Box of Pokémon cards sells for £39k at auction

A sealed box of Pokémon cards has sold for £39,000 at an auction in Surrey.

The Base Set Booster Box went for almost 25% more than estimated at the trading cards auction at Ewbank's in Woking on Tuesday.

The cards have the copyright years 1999-2000, unlike the unlimited version, which only have the year 1999, and the box had a smaller print run.

The box contains 396 cards made up of 36 booster packs, each with 11 cards.

A complete first edition set of the Pokémon Fossil cards, released in October 1999 and featuring cards focused on prehistoric and fossil Pokémon, also sold for £5,200.

A first edition mint Blue Eyes White Dragon card, sold for £1,235 at the same auction.

The cards, related to the hugely popular Japanese animation franchise, have soared in value over recent years - with some being sold for thousands of pounds.

Auctioneer Andrew Ewbank said: "Ewbank's have been holding dedicated trading cards auctions for around five years now and have seen some extraordinary prices, especially for Pokémon cards and sets.

"This is no niche collecting field – it is a multi-billion-pound market especially attracting adults in their late 30s and early 40s who grew up playing and trading.

"The £39,000 price for our top lot here is no mere accident."

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