So when the producers at BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours consumer programme decided to feature the subject, the firm’s senior partner Andrew Ewbank was first choice as an interviewee.
Presenter Rima Ahmed took to the airwaves with Andrew on Wednesday, September 13 to talk about how the world of collecting is changing and what younger generations are looking for.
“There are a lot more private buyers than there used to be,” Andrew told her.
“One of the biggest areas for us has been James Bond, and we hold themed James Bond sales, with another one coming up soon.
“They are incredibly popular with buyers.
“We sold a Thunderball British quad poster for about £18,000 recently. That nostalgia is really capturing buyers’ imagination.”
As he further explained, people now in their 40s with a bit more disposable income have a strong urge to recapture the fun memories of their youth when the world of video games really started to expand.
Evidence of just how much people will pay for factory-sealed rarities can be seen in the sales of trading cards and retro video games staged by Ewbank’s at the Burnt Common Auction Rooms.
Think of the £14,300 premium-inclusive price paid for a Pokémon Trading Card Game sealed base set booster box from 1999 in the August 25, 2021 auction held by Ewbank’s, and the £13,650 paid for a Pokémon fourth-print UK base set sealed booster box in December 2022.
Sale totals also show the power of trading cards, with the auction staged by Ewbank’s on August 5 this year bringing in £136,000.
One of the highlights was a single card, a first-edition Shining Charizard – Neo Destiny, number 107, PSA graded nine, mint. It made £3,120.
As Andrew told Rima, trading cards have become a major collecting field.
“Complete sets of rare issues sparked the most competition, and we had a lot of them,” he said.
“Bidders were particularly attracted by sets collected by people who had worked with issuer Wizards of the Coast in the early days, back in the late 1990s.”