Retired decorator's Pokémon cards sell for £1.56m after 15 years in attic

A retired painter and decorator has become an overnight millionaire after a collection of Pokémon cards gathering dust in his attic sold for an astonishing £1.56million.

The former tradesman, from Woking in Surrey, had kept the cards safely tucked away for 15 years, with absolutely no idea he was sitting on a fortune.

It was only after spotting a newspaper story about a single Pokémon card selling for more than £6,000 that he decided to investigate whether his own childhood-inspired collection might be worth something.

Even the auction experts were stunned by what happened next.

Pokémon collection smashes auction expectations

Specialists at Ewbank's auction house in Guildford initially estimated the collection could fetch as much as £270,000.

But when the cards went under the hammer on Wednesday, October 21, bidders from around the world sent the final total soaring to £1.56million.

YouTubers, serious collectors and investors battled to get their hands on the extraordinary collection, which included some of the rarest Pokémon cards ever produced.

One set alone, featuring the much sought-after Charizard card, fetched £100,000 against an estimate of just £15,000 to £20,000.

Another set, which the retired decorator originally bought for around £300, sold for £75,000.

The sale became the most successful auction in Ewbank's 30-year history.

Why did he buy so many Pokémon cards?

The collector, who has chosen to remain anonymous, explained that his unusual investment began when his young son became obsessed with Pokémon in the late 1990s.

"When my son was young, in the late 1990s, he started getting cards and swapping them at school," he said.

"I thought they looked nice and wondered whether they might be a good investment."

Rather than buying random packs and hoping to find rare cards, he discovered a seller in Malaysia offering complete collections through eBay.

He began purchasing entire sets, carefully preserving them in dedicated Pokémon binders.

And when his son eventually grew out of the craze, the valuable cards were put away in the attic and largely forgotten.

"He had his own cards, but he never got to touch these, I'm glad to say," the collector joked.

"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."

Auction experts couldn't believe what they found

James Spooner, head of trading cards at Ewbank's, said the sheer scale and condition of the collection made it an extraordinary discovery.

"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," he said.

"When we then discovered that he had 42 such sets, our jaws hit the floor. We got to sell 41 of them, and he kept one."

The star attraction was a complete Legendary Collection Master Set, featuring 110 standard cards, 110 special reverse holographic cards and four additional Box Toppers.

Its near-mint Charizard helped push the hammer price to £100,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Ewbank, who personally conducted the sale, was so overwhelmed by the extraordinary bidding that he told the audience he was "going for a lie down".

He later described the atmosphere as incredible, with collectors amazed by the quality and rarity of the cards.

For the retired decorator, what began as a modest hobby inspired by his son's school playground obsession has turned into a seven-figure payday.

And with one complete set still in his possession, he hasn't quite emptied that extraordinary treasure chest in the attic.