Everybody knows the baseball card story. A dusty shoebox turns out to hold a treasure, and the lucky owner buys a boat. What fewer people realize is that the cards with no ballplayers on them can be worth real money too.

Think of the gum-stained packs from your kids’ rooms, or the stickers you traded on the playground. According to an April 2025 list from Wealth Gang, republished by AOL, several non-sports sets have sold for serious sums. Here are seven to check before the box goes in the donation pile.

Pokémon Cards Produced A $5.275 Million Headline

Pokémon cards first appeared in the late 1990s, and the hobby has grown enormous. Wealth Gang reports that Logan Paul paid $5.275 million in 2022 for a PSA 10 Pikachu Illustrator card, which he called the rarest Pokémon card.

That card is one of a kind in the collecting world, so do not expect your stack of duplicates to match it. The same list says early first-edition Base Set cards and rare promos are the ones collectors prize.

Garbage Pail Kids Sell For Up To $2,600

Remember the gross-out stickers that made teachers roll their eyes in the late 1980s? Topps made them, and Wealth Gang says they can sell for as much as $2,600.

The price depends on the condition and rarity of the card or set. A creased, scribbled-on sticker is a different animal from a crisp one still in its wrapper.

Magic The Gathering Beta Set Went For $105,000

Magic: The Gathering launched in 1993 with its Alpha and Beta sets. Wealth Gang notes that a complete 1993 Beta set sold for $105,000 in 2022.

The list also names Mox Sapphire and Ancestral Recall as high-priced cards from the early years. If a grandson left a box of fantasy cards behind, take a peek before anyone tosses it.

Yu-Gi-Oh Classics Reach $25,000

Yu-Gi-Oh cards arrived in the early 2000s, and plenty of kids kept them. Wealth Gang says classic cards can sell for as much as $25,000.

The cards it names are Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician and the ultra-rare Tournament Black Luster Soldier. A single card from that group is worth hunting for.

1977 Topps Star Wars Cards Climbed Past $6,000

The first Topps Star Wars set came out in 1977, and it still excites collectors. Wealth Gang says a first-series Han Solo card sold for nearly $6,000 on eBay.

Higher-end sales are even bigger. A cllct.com ranking based on Card Ladder data lists a 1977 Topps Luke Skywalker card in PSA 10 condition at $78,000, sold at Heritage Auctions in 2023.

Marvel Cards From The 1990s Fetch Up To $5,000

The 1990s brought a wave of Marvel trading cards from Impel and Fleer. Wealth Gang reports that complete sets can sell for as much as $5,000.

The value depends on grade, condition and rarity. A full set in clean shape will do far better than a loose handful.

Wacky Packages Have Sold For $2,200

Wacky Packages were the goofy parody grocery labels that kids stuck on everything in the 1960s and 1970s. Wealth Gang says sets have sold for as much as $2,200 on eBay.

If you stashed a sticker album from childhood, this one is worth a look.

Seven sets are only part of the story. The Wealth Gang list also mentions a Dragon Ball Z card that sold for nearly $2,500 on eBay, and a complete 1935 Disney set that sold for $4,500 in 2020.

It adds that rare Dungeons and Dragons Spellfire cards from the 1990s can go for a couple hundred dollars on eBay. Not every find will make a down payment, but a couple hundred dollars for a card from a kid’s drawer is still a nice surprise.

One more thing before you start sorting. Keep sets together if you can, since the figures above for complete sets assume nothing is missing.

The lesson is the same across the list. Old cards tied to big movies, games and cartoons are the ones collectors keep chasing, so do not judge a box by how childish the pictures look.

So how do you check? Start with the printed year and the set name on the card back. Then compare to sold listings, not asking prices, because the figures above are single sales or maximums, not guaranteed values.

Ask relatives, too. Plenty of families have a cousin or a grown child who quietly kept a binder of cards in a closet, and a quick phone call could turn up a second box before anyone starts sorting.

Next, protect what you find. Condition drives every number in this article, so keep cards flat, dry and out of sunlight, and do not wipe or press them.

Finally, if a card looks like a major find, have a professional grading service or an auction house look at it before you list it. The headline sales in this story involved top-grade cards, and most cards from the attic will bring a good deal less.

Even so, an hour or so with a shoebox is time well spent. Somewhere in there may be the card that makes the whole afternoon worthwhile.

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