An ultra-rare Pokémon card that cost $2 in 1999 just sold for a whopping $40,000 at auction.
The 1st edition Shadowless Base Set Charizard card is known as the “holy grail” to collectors and enthusiasts, according to Hansons Auctioneers.
The “mint condition” card went under the hammer as part of the UK’s largest ever sale of Pokemon cards, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Japanese multi-media franchise that captured the imagination of children and adults around the world.
Back in 1999, you could buy a pack of 11 Pokémon cards at any Woolworths for between $1.50 and $2.
“A Charizard was the rarest holographic in Base Set, so pulling one from a pack was like winning a mini lottery,” said Hansons’ Pokemon specialist David Wilson-Turner, who said 30 years on, Pokémon is undergoing a huge resurgence.
“Only 4,000 to 10,000 cards were produced, most of which were played with and are now dogeared – so to find one in mint condition like this one, which has a grading of 9 (out of 10), makes it all the rarer.”
Prices of rare and sealed products continue to skyrocket, with some cards and booster sets being resold at huge premiums.
“Pokémon is a market that has grown rapidly in recent years,” said auctioneer Charles Hanson, star of TV’s Bargain Hunt.
“It is the strongest it has ever been right now and will only continue to grow.
“Wealthy young people in their 20s and 30s who got into Pokémon when they were children are buying rare cards and prices began to spike a few years ago.”
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So, everyone should dig out their toy boxes and attic collections. Y might be surprised—and thousands of dollars richer.
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