A sealed 1st Edition factory case of Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the very first set in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, has sold for well over $500,000 in a record-breaking auction.Sold by Goldin Auctions, the case began with a minimum bid of $100,000 USD. 22 bids later, and the final price (including the buyer's premium) came out to a whopping $584,250. On Twitter, Goldin described this as "an all-time record for any Yu-Gi-Oh! item."
The case contains 12 boxes of Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Each box contains 24 packs, with each pack containing nine cards. In other words, the case contains 2,592 cards in total. "The case was sealed, but was opened to ensure the contents of it were legitimate," Goldin explained in the product description. "Goldin employed two Yu-Gi-Oh! experts to inspect the case and check that everything inside was correct because of the sheer rarity of the product. This was all captured on video... The boxes are sealed, with the cards presumably in NM-MT or better condition!"
Not to be confused with the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game (OCG) -- which launched in 1999 is primarily played in Japan, South Korea and other parts of Asia -- the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG) launched in North America and Europe with the release of Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon (abbreviated as LOB) nearly 20 years ago on March 8, 2002.
LOB consists of 126 cards in total, which were chosen from the OCG packs Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon and Phantom God, the former of which is where LOB gets its namesake. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," of course, was a highly sought-after card in the set, as were the five cards needed to call upon "Exodia the Forbidden One." LOB was followed up by the Metal Raiders (MRD) set, which released in North America on June 26, 2002.
"This was the first set in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game," Goldin said of LOB. "Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon was released in the United States in 2002, and includes 126 cards in the set. Key cards in the set, and possibly inside the case, include the titular 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon,' 'Dark Magician,' 'Swords of Revealing Light,' 'Raigeki,' 'Dark Hole,' 'Pot of Greed,' 'Monster Reborn' and many more! Additionally, the five cards that comprise the Exodia set ('Right Leg of the Forbidden One,' 'Left Leg of the Forbidden One,' 'Right Arm of the Forbidden One,' 'Left Arm of the Forbidden One' and 'Exodia the Forbidden One') could potentially reside in this case. The case's exterior concedes only very minor wear consistent with standard storage and shelf life."
Source: Goldin Auctions; Twitter