A COLLECTION of rare Pokemon cards a dad built up over 16 years has sold for almost £200,000.
Gordon White, 58, managed to save thousands of the trading cards, including rare examples and more than 100 complete sets, before cashing in.
The collection included sealed booster boxes, first edition cards and some which showed rare errors in the illustrations or captions.
The 137 lot set was expected to be worth around £75,000, but went under the hammer last week for almost double that price.
Gordon, a delivery driver from Livingston, Scotland, was left stunned when his hoard was sold on a bid of £194,990 at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
His interest in the cards began when his two kids joined a Pokemon trading card league in the 90s.
He collected them from 1998 and stopped in 2014.
During that period, he also ran his own league and acted as a judge at UK events, where he was given some of his rare cards.
Before the sale, Gordon said: “It all started as my children wanted to get involved in the Pokémon league and we decided on the one at Megazone in Falkirk.
“My kids got really good at the game and, as I was the only parent turning up there all the time and I’d started playing the card game too, I was delegated.
“So I ended up running that league for 16 years and every time a new set came out it cost me in the region of £1,000.
“Some of the cards were then passed back to the kids for various events and tournaments others ended up in my collection. It just went up and up and up.”
Some of his rarer cards included the Legendary Collection Reverse Holo set including Charizard 3/111 and the Sykridge Reverse Holo set.
Other examples included the complete Pokémon Nintendo Black Star promo collection of 40 and the complete Pop Series 5 with all 17 cards.
Rare Pokemon cards can be worth millions as they have now become collectible items.
Indeed, YouTube star Logan Paul gained a world record when he wore a card worth £3.8million during his critically acclaimed pro wrestling debut at Wrestlemania 38 in April.
Back in the day a set of cards would set you back around £4. So if you have old ones lurking around you could find they are now worth a small fortune – if it’s the right one.
Lockdowns even saw a surge in interest in the retro hobby as people had more time on their hands.
Enthusiasts can send their cards to be graded, valued and sealed by an organisation in America called The Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).
It will give cards a rating out of 10, with the highest being the most valuable.
Explaining his decision to part with the collection, Gordon said: “I was very well known in the Pokémon TCG community and I’ve had a lot of enjoyment out of the game.
“But I don’t play the trading card game at all anymore – I do still play the video game but I’d like the cards to go to a good home.
“My grandchildren love Pokémon, play the video games and watch the cartoons but they don’t play the cards.”
