A 34-year-old father from England, who does not nor has ever liked Pokémon, still managed to get his hands on a complete set of original cards when he was a kid, and so is now selling them to someone who can maybe appreciate them a little more.
Nigel Brookes was given the set as a gift from his mother, as appreciation for some very good work he did looking after his little brother, who did like Pokémon and had gotten swindled out of some of his best cards by some shady local kids
“I found the kids and got my brothers card back, so as a present, my mum brought me this rare collection direct from the Pokémon creators in the US for about £300″, Brookes told the Mirror.
“I wasn’t actually that interested in Pokémon. I was disappointed at the time because the collection was one of my birthday presents so to me it was waste of a present.”
Recognising they might be worth something someday, though, Brookes hung onto them, but it was only recently—after his daughter offered to buy them off him for £6 (USD$7.60)—that he decided to go and get them officially valued.
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And whaddya know, the complete 103-card 1st-gen set—which his mother paid £300 (USD$380) for at the time!—is now “estimated to fetch in the region of at least £25,000 and £35,000″ (USD$31,800-USD$44,500). That’s at least.
“My kids are growing up and I want to be able to give them a really special childhood, with this money we can really set ourselves up for the future”, Brookes says of his decision to sell.
“Now I think it’s time to get our moneys worth and enjoy ourselves.”