A box set of rare Pokémon cards that came close to being thrown away during a clear-out has been appraised at £20,000. The sealed Pokémon Fourth Print Base Set Booster Box, originally

released only in the UK, was purchased for approximately £100 in 1999 at a Chester shop by a man for his granddaughter.

The 81-year-old owner, who chose to remain anonymous, expressed amazement that the cards have now become so valuable. This unique collection is set to be auctioned at Derby's Hansons Auctioneers on 17 October.

The auction house revealed that the man was initially unaware of the potential value of the thousands of cards. His daughter mentioned that while decluttering their house to make space for a hospital bed for his terminally-ill wife, her father had contemplated throwing the cards away.

"During the clear-out, the cards were taken out of the cupboard [and] Dad planned to throw them away," she explained. "A few did end up in a skip, but I said, 'Blimey, Dad, some of these might be worth a bit.'"

The family decided to sell the remaining cards, only then realizing the extent of the collection. All five of her children had sealed boxes of cards, purchased by their grandfather.

"My daughter got into Pokémon when she was young and started collecting the cards with my dad in the late 1990s," she said. "She was his first and, at the time, only grandchild. It was their thing. They went on trips to Chester together at weekends to get the cards from a hobby shop. My dad is a collector and gets obsessed."

Some of the cards have already been sold for around £50,000. The proceeds from the sale will be divided among family members and will significantly ease their lives, particularly her father's. Additionally, the funds will support her daughter's aspiration to become a paramedic.

She said, "This sealed box set was the 'in-case-of-emergencies' item. Again, [there is] no point in struggling when this can help. As Dad would say, 'there are no pockets in shrouds'."

David Wilson-Turner, head of the toy department at the auction house, characterized it as "a really touching story," and expressed hopes that they can do justice to the family at the auction. He emphasized that what sets this collection apart is that it was exclusively released in the UK. The box contains 102 cards within 36 sealed booster packs, each bearing a definitive date stamp stating 1999-2000, differentiating them from other base set cards stamped 1999. Photo by Jarek Tuszyński, Wikimedia commons.