Retired decorator sells attic Pokémon cards for £1.56m

A retired decorator from Woking has become a millionaire after selling a collection of Pokémon cards stored in his attic for £1.56m at Ewbank's auction house ^[1]. The man, who asked not to be named, had no idea of the cards’ value until he read about a single card selling for over £6,000 in his local paper ^[2].

The collection, consisting of 42 complete sets from 1999 to 2009, was sealed and stored in bespoke binders after his son lost interest in the franchise ^[1]. He had bought several sets from a seller in Malaysia via eBay, including one for £300 that later sold for £75,000 ^[2].

Ewbank's said the discovery stunned them—'jaws hit the floor'—when they saw the untouched, mint-condition cards ^[2]. The auction house initially estimated the collection could reach £270,000, but global bidding pushed it far beyond.

The top lot, the Legendary Collection Complete Master Set featuring a near-mint Charizard, was expected to fetch £15,000–£20,000 but sold for £100,000 ^[1]. Andrew Ewbank, who conducted the sale, said he was 'going for a lie down' after the event ^[2].

The sale set a UK record for trading cards and may be a European record, according to ^[1]. It surpassed the previous UK high of £872,000 set just days earlier. The surge in value is linked to Pokémon’s 30th anniversary and rising demand, with rare cards now attracting collectors, investors, and even celebrities like Logan Paul, who sold a Pikachu Illustrator card for £12.3m ^[2].

The popularity has also led to a spike in thefts targeting high-value card shops ^[2].

The man said he bought the cards as an investment, unaware of their future worth—'people often talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in this case that is literally true' ^[2]. The story was first reported by BBC News and Daily Mail.