A 23-year-old, unopened box of Pokémon cards has been snapped up by a collector at auction for a whopping £19,500.
The incredible sale was the most expensive lot in the Ewbank’s Pokémon themed auction in Surrey.
The rare find contains 36 packs of cards, which would have sold for £2.50 each to youngsters in the early 2000s. With 396 cards in the box, each card is now worth an eye-watering £49.24 each.
Ewbank’s Auctions listed the 1st Edition Neo Genesis Booster Box as in fantastic condition, with just a small split in the seal.
This particular set of English cards was released on December 16, 2000 and was the Generation II Pokémon, including Lugia and Typhlosion.
Ewbank’s revealed that the box is from the collection of Stephen Wilks, the former Managing Director of Wizards of the Coast, who distributed the English Pokémon cards.
An image of his previous business card and a Wizards of the Coast brochure was shown to collectors for provenance, but only the brochure was included in the sale.
Auction house senior partner Andrew Ewbank said: “This has been another hit sale with collectors. With sale after sale hitting the heights, since we led the way in the UK in setting up a dedicated Trading Cards department, it has been noticeable that other auction houses have started to follow suit.”
Mr Ewbank said he was proud to have taken trading cards to the mainstream art market in the UK and hinted at having on some more landmark collections in the pipeline.
