Eager to finalize payments for his wedding, a groom-to-be sold his childhood Pokémon card collection, hoping to score a few hundred bucks.
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Thanks to a few rare, valuable cards he didn't realize he possessed, the collection sold for a record amount. The massive return allowed him to cover his dream wedding in full.
Andrew Braund, a teaching assistant in England, estimated that his decades-old Pokémon collection would fetch roughly £500, or $673.
However, thanks to the inclusion of three rare Charizard cards, Braund was able to sell the collection for $41,000 after the auction closed on April 16.
"When my friend told me how much the Charizard cards might be worth, I got quite lightheaded," Braund recalled, the Daily Journal reported. "I almost had a panic attack, quite frankly."
Charizard is one of the original 150 Pokémon and is arguably the most popular figure in the animated universe. The beloved Fire-type winged creature has appeared in the Pokémon anime and several movies. Charizard is also a playable character in the Nintendo video game series Super Smash Bros.
Rare Charizard Cards Auctioned For Over $40k
Given its immense popularity, Charizard cards are highly coveted on the trading card market. Braund happened to own some of the most valuable iterations.
His mint-condition Skyridge Charizard Holo Pokémon broke an Ewbank's Pokémon record and was sold for $21,250. It was estimated to sell for $16,155 at most.
A near-mint copy of that same card sold for $16,250, but was valued at $13,462. The third Charizard card, a Reverse-Holo card, also sold for $3,500, the outlet reported.
"I wasn't expecting them to be worth anything like that," he said, revealing that the three cards were from one of the last Pokémon card packs he ever purchased. "They have the highest monetary value, but the lowest sentimental value. The ones I loved as a kid look worn from being in my pockets all the time. I've absolutely lucked out."
Now, the 37-year-old teaching assistant is using the profits to help pay for the wedding ceremony he and his fiancée, Rachel, dreamed of.
Their wedding is set for August. Braund is also relieved that he won't "worry about where the money for the wedding is going to come from now."
