Nigel Brookes, 34, was given a set of Pokemon cards for his 13th birthday back in 1999. Little did he know that 20-years later, the set would be worth upwards of $40,000! Now that’s a birthday gift!
Nigel was gifted the complete set after he defended his seven-year-old brother Jeremy from children who were trying to con him out of his best cards. A guess a good deed doesn’t go unnoticed.
His mother bought Mr Brookes the collector’s edition pack to reward him – even though the teenager wasn’t a fan of Pokemon at the time.
At the time, the set of cards cost quite a bit. So the 13-year-old just put them aside and didn’t touch them – for many, many years – in hopes that they would be worth something later. In fact, Nigel thought it was a ‘waste of a present’ at the time. Probably not so much now.
He was shocked when the 103-card collection was estimated to be worth $40,000 by an auctioneer who described the lot as a ‘Holy Grail for serious Pokemon collectors’.
The ‘pristine’ cards, which have been in the family for more than 20-years, will now be sold to a collector ‘who will take care of them,’ Mr Brookes said.
‘The 102-card shadowless set has actually 103 cards as there are two different versions of the iconic Pikachu, numbered 58a for “Red Cheek Pikachu” and 58b for “Yellow Cheek Pikachu”‘.
Richard Winterton Auctioneers will be selling the set live from The Lichfield Auction Centre as Lot 1600 at 4pm on July 27.