The adorable monster trading cards, a fondly remembered childhood craze for millennials in the UK and around the world, form one arm of the formidable 25-year-old Pokémon empire’s reach alongside video games, memorabilia and cartoons. But collectible experts say it is also evidence of risks attached to the vertiginous rise in the value of Pokémon cards – particularly when the most expensive items in the market, the first edition boxes, are usually sold without being unsealed, which means their contents cannot be authenticated. The episode seemed to be a farce – or, to some cynical observers, a stunt. This is going to shake up the Pokémon collector world.”

But he noted that he still had his money. When the Guardian reached Camillo shortly after the broadcast ended, he said he was still “in shock”. “Yeah, no, that’s a major fucking issue.”Īre you kidding me!?!? /Ltx3OH2Pxx- Crypto King October 27, 2020 “That’s an issue,” said Greenbaum, before getting on the phone with the original seller to seek a refund. “That one’s not a first edition pack,” said someone else. “Ooh, the colour’s different on that one and that one,” someone said. The idea was to check on the contents, hand over the money, and sell the cards next year to benefit charity.īut a mood of anticipation as the box was opened quickly turned to bewilderment: at some point, the hoped-for rarities had been removed and replaced with filler sets that were commonplace, damaged, or otherwise worthless. They had asked to be paid in cash, Camillo said, and so a silver briefcase full of $100 bills sat on the table in front of the group during a live YouTube broadcast. The group had themselves bought the box, which was meant to contain 36 unopened “booster” packs and a total of 396 cards, from an unnamed third party and flown to Dallas, Texas, to complete the deal. The three sellers were led by Jake Greenbaum, a “blockchain entrepreneur” who uses the Twitter handle JBTheCryptoKing and was billed as Logan Paul’s “personal Pokémon consultant”. His confidence was helped in part by eye-watering purchases by celebrities such as the internet personality Logan Paul and rapper Logic, who paid $226,000 (£173,000) for a single card, a pristine 1999 “Charizard”, earlier this month.

Pokemon go cards opening booster box