EWBANK’S are set for another trading cards bonanza today, with a £145,000 sale at the Burnt Common Auction Rooms in Send.

The extravaganza, entitled Magic: The Gathering – 1993-98. Beta, Unlimited, Revised, Power and Dual Lands, is dedicated to the earliest and rarest examples from the collectable card game.

Magic: The Gathering celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. It now has more than 40,000,000 players and followers worldwide, with annual prize money topping $20,000,000. Leading professional players make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in winnings.

Ewbank’s have such a big following in the US that they have timed the auction for 6pm UK time, to cater for the five-hour difference from New York.

Topping the highlights in the sale is a complete expansion set of Magic: The Gathering – Legends, which was released in June 1994. The set comes in an original red Magic: The Gathering ring binder. The estimate is £10,000 to £15,000.

A factory-sealed Unlimited starter deck, featuring the gold seal still perfectly intact, has a guide price of between £10,000 and £12,000. And a complete set of Magic: The Gathering – Arabian Nights, the first expansion, released in December 1993, should sell for £5,000 to £10,000.

Roy Raftery, specialist in trading cards  at Ewbank’s, said: “It’s a phenomenal catalogue of rarities.”

Single cards are also set to sell for thousands of pounds. They include four cards from 1993 – an Unlimited Mox Sapphire (estimate £3,000 to £5,000); a Beta Mox Emerald (£3,000 to £5,000); an Unlimited Ancestral Recall (£2,500 to £3,500); and an Unlimited Mox Jet (£2,000 to £3,000).

Roy said: “We’ve been able to bring together some of the rarest cards and sets you’ll find anywhere in the world, sourced from key people in the history of Magic: The Gathering. I’d like to say it doesn’t get much better than this – but I know what we’ve got in store for later in the year, and I’ll be unveiling that soon.”

For valuations, email images of your items to Roy at [email protected]. Live internet bidding is available through www.ewbankauctions.co.uk.