How did he become a millionaire overnight? Retired Decorator Makes $2 Million From 15-Year-Old Pokemon Cards

A retired British decorator has made over £1.56 million (around $2 million) by selling a collection of vintage Pokémon cards that had been gathering dust in his attic for 15 years. According to British media reports, it far exceeded the estimated value of £250,000.

Here’s how he turned a forgotten stash into a life-changing fortune overnight

According to a BBC report, the man who became a millionaire just by selling his 15-year-old Pokemon cards is from Woking, UK.

He was quoted as saying he had no idea the cards had any value until he read in his local newspaper that one card fetched more than £6,000 ($8,028).

His collection of Pokemon cards was auctioned at Ewbank’s on Wednesday for £1.56 million (around $2 million), the BBC reported.

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The man reportedly said he bought several complete sets of cards from someone in Malaysia on eBay. He had 42 sets of cards from 1999 to 2009. He sold 41 of them, keeping one for himself.

One set, which cost him £300 at the time, fetched £75,000 at auction on Wednesday.

Pokémon is a Japanese franchise best known for its trading cards, video games, and animated television series.

‘Treasure in the Attic’

Surrey Auction House claimed it was the most valuable trading card auction in the UK. It was even suggested that it could be a European record.

“I know people always talk about finding treasure in the attic, but in my case it’s literally true,” the man, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.

“When my son was little, in the late 1990s, he started getting cards at school and exchanging them. I thought they looked nice and thought it might be a good investment,” he said.

“He had his own cards but he never touched them,” the man added.

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“Jaws hit the floor”

Ewbank’s told the BBC that when the man presented them with his 42 deck of cards, “jaws hit the floor”.

“When we saw what he had – everything in mint condition – we couldn’t believe it,” said James Spooner, head of trading cards at Ewbank.

The auction house added that the sale was their most successful in more than 30 years in business.

The record sum for a Pokémon collection beat the previous high, which was only set on October 9 in London, when a sale at Stanley Gibbons reported a total of £872,000, according to Ewbank’s.

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A rare Charizard card

Its highlight was the Legendary Collection Complete Master Set, including a rare Charizard card in near-mint condition. According to the BBC, it was offered for between £15,000 and £20,000, but £100,000 was in the bags.

Another set, the Skyridge, originally acquired by a collector for around £300, sold for £97,500 including duty.

“We had buyers from all over the world,” Andrew Ewbank, who runs Ewbank’s and managed the sale himself from the stands, told the BBC.

“The buzz was incredible, especially because collectors couldn’t believe how good the collection was – vast, pristine, complete and with almost every rarity you could hope for,” he added.

Nostalgia

Ewbank added that Pokémon are “booming” at the moment. He said people who were young when the franchise first came out were now in their 30s and 40s and had “a bit of disposable income”.

“Nostalgia is a big part of it,” he added. “It’s about bringing back childhood memories,” he said.

Pokemon card set, treasured possession

Pokemon and other card games are attracting strong collectible demand, while sources told CNBC this month that high prices for sports cards are pushing some buyers toward non-sports cards.

Social media influencer and wrestler Logan Paul made history in February 2026 when he auctioned and sold a rare Pokémon card for $16.5 million, a world record for a trading card at auction, CNBC reported. The winner considers it an investment.

According to the report, AJ Scaramucci — the son of investor and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci — won a bidding war for the “Pikachu Illustrator” card, made in 1998 and one of an estimated few dozen in existence.

“I mean, the Picassos are great,” he said in an interview, explaining the importance of the Illustrator tab. “But Pokemon means a lot more to people than just a Picasso painting.

A record $16.5 million sale of Pokémon cards has drawn new attention to the collectibles market, where grading, scarcity and authentication can determine whether a card is worth dollars or hundreds of thousands.

The trading card markets have exploded in recent years. According to data from Card Ladder, an analytics firm that tracks trading card prices and sales, monthly sales volume in secondary trading has nearly doubled over the past two years, CNBC reported last year.