«Catch them all!» would chant the television at the end of the 1990s. 151 Pokemon to capture in the video games, but also hundreds of cards to collect and exchange in the course of recreation that reach today are crazy with fans.

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The online auction site Goldin Auctions has announced that a lot of 103 cards from the first generation dating back to 1999, put a price of 25,000 dollars, had been sold for 107.010 dollars, or nearly 97,000 euro. To achieve such a value, the only time factor was not taken into account, the state of the object influencing more the price. The lesser card of this batch has been evaluated by PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), a company expert collectors ‘ items of any kind. Scratches, tears, corners damaged, or color, everything is closely scrutinized as to the finest diamonds. Something rare and even exceptional, all cards in the batch have been rated 10/10, which is the maximum score.

1st edition Charizard in mint condition. Goldin Auctions

Among those precious pieces of cardboard, we find the inevitable Charizard version of holographic. The centerpiece of the lot, its value has almost tripled since 2016, where a copy was sold 8 800 dollars. The first editions of Tortank, Mewtwo or the famous Pikachu are also present. According to the auction site, some of the cards would be less than 50 pieces in the world in the same state of perfection. The happy buyer is named Tom Fish and works for the resale website Blowout Cards, which in the case of marketing could, no doubt, make a good margin.

The Pokémania still valid

Since its creation in 1996 in Japan with the cartridges Pokémon Green and Red for Game Boy, the licence has not ceased to grow. First, with the main series on handheld consoles, which today have at least three major versions including the reissues. Other games with different mechanisms such as Dungeon Mystery or Pokémon Colosseum , as well as the latest version out on the Nintendo Switch and the inevitable Pokémon Gb come fill this huge collection. 151, and the number of Pokémon has increased to more than 800. In addition to the games, it is the animation series which has allowed the expansion of the giant to Nintendo. For the past 22 years, the adventures of young Satoshi (Ash ketchum in the VF), dreaming in vain of becoming a Pokémon master are broadcast on television. The same for the cards that continue to be edited for each new generation, as well as the manga launched in 1997. Proof of the success always omnipresent in the franchise, the film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu , which has earned nearly $ 450 million this year.

Detective Pikachu – trailer