A man was dismayed to discover that a potentially valuable Pokémon card he had kept in mint condition for decades had been opened by his nephew.
In a post shared on Reddit, a user named u/Simba_Rah, who wishes to remain anonymous, revealed how, after returning to his native Canada, he sadly discovered that his sibling’s young son had found his pristine Pokémon card collection.
“I now live in Beijing with my family. My personal belongings were kept in my parents’ house. This includes my collection of original Pokémon cards from the 1990s,” he said. Newsweek. “I went home for my father’s funeral and was looking through my collection. I noticed that one of my cards was missing. He actually took it and put it in his collection.”
Popular with children and adults alike, the Pokémon franchise is based on the idea of a world where people collect and train fantastical creatures to compete against each other in battles and dates back to the mid-1990s.
While much of the franchise focuses on a variety of video games, cartoons, and television series, arguably the most enduring element is the Pokémon trading cards, which are known to fetch thousands of dollars among collectors.
In 2019, a mint condition Pokémon card set sold at auction for more than $100,000. Those who kept their cards were also encouraged by stories like that of JC Smith, an avid collector who discovered that his card collection was worth around $15,000.
As cards continue to fetch thousands on auction sites like eBay, the owner of the Reddit account u/Simba_Rah thought it would be best to take a look at his own collection.
“Even as a kid, I knew how important it was to keep trading cards in perfect condition,” he said. “It’s damn hard. Kids want to unpack these things and touch them.”
That made his nephew’s petty theft all the more frustrating. The card he opened, an Ancient Mew card, wasn’t exactly the rarest, but the fact that it was in pristine condition made it more valuable than most.
“They were mass-produced for the launch of the Pokemon 2000 movie. It’s a promotional card meant for collecting, not playing,” he said. “This one is particularly high quality and could go for about $300 graded.”
He said he was surprised when he realized the card was missing, and even more surprised when he realized his nephew had it.
“This collection was stored in a folder in a sealed plastic container in my childhood bedroom, so it was a real slog to find them,” he said. “But he had time and I wasn’t there. I also didn’t know he was going around looking for these cards.”
He said he had “no intention” of ever opening the 1999 Ancient Mew card and was “pretty upset” when he found out what his nephew had done, but at the same time didn’t want to make too big a deal out of it.
Reddit/u/Simba_Rah
“The uncle-nephew relationship is sacred and should not be taken lightly,” he said. “I’ve talked to him about it, joked with him and made him understand how important these cards are to me. I plan to give them to my own son when he’s old enough and interested.”
However, he is also relieved that his nephew hasn’t started messing around with some of the other cards in his collection. “The real treasure is stored in a special folder that contains two complete sets of the original edition Pokémon cards and my sealed Ancient Mew card,” he said.
“When my nephew, who collects Pokémon cards, heard about these cards, he naturally wanted to see them. After all, I own two shadowless Charizard cards, one of the most valuable cards printed.”
He now plans to send the newly opened card along with several other cards for grading. Most, however, will remain part of his collection, assuming his nephew can keep his hands off them. “I have to keep an eye on him as often as possible,” he said.
