If you were born in the last 30-40 years, the chances are that you went through the Pokémon cards craze.
Based on the insanely popular video games and anime show, the Pokémon Trading Card Game was first released in 1996 and quickly became the most must-have collectibles in the schoolyard, with kids trading cards and battling non-stop.
Yes, nothing could top the excitement of purchasing a fresh booster pack to help top off your battle deck. Slowly opening the foil packaging and praying to find a holographic Charizard - only to find a non-holographic Trainer card.
Nowadays, unopened booster packs from the original sets can be worth SERIOUS money - with different variations (shadowless, first edition, second edition etc.) driving up their value.
In fact, the most expensive card ever sold was a 1998 'Pikachu Illustrator' card that somebody bought for $233,000 on ZenMarket on July 3, 2020.
That's why when a man by the name of Gio Martin found an unopened booster packet under a shelf in Target, Pokéfans everywhere were watching.
Gio Martin is also known online as 'The Pokémon Puller' (a reference to the act of "pulling" Pokémon cards from their packs on social media), and later shared the video of him finding the cards with his 6,000+ TikTok followers and 5,000+ Instagram followers.
In the video, Martin says: "Y'all can hate all you want, and say I'm lying and whatever, right? I'm in Target, you see that? I lifted up this shelf - right there - that pack was laying there! Y'all think I'm lying? Y'all are corny if you think I'm lying, 'cause I really found this. I got witnesses!"
Martin then confirms with the people around him that he did indeed find the packet under the shelf.
The grubby packet is a 20-year-old Wizards of the Coast Base Set 2 booster pack, and features a Raichu on the front.
The video quickly went viral, amassing over 260,000 views across both social media sites, and had even more attention drawn to it when it was shared by popular Pokémon card collector, LeonHart, who boasts over 982,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Now, Martin could have left the packet unopened, and its value would have most likely increased over the years. However, that's not what his fans wanted:
And now, the wait is over, because Martin agreed to appear on LeonHart's YouTube channel to open the packet on camera.
The full video can be seen below:In the opening video - which has been watched over 320,000 times (as of this writing) - Martin explains that he and his friends had been lifting the shelves after hearing stories of people finding vintage packets under the shelves.
Martin then tells LeonHart that he found the packet under the first shelf he lifted.
Prior to the opening, Martin said that he didn't care what was inside the pack: "It's still a beautiful thing I don't want anyone to be upset or say 'Ah, I wish there was something better in there.'
"All we got to do is be blessed that we were able to pay $4.99 for a Base Set 2 pack, whether or not there is something holo inside or not."
So... what was on the inside? Well, after carefully snipping the pack open and arranging the cards so that the 'rare' card was placed at the back, Martin started revealing what he had pulled. And the results are as follows:
- Seel
- PlusPower (Trainer card)
- Persian
- Bulbasaur
- Jigglypuff
- Switch (Trainer card)
- Spearow
- Caterpie
- Purple Energy
- Green Energy
- Scoop Up (Trainer, rare/non-holographic)
Yes... that was it. It all honesty the pack was probably worth more unopened than it was opened, but Martin is still able to get the cards "graded" for their quality, which could increase their value.
Offering some comforting words to Martin, LeonHart said: "I know it's not a Pokemon and it's a Trainer card, but we have to - what you said earlier - this still was such a treat to see you open up this pack."
Also, for those wondering (because I certainly was), Martin explained that he didn't just "take" or "steal" the packet from Target, but instead scanned the barcode of a new pack in order to make the sale as legitimate as possible.
It was certainly an exciting find, but sadly had an unexciting ending. Now, who wants to help me lift some shelves at Target?