Florida Dad sold his treasured $1,500 Pokémon cards to cover 6-year-old son's medical bills: 'They became hope’

“These were pieces of his childhood and a connection to his late brother, who first introduced him to collecting,” Alexandra Hietanen, wife of Ryan and mother of Landon, told Moneywise. “Watching him let go of something he genuinely loved without hesitation reminded me what parenthood is all about.”

According to People, Ryan began collecting Pokémon cards with his late brother when they were children and later returned to the hobby to feel connected to him. His favorite card, Venusaur, “represented years of collecting.”

Alexandra added, in the People story, that the sale of the card represented “an incredible act of love” and that she didn’t know her husband was planning to sell it until the moment arrived.

From Pokémon to Picasso, what gives collectibles their value?

When Ryan revealed the Venusaur card at the sale, Alexandra filmed what she could of the transaction and posted it on TikTok, where it boasts nearly 175,000 likes and more than 2,000 comments.

“It wasn’t an easy thing to let go of because it meant a lot to me,” Ryan told People, “but there was never any hesitation. My son came first.”

Meanwhile, Alexandra told Moneywise that Ryan knew the value of his Pokémon collection, having “spent years collecting, grading and following” the market.

Pokémon cards in particular have surged in value in recent years amidst what one expert dubbed a “Pokémon renaissance.”

Ebay has Pokémon card packs listed for up to a million dollars, while Heritage Auctions offers a “sealed booster box,” with the most recent bid topping $310,000 as of this writing.

And YouTuber Logan Paul set a world record when he sold his rare 1998 Japanese Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon card at auction in February for $16.5 million. The card easily topped the previous record holder — a near-$13 million dual autographed Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant 2007-08 Upper Deck card.

In fact, collectors of all kinds of items — from trading cards to artworks, antiques, stamps, coins, toys and more — could be sitting on a gold mine.

Being old or rare, however, doesn’t instantly make a collectible valuable. Various factors — from its condition, age and historical significance, along with rarity — can add to its value.

Authenticity and provenance are also key — for example, proving Picasso really painted that canvas you’ve kept in the attic — as is market demand. And that’s one of the wild cards that make collectibles a tricky investment — unlike financial assets, market demand and pricing can prove inconsistent, not to mention rife with frauds and counterfeits.

Faded past crazes around Beanie Babies and NFTs also illustrate how market demand can skyrocket and then crash just as quickly. And an April Cambridge study that focused on “110 years of returns on collectibles for 13 asset classes” concluded that assets that provided “positive emotional returns” also resulted in lower financial ones.

How to turn collectibles into cash without leaving money on the table

That said, selling collectibles that boast some worth — as Ryan Hietanen did — is a relatively quick way to score extra cash to put toward important financial goals or expenses.

The important thing is to ensure you recoup a fair market value for what you’re selling.

Boston-based Manzi Personal Property Appraisers recommends researching whatever you’re selling to understand what collectors are looking for, what constitutes value to them and what similar items sold for.

They add that professional appraisers can help you ascertain fair value, which then leaves you to research the proper sale venue or platform — and any fees or commissions that come with it.

GradeX, an online platform for collectors, adds that “prices move with trends” and that understanding your item’s market and waiting for the opportune conditions “can sometimes mean the difference between an average sale and a strong one.”