Retired decorator's Pokémon cards sell for £1.56m at auction

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 22 Oct, 13:32 · Archive

A retired decorator from Woking sold a collection of Pokémon cards for £1.56m, far exceeding the £250,000 estimate.

A retired decorator from Woking has sold a collection of Pokémon cards stored in his attic for 15 years for £1.56m at Ewbank's auction house on Wednesday. The sale far exceeded the £250,000 estimate. The auctioneer said there had been an "incredible" buzz before the sale and claimed it was the UK's most valuable trading cards auction ever, possibly a European record.

The man said he had no idea the cards had any value until he read in his local newspaper about a single card fetching more than £6,000. He bought 42 complete sets of cards from someone in Malaysia on eBay in the late 1990s as a potential investment, after his young son became interested in Pokémon. One set he paid £300 for sold for £75,000 at the auction. All the cards were stored in bespoke Pokémon binders while still sealed.

The man said his son later lost interest in the Japanese gaming and film franchise and never got to touch the cards. "I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true," he said, asking not to be identified. James Spooner, the auction house's head of trading cards, said "jaws hit the floor" when the man presented his collection. "When we saw what he had – all in mint condition – we couldn't believe it," he said.

How it is being reported

• Woking decorator's Pokémon cards sell for £1.56 million after 15 years in attic, smashing £250,000 estimateA retired Surrey decorator who was expecting a £250,000 payday from Pokémon cards stored in his attic for 15 years has seen his collection sell for a staggering £1.56 million.Farnham Herald · 22 Oct, 13:07
• Woking decorator's Pokémon cards sell for £1.56 million after 15 years in attic, smashing £250,000 estimateA retired Surrey decorator who was expecting a £250,000 payday from Pokémon cards stored in his attic for 15 years has seen his collection sell for a staggering £1.56 million.Farnham Herald · 22 Oct, 13:07
• Retired decorator's Pokémon cards sell for £1.5mHe says he found treasure in his attic where the collection had been stored for 15 years.BBC Surrey · 22 Oct, 11:13

In this story: Woking · Ewbank's · Surrey · Malaysia · Pokémon · James Spooner

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