"Treasures Found in the Attic." Retired Painter's Pokemon Card Collection Sells for Two Million Dollars

He said he had no idea of its value until he read in a local newspaper that one such card had sold for over £6,000 ($8,000), writes the BBC.

His collection of Pokemon, which had been lying in the attic for 15 years, was sold on Wednesday at Ewbank's auction for £1.56 million (two million dollars).

The auction house from Surrey stated that this was the largest sale of collectible cards by value at auction in UK history, and suggested that the transaction amount could also be a record for all of Europe.

“I know people often talk about treasures found in the attic, but in my case, it turned out to be absolutely true,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.

“When my son was little, in the late 1990s, he started collecting cards and exchanging them with classmates. I thought they looked nice, and I wondered if they would be a good investment. My son had his own cards, and he never touched these, which I must say, I’m glad about,” he recalls.

Pokemon is a Japanese franchise, best known for its collectible cards, video games, and animated series.

The man said he bought several complete sets of cards from a seller in Malaysia via eBay.

One of the sets, for which he had once paid £300, was sold at Wednesday's auction for £75,000 ($100,000).

All cards were stored in special Pokemon binders, with each remaining in its original sealed packaging. After the man's son lost interest in Pokemon, the collection was put away in the attic.

Bidders from Around the World

Ewbank's auction house reported that staff were literally speechless when the man brought them his 42 sets of cards.

“When we saw what he had, and all the cards were in perfect condition, we simply couldn't believe our eyes,” said James Spooner, Head of Collectible Cards at the auction house.

Ewbank's added that these sales were the most successful in the auction house's more than 30-year history.

The most expensive lot was a complete Legendary Collection Complete Master Set, which included a Charizard card in near-perfect condition. Its initial value was estimated at £15,000-£20,000, but the set eventually sold for £100,000 ($135,000).

Andrew Ewbank, head of Ewbank's auction house, who personally conducted the auction, told participants that after the auction concluded, he would "have to lie down and rest a bit."

“Interest in these sales leading up to the auction was phenomenal, and on the day of the sale, they lived up to all expectations,” he added later. “Buyers from all over the world participated in the bidding.”

“The excitement was incredible, especially because collectors couldn't believe how good this collection was: extensive, untouched, with complete sets and virtually all the rare cards one could ever dream of,” he told the BBC.

Ewbank added that Pokemon is currently experiencing a real boom.

According to him, people who were children when this franchise first appeared are now 30-40 years old, and they have disposable income to spend on their hobbies.

“Nostalgia plays a huge role here,” he added. “People want to relive their childhood memories.”

Ewbank advised everyone who suspects they might have valuable items stored in their attic to "get them out and show them to specialists."

“If you buy something for your son, as happened in this case, and he doesn't need it, it might be worth simply putting the purchase away for safekeeping. Because you never know what value it might represent in the future,” he said.

According to Ewbank's auction house, the record sum raised for the Pokemon collection surpassed the previous record, set very recently – on October 9 in London, when sales at Stanley Gibbons auction house totaled £872,000 ($1.1 million).

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