Boxes of Pokemon cards that had been stashed under the stairs for years have sold for £19,000 at auction.
The lucky owner, who lives in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, had forgotten all about the game memorabilia until he stumbled across the cards during a house move.
The two boxes, which were bought for £30 each around 20 years ago, consisted of a sealed Pokemon Fossil First Edition Booster Box and a sealed Pokemon Neo Discovery Unlimited Booster Box.
The first set sold for £10,000 after being auctioned off by Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire, while the other fetched £9,400.
Both were imported from America in 2001 and were described by the auction house as extremely rare.
The owner, who had kept the packs in a box, decided to sell them after doing some research online and discovering the "bonkers" prices they could reach.
Speaking before the auction, the seller, who ran a card and toy shop, said: "I'd completely forgotten I had them. They were still in the box I put them in when we moved house 22 years ago.
"When I found them, I thought nothing of it really but then decided to check what sort of prices they were selling for. I was really surprised.”
David Wilson-Turner, head of the toy department at Hansons, said: "Pokemon trading cards are massively popular to buy and collect and have been steadily rising in value for more than five years now.
"Wealthy young people in their 20s and 30s who got into Pokemon when they were children are buying rare cards and prices have spiked.
"Prices could be fuelled even more this year because of Pokemon25, an ongoing celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise.”
