Complete Set Of Original Pokemon Cards (Including Holos!) Popped Up On 'Antiques Roadshow'
Image Source: Ebay
Since 1997, people bringing their items to PBS' Antiques Roadshow hope to get a good appraisal for their possessions. In most cases, these are things like oil paintings, sports memorabilia, fine jewelry, and sometimes even baseball cards, but this time it was something special: A binder with 102 Pokémon cards, comprising the complete base that was released by Wizards of the Coast in 1999.
The mother of the current owner bought the cards as a gift for her daughter online for $35 in the late 90s. The appraiser, Travis Landry, had done his research, describing the origin of the game in Japan and how it became popular in the US via the Game Boy games, but also mentioning that the collection includes the 16 original holographic Pokémon cards. He continued by explaining that for some of the cards, there are two variations: one with a darker "shadow" around the image and one that is "shadowless." The latter also have their date of printing twice at the bottom of the card.
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As the cards without a shadow were only printed for a short period, they are extremely rare, valuing about 4 to 6 times that of their more common counterparts.
At the same time, the market for such cards is very volatile. Prices reached their absolute peak between November 2020 and March 2021, when a holographic card of Charizard like the one the lady owns would have fetched up to $15,000. Prices have fallen considerably since then, but Landry judges the value of the complete binder between $5,000 and $10,000, although the final grade would have to be determined by a third-party company.
Still, not bad for an investment of $35.
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Source: Kotaku
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