Seven Incredibly-Rare Pokémon Card, Sealed Booster Boxes, Come up for Auction
As Pokémon Cards Skyrocket in Value Wise Comic Book Store Owner Kept Some for Himself
If you’re trying to catch all the Pokémon Cards this auction might be for you!
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, December 8, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — Back in 1999, Charlotte, North Carolina comic book store owner Shelton Drum not only sold Pokémon trading cards but hosted games for the neighborhood kids, including his own. Looking ahead, he wisely tucked a few sealed boxes of cards away for them. Today, as Pokémon cards soar in value, he and his kids—now 30 and 32 years old—are poised to reap the benefits of his foresight.
While the Pokémon franchise has long enjoyed steady growth, since the pandemic, card values are reaching new heights. Recently, a 1st Edition Booster Box—which cost about $100 in 1999—sold for a record $360,000. As a result, Shelton has partnered with ComicConnect.com, the world’s premier online comic marketplace and auctioneer, to auction his six sealed booster boxes.
See the Comic Connect Auction here: Comic Connect: Seven Incredibly-Rare, Sealed Booster Boxes Come up for Auction
“2020 has been an incredible year for Pokémon investment collectors,” notes Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of ComicConnect. “The early sets are constantly hitting new records, and we’re thrilled to be offering these as the cornerstone of our Pokémon TCG auction.”
The booming market comes as no shock to Drum, who has owned Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find since 1980. (He also hosts Charlotte’s popular Heroes Convention, which attracts 40,000 attendees annually.) Twenty years ago, he saw firsthand how the Pokémon “pocket monsters”—launched in Japan in 1995—obsessed American kids.
Little kids liked the bright graphics and intriguing characters, like Pikachu and Charizard. Big kids liked battling one another via the elaborate trading card game, their enthusiasm fed by a constant stream of cards, video games, and movies. Now, those kids of the 1990s are in their 30s—and many are eager to collect the beloved relics of childhood.
Why now? Interest has been fueled both by the pandemic—as locked-down collectors devote more time to their hobby—and by actor/boxer/internet personality Logan Paul, a Pokémon investor who showcases his purchases on his popular YouTube channel.
Like most trading cards, Pokémon cards are released in sets and sold in booster packs, which are packaged in booster boxes. Pokémon booster boxes contain 36 packs, each featuring around 11 randomly-selected cards. Each Pokémon set includes about 200 rare, uncommon and common cards.
Courtesy of Shelton Drum, ComicConnect’s event auction features the following sealed English booster boxes: Fossil Set (1999), Gym Challenge (2000), Gym Heroes (2000), Neo Genesis (2000), Team Rocket (2000), and Unlimited Base (1999).
Each box holds 36 unopened packs, or a total of 396 cards. Sealed boxes generally yield gem-mint condition cards, which command the highest prices. (Trading cards are rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10—gem mint—the highest rating.)
In addition, the auction includes items from other consignors, including an opened box of Jungle (1999), which holds 36 unopened card packs, and an incredibly-rare unopened box of the earliest Japanese booster box. Zurzolo has also acquired a sealed, 1999 First Edition Limited Printing box that is available for private sale.
ComicConnect has already received multiple bids on each of the booster boxes, and there’s no predicting what final sale pricing will be when the auction ends on December 14th.
What will the buyers do with their prizes? Says Zurzolo, “It depends. Some will ‘break the box’ and open the packs in search of the rare cards. Others will break the box, but then sell the sealed packs individually.”
“But some will undoubtedly do what Shelton did 20 years ago: hold onto the sealed box as an investment, knowing it will continue to appreciate over time.”
Story Written by:
Joanne Levine – Lekas & Levine PR
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