A lifelong Pokémon TCG collector lost a significant part of his Pokémon card collection after heavy rainfall flooded the basement of his Denver home. Kyle (29), who works in commercial banking, shared images of water-damaged cards and Pokémon booster boxes via Reddit on May 13. He tells Wargamer that, while he estimates he may have lost up to $2,000 (£1,595) of cards, “the one that hurt the most was the binder, since those were the cards I had kept since 1999-2001”.
“We had about six inches of rain over the course of two days”, Kyle told Reddit on Saturday, “and my sump pump just couldn’t keep up”. The majority of the cards damaged were stored on the floor. “I lost several boxes of bulk that I had spent hours sorting, along with some damage to six booster boxes I was saving, two Charizard UPCs, and one binder of cards that was on the ground”, Kyle tells Wargamer.
“From a monetary standpoint, I would guess I lost around $1,500 to $2,000 in terms of my collection value”, he adds. The previously mentioned binder held the most sentimental value, though. Kyle has been a Pokémon collector on and off since 1999, starting at the age of six. These cards were from his earliest days as a Pokémon fan. “Thankfully I had taken out the more valuable cards from that binder, but it was still sad to see my childhood cards more ruined than they already were”, he says.
Thankfully, Kyle’s most expensive Pokémon cards were rescued; he says he was able to save most of his collection. “We discovered the flooding relatively early and the water level had only risen around an inch or so”, he tells Wargamer.
“I did always have a potential flood in the back of my mind, so I kept most of my more valuable items raised up on the couch or other furniture, but I neglected quite a few items nonetheless.” “I was stupid for having a large portion of my slab collection on the floor, but was fortunate that I had each of them in cellophane team bags that resisted the water – so that was probably my biggest sigh of relief”, he adds.
Despite the damage done, Kyle says he plans to continue storing his best Pokémon cards in the basement. “It’s a little cliche, but the basement is kind of my ‘man cave’ area, so I do still plan on storing my collection there, but obviously I need to advance my plans to protect the rest of my collection”, he says. “I had always planned on storing my collection in a better way, but it just took a backseat for too long.”
Kyle does have some advice for other collectors after the ordeal, though. “For anyone who is storing their collection in their basement right now, I’d advise you to first get it off the ground and second store it in a waterproof and/or fireproof container or safe”, he says.