the most successful auction in its more than 30-year history and set a record for a trading card auction in the UK. It surpassed the 872,000 pounds record set on October 9 by London auction house Stanley Gibbons, and the company added that it may also have broken the European record.

Pokemon has steadily gained popularity around the world, expanding into various fields, including games, animation, character merchandise and cards. Interest in collecting Pokemon cards has grown in South Korea and abroad, and some rare cards have sold for hundreds of billions of won. The Pikachu Illustrator Pikachu Illustrator card sold for 16.492 million dollars (about 21.8 billion won) in February this year. A card's value varies depending on its rarity, condition and the popularity of its character.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.