Sealed Pokémon Box Set Sells for World-Record $198,000 at Heritage Auctions

Result for first edition of 1999 Booster Packs more than doubles previous record

DALLAS, Texas (September 10, 2020) — A rare sealed Pokémon booster set broke a world record Thursday when it sold for $198,000 Thursday, Sept. 10, in Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art Auction.

The Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999) soared well past its pre-auction estimate of $80,000+ during the advance bidding before the auction’s live bidding even began.

“Sets like this one, especially in such extraordinary condition and sealed in shrinkwrap, have become undeniable rarities,” said Jesus Garcia, Assistant Comics & Comic Art Operations Supervisor at Heritage Auctions. “The previous record, of $78,000, at Heritage Auctions was set in was set in February 2019. To see this result, more than doubling the previous mark, just shows the popularity and demand for these cards show no sign of slowing down.”

The first set ever made, this booster box comes from a very low print and includes 396 cards spread through 36 booster packs, each of which contains 11 cards. Because the set is unopened, it is likely that most or all of the cards are in Gem Mint condition.

The Heritage Auctions Comics & Comic Art Auction continues Friday with a session beginning at 11 a.m. (Central time) focused on video games and video game art, and continues through Sunday, Sept. 13.

Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world’s largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.

Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet’s most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,250,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of five million past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.

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