Rare Pokémon Booster Box Sells For $380,000 At Auction

Pokémon is the hot property right now, with the rarest of those rectangular scraps of card reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars in value. So, it's a bargain when someone bags a box of the things for less than $380,000. Technically.

To celebrate the golden anniversary of the series of adorable monster hunting games, McDonalds and The Pokémon Company collaborated to bring back Pokémon Trading Cards to Happy Meals. However, no one could have anticipated the scary stampedes of scalpers who would camp out at these restaurants and purchase unbelievable amounts of Happy Meals purely for the cards. I mean, one of them sold for over $500 on eBay thanks to a printing error.

"We're aware that some of you are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game products due to very high demand and global shipping constraints impacting availability," said The Pokémon Company earlier this year with regard to the overall shortages of cards. "We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are working to address it where it is within our control."

In the hurried and chaotic chase for cards across the world, it would be a pro gamer move to nab a bunch of high-value cards in one fell purchase. And that's precisely what the person who bought this sealed booster box of first-edition Pokémon cards has done. They did have to part with $384,000 to secure the highest bid for the box on Heritage Auctions, though. While I admire them for their courage and envy their amount of disposable income, this is simply a path that I cannot follow. Yet.