A retired decorator checked his attic and found a stash he’d long stored away. It turned into an over-$2 million payday

A retired decorator living in Woking, England, pulled a long-stored Pokémon card collection out of his attic and sent it to auction. The sale brought in more than $2 million, or about £1.56 million. He said the idea to check the cards’ value came after he read about a couple who covered their full wedding costs by auctioning off only three rare Pokémon cards.

The man, who has asked to stay anonymous, began buying the cards in 1999 when they first reached England, according to PEOPLE. His son was a child at the time and had started collecting cards and trading them with other kids at school. The father later recalled, “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 located a seller in Malaysia who offered complete sets on eBay. After a few purchases, the seller asked whether he wanted full master sets, explaining that two or three of each issue were available. The first set he purchased was the Sky Ridge Charizard set, which he bought for roughly $400. That same set later sold for about $100,400, or £75,000, at the auction.

The attic storage preserved the full sets in original condition

The decorator kept 42 complete sets in Pokémon binders and left them untouched in the attic for roughly 15 years. He said his son had his own separate cards and never handled these. “[My son] had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I’m glad to say,” he stated.

The sealed storage helped the cards stay in mint condition over the years. Untouched finds like this turn up in other collecting worlds too, such as a rare Honda found in perfect condition. 

Ewbank’s Auctions examined the material. James Spooner, head of trading cards at the firm, said, “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 added, “When we then discovered that he had 42 [complete] sets, our jaws hit the floor. We got to sell 41 of them, and he kept one.”

The collection carried the title Pokémon: A Decade of Masters (1999-2009). Among the items was the Legendary Collection Complete Master Set, which held all 110 cards, the 110 Reverse Holo Firework cards, and four Box Toppers. Auction partner Andrew Ewbank said, “Collectors could not believe how good this collection was, extensive, untouched, complete, and with just about every rarity you could hope for.”

Buyers included collectors, YouTubers, and other interested parties. The 41 sets sold for a combined total above $2 million. Looking back, the decorator said, “I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true. I had no idea what I had until the team at Ewbank’s explained it to me.” 

He described buying the cards mainly so he could share in his son’s hobby. The sets covered releases from the late 1990s through the following decade. Because they stayed sealed inside binders and out of use, they reached the auction in the same condition they had when first purchased.