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When Alistair Winston Robertson bought his Rolex, it sat in a safe for years.
He rarely wore it; then he discovered Pokémon card collecting — and decided the watch had to go.
Instead of selling it for cash, he traded the RM236,000 timepiece for a bundle of rare Pokémon cards worth around RM200,000.
Today, his collection is valued at close to RM800,000.
“What started as a hobby has become a passion, a community, and a collection worth nearly RM800,000,” he said in a video posted by Malaysian human-interest page @inreallifemy, which has since drawn 2,300 likes on Instagram.
Despite the numbers, Alistair Winston urges caution.
Only spend what you can afford to lose. Learn how to spot fake cards, do your research, and never go all in.
Not An Isolated Case
Alistair Winston, a successful Malaysian entrepreneur who describes himself as “Scotnese” — of Scottish and Chinese descent — with a track record across media, PR, marketing, and F&B, is not the only Malaysian collector making headlines with high-value card deals.
Fellow collector Damiral Imran previously offered his entire collection for RM1.87 million cash — or a Porsche 911 Carrera S plus RM1 million.
It sold in 10 days for RM1.87 million cash.
He later listed a subsequent six-month stash for RM4.44 million, or a Mercedes-AMG GT S plus RM3.8 million, with a guaranteed RM80,000 finder’s fee for any agent who closes the deal.
That listing remains open.
Why A Card Can Be Worth A Car
The value of rare Pokémon cards is largely determined by professional grading — a process carried out by global firms such as PSA, BGS, and CGC, which authenticate and score each card on a scale of 1 to 10 based on centring, corners, edges, and surface condition.
A card that earns a perfect PSA 10 “Gem Mint” score is sealed in a tamper-proof plastic slab, and its value can increase dramatically as a result.
A raw card worth RM500 can fetch RM10,000 or more once graded.
Local intermediaries such as Concept Grading Malaysia and Collektr help Malaysian collectors ship cards securely to overseas grading houses.
The market has grown significantly enough that Malaysian Customs now tracks high-value card movements across borders, much like it monitors luxury jewellery.
READ MORE: Gotta Sell ’Em All: Damiral Is Back With A RM4.4M Price Tag For His Pokémon Cards
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