Extraordinary Find: 1999 Pokémon Base Unlimited & Fossil 1st Ed. Booster Boxes
APPRAISER: It was June 2023. We're filming in Sturbridge Village. Was kind of having a slow day didn't see anything really exciting and then it was like bam right at the end of the day these two factory sealed Pokémon booster boxes.
GUEST: Got these uh Pokémon from my uncle about 7 years ago.
APPRAISER: Really, so is your uncle a Pokémon nut?
GUEST: He is a collector. He collected a lot of stuff and this was one of his collections.
APPRAISER: You have no idea how excited people are going to see me just stacking these boxes like this in all this glory. The two boxes brought in you had a base unlimited uh booster box which is the first true set of Pokémon that were introduced and then there was also a fossil first edition box which is the third set of Pokémon. A booster pack is the individual pack that you would open buying cards brand new right to go through and you're chasing to hopefully catch one of those 16 holographic cards. So you would be buying these booster packs in order to open them and hopefully get a holographic card. Sealed booster boxes are so valuable because it's one of the only collectibles that are a self-diminishing product. Some people do buy them, keep them sealed. But there are a lot of people that buy these boxes to break open. But they're not making more of these things so every day every time a booster boxes opened, sealed booster boxes become rare. This being factory sealed unlimited box, this is easily going to be 10 to 15,000 today. Your first edition fossil box which for original Pokémon fossil is the third set. This is a first edition so this is gonna be a real money shot here as well. Same as the base box. This is gonna be in that 10 to 15,000 range so we easily have 20 to 30,000
GUEST: Excellent.
APPRAISER: Worth of factory sealed Pokémon.
GUEST: Excellent.
[Applause]
APPRAISER: You want to know the craziest part? Some dude or gal is going to drop 10 20,000 and rip these boxes open. Best thing I've seen all day.
[Applause]
APPRAISER: We filmed in June. It was 2 weeks later. I got a call from the guest's husband saying that they were ready to uh sell the cards they thought the market was right. We were able to get them in the next auction August 8th. The fossil box landed right in the sweet spot at uh $9,750 hammer plus buyer premium. And the base box did exceed the high estimate hammering down for 13,500 plus premium. And the cool part was both boxes same buyer. I know that the owner of these boxes is keeping them sealed cuz he's just looking at it is if I buy it now and sit on it there's only going to be less in the future cuz people open them. At the time of filming when we were in Sturbridge in 2023, the Pokémon Market was in a vast correction period. In the current market, they would sell for less. I think the fossil box would maybe hammer for around $1,000 to $1,500 less. The base box we would only estimate it same thing probably around 6 to 9,000 maybe even 5 to 8,000. The beginning of 2023 was strong but then once we got to May June July we saw the tip start to happen and prices were rapidly falling every single month. If I were to look at the Pokémon market and the direction it's headed there's far more chance for it to head way down compared to shooting back up to what we saw during 2021-22. I mean I love Pokémon I think it's awesome but if I was giving advice to people to collect it's not what I would sink all my money into. It wouldn't be that.
[Music]
Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
