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Pokemon cards released in 1999
Yvonne Hemsey | Hulton Archive | Getty Images
A complete set of first-edition Pokemon cards from 1999 has sold for $107,010 at auction.
The collection, comprising of 103 cards, was sold in mint condition and included a rare Charizard card, which alone could sell for up to $20,000, according to card authenticators. A single near perfect copy of the card is currently being sold on eBay, with bidding standing at $2,174 less than a day before the auction closes.
The set that was sold was a collection of first-edition cards printed in English.
Auction house Goldin Auctions said in the listing on its website that each card was graded at GEM-MT 10 — or “Gem Mint” — condition by authentication body Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), meaning the set was “virtually perfect.”
Bidding started at $25,000, with the set receiving 12 bids before the auction closed on Saturday.
First-edition Pokemon cards can be identified by a small black circular stamp to the bottom left of the Pokemon image, denoting they were part of the original release in 1999.
Goldin said some experts believed Pokemon cards would become as important to modern collecting as some highly coveted sports cards, like the 1986/87 Fleer basketball set.
“For many Millennials, the original 1999 Pokemon video (and) card games remain a staple of their childhood, providing what seems like a lost art in a nostalgic feeling,” the listing said.
“For a generation such as the Millennials it signals the end of the tangible toy age and the beginning of the virtual age, as no other item became as popular or as connective as Pokemon in years following.”
The auction house noted a similar set of Pokemon cards was sold in its December 2017 holiday sale for just under $100,000, adding that demand for complete first-edition sets in high-grade condition was continuing to grow.