Surrey Decorator to Earn Quarter‑Million After 15‑Year Pokémon Card Hunt A retired decorator from Surrey has discovered that his attic full of Pokémon card sets now holds a quarter‑million pound value, after the auction house Eybank's pronounced its rarity and pristine condition. The set, 42 master collections in mint condition, is slated to go under the hammer on October 21, with an estimated sale price around £250,000. A retired interior decorator from Woking, Surrey, is poised to receive a little more than one-quarter‑million pounds when his long‑hidden Pokémon card trove goes to auction later this month. The man, who has requested anonymity, kept his collection in the attic of his home for fifteen years, believing the cards were merely a nostalgic curiosity until a local newspaper story about a £6,000 winning bid for a single Pokémon card caught his eye. Curiosity turned into intrigue when he discovered he possessed several of the same variety that had fetched that sum. He authoritatively sent a sample of his cards to Ewbank's Auctioneers in Surrey for appraisal.The retired decorator recalled that his son had begun collecting Pokémon cards in the late 1990s and would trade them at school. The collector mused that he must have thought the cards were simply cute. He said he had bought a handful of sets from a Malaysian dealer on eBay, hoping to complete the master series.When the dealer proposed a full master set of Pokémon cards, the decorator, who had always seen playing cards as a pastime rather than an investment, found the offer surprisingly reasonable. He purchased his first complete set, the Sky Ridge Charizard edition, for approximately £300. Thereafter, Ewbank's valued the set between £20,000 and £40,000. All the cards in the attic were stored in custom binders, sealed, and maintained in mint condition.The staff at Ewbank's were astonished when the original reserve was revealed. James Spooner, head of trading cards at the auction house, described the experience as shocking. He noted the collection comprised 42 complete sets, an amount that "hit the floor" for their expectations. The auction house has termed the prospering trove the most valuable collection they have handled to date, and estimated the final sale at a six‑figure figure close to £250,000.The auction is scheduled for the 21st of October. In a similar vein, the auction house previously handled a 20‑year‑old collection belonging to a teacher in April, which fetched £32,800 for the three rarest cards. The event comes just months after Pokémon celebrated its 30th anniversary and a new range was released, stirring the market.By 2026 the game's resonance has expanded beyond its original 1996 Nintendo Gameboy launch, with the trading card franchise now producing over 85 million cards in total. The collector reflected that his son never touched the cards and that people often talk about hidden treasures in attics. He emphasized how the auction house's insights helped him understand the true value of what he once thought only a collectible.The story illustrates how seemingly innocuous items can ascend to high‑value assets when market interest peaks, reminding collectors that one should always inquire about possible worth before disregarding a pile of old memorabilia. The release of this news follows a broader coverage by a finance publication offering guidance on how to leverage trading card collections.The event serves as a reminder of the swift escalation of Pokémon card values over the past decades, with earlier editions that once fetched a few pounds now demanding extravagant offers.