A Retired Decorator Kept His Old Pokemon Cards in the Attic for 15 Years. They Just Sold for Over $2 Million

A retired decorator in Woking, Surrey, spent the late 1990s buying Pokémon cards for his son, then left 42 complete sets untouched in bespoke binders in the attic for 15 years after the hobby fizzled. What finally got him to look again was a local newspaper story about another Ewbank’s sale, where a single card cleared more than £6,000 and teacher Andrew Braund turned three rare cards into £32,800 to help pay for his August wedding to Rachel Moseley. Last Wednesday, 10/21/2026, the anonymous seller walked into Ewbank’s and watched that long-forgotten stash smash expectations, selling for £1.56 million, roughly $2.1 million. “I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true,” he said.

A forgotten attic stash, priced like a startup exit

If you spend your days watching valuations swing in public markets, it is still jarring to see a household hobby clear a venture-sized number. A retired decorator from Woking, Surrey sold a Pokémon trading card collection at Ewbank’s auction house on October 21, 2026, for £1.56 million, roughly $2.1 million, per a October 21, 2026 sale.

The collection was unusually complete: 42 full sets kept in bespoke binders. It had sat untouched in his attic for 15 years after his son moved on from the hobby, turning what started as late-1990s schoolyard trading into a high-stakes auction story.

The nudge came from an old-school growth channel: a newspaper

The seller, who stayed anonymous, said he did not realize the cards had meaningful value until a local newspaper item caught his eye. The trigger was another Ewbank’s result, where a single Pokémon card had sold for over £6,000, enough to make him call the auction house.

That earlier headline centered on teacher Andrew Braund, who sold 3 rare Pokémon cards at Ewbank’s on April 16, 2026 for £32,800. Braund put the proceeds toward his August wedding to Rachel Moseley, according to the April 16, 2026 sale.

When estimates meet demand, bids behave like a frenzy

Ewbank’s initially pegged the full collection at £250,000 to £270,000. Yet by the day before the auction, commission bids had already reached £825,000, a sign that remote bidders had done their homework before anyone walked into the room.

The star lot was the Legendary Collection Complete Master Set featuring a near-mint Charizard. It carried a £15,000 to £20,000 estimate but sold for £100,000. James Spooner, Ewbank’s head of trading cards, said, “When we saw what he had, all in mint condition, we couldn’t believe it.”

A global marketplace story, filtered through one intense day

Another standout was a Skyridge Charizard set the man had originally bought for £300 on eBay, which sold for £75,000 at the hammer (about £97,500 including buyer’s premium). He had built the collection by buying complete sealed sets online, including from a seller in Malaysia, before sealing it away for years.

Ewbank’s called it its most successful auction in over 30 years and said it was the UK’s most valuable trading-card auction ever, possibly a European record. Afterward, auctioneer Andrew Ewbank said he was “going for a lie down.” The seller kept 1 complete set and consigned 41, adding, “I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case that is literally true,” per 15 years in the attic.