Pokemon collection worth £100,000 - are people amassing small fortunes?

When Barry Lloyd started spending his spare cash on Pokemon cards 30 years ago, people told him he was mad, and that he was wasting his money.

But an expert, looking at his collection, believes it is now worth £100,000.

Earlier this year, a thief ransacked a games shop in Cwmbran, Torfaen, and made off with £65,000 worth of rare Pokemon cards - a loss the owner described as a "killer" blow to his business.

Playing cards that were once simply a fun part of childhood are increasingly being stashed away as pension policies, believes expert Elliot Riley-Walsh, from Anglesey.

He added: "You just never know what people have sitting in their attics, or hiding generally.

"People are potentially sitting on thousands.

"Jewellery and lockets, people tend to know there's generally value in it. But when it comes to trading cards and collectables, people tend to overlook them."

Pokemon is a Japanese franchise, focused on capturing, training, and battling super-powered creatures.

There has been an animated TV series, movies, video games, and trading cards.

The original game featured 151 species, but by 2026, about 1,025 had been introduced - all based on real-life animals or mythical creatures.

One of the most famous is Pikachu - a mouse-like species with a tail shaped like a lightning bolt that can blast powerful electric charges.

While Pokemon became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1990s, it is celebrating its 30th birthday, with many of the original fans returning to the hobby.

As well as being collected, the cards are used for games pitting the powers of the creatures against each other, or traded.

Elliot, 32, founded collectibles platform Valart, and said many people underestimate what they own.

He believes people often only realise the value of cards after cataloguing them, adding: "My friend who is a big Pokemon collector, his account came out at about £100,000."

Elliot said Japan-issued cards can demand higher prices as they're rarer in the UK.

He thinks renewed interest is fuelled by nostalgia, and the fact people can switch off while playing - but there's another big reason.

"A lot of young people are worrying about when they'll reach a state pension age, with a lot of uncertainty around inflation," he added.

"So instead, people are buying collectables and storing them. A lot of this stuff increases in value, so they can sell it in the future."

He created Valart in 2023 to allow people to document collections - after growing frustrated there were systems for valuing watches and jewellery but not Pokemon cards.

At first, Barry Lloyd, from mid Wales, had no clue what to buy, getting most of his cards from eBay as the craze took off.

"I decided then to try and complete a few sets so bought cards accordingly," said the 64-year-old.

"And while I was doing it, everyone was laughing at me - telling me I was mad.

"At that time, everyone was taking the mickey and said I was wasting money. So after a few months I stopped buying."

This was in the 1990s, so he stored them away "for a rainy day".

He never thought they'd be worth anything, but in the past year, he has seen cards go for large amounts.

"It's unbelievable, I'll look at some of mine and then see someone selling the same ones," he added.

"About a month ago, someone wanted about £7,000 for one, and I thought 'I've got one of those'. I had a look and I had exactly the same card."

The blue versions are the rarest, and some of the first printed Pokemon cards.

Barry said: "When this set was launched it became popular in Japan, so they decided to launch a newer set and to include some holofoil cards.

"That set was the 1st edition base set in English, my set of Topsun was imported from Japan in 1996.

"I knew a guy who was based in Japan who worked for the military. So I told him to buy from the Japanese kids and ship them over."

One of his cards is a graded Birthday Pikachu 2nd anniversary promo - which has an estimated value of £9,000.

On eBay, a couple of other cards Barry has were listed between £6,000 and 12,000, with Elliot estimating the total value of his collection to be more than £100,000.

Morgan Elise sees the cards more as a passion than an asset

The 23-year-old from Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has been collecting for just over a year and believes her cards are worth about £500.

"I was aware when accumulating that a card can be worth more than the pack it's in - you pull an £8 card from a £4 pack," she said.

"But then it's a lot of effort to sell it, so you keep it."

Her highest value card is worth £250.

"To me, the collection represents what I can give to the community," she said.

"I run my local club [where fans meet to battle with the cards or trade them], and recently worked in the European championship.

"People should investigate their old collections, if they have them, but stray away from getting into it as an investment opportunity."

She believes this can take away the fun - as serious collectors may not want to open or damage cards.

Also, it only makes the older cards more valuable.

"Like, in 1997, 100 cards were printed and 80 were ripped up and torn by kids playing," she said.

"In 2026, 1,000 cards are printed, and 800 are opened with care and sleeved straight away."

Nathan Blackler of insurance site GoCompare urged collectors to check whether items are properly covered, warning forgotten collections could be worth far more than expected.