That's nuts. So he was a big enough fan at one point to collect all of these great items, but then forgot he had them over the course of just several years and had no problem handing them over after remembering?

I get the part where your buddy gives you something valuable/meaningful for your wedding, but does he have a compulsive personality or something? It would be one thing if he remembered he had some English booster boxes from XY or something but these items in particular indicate he had more than just a passing interest, and knew quite a bit about the collecting side of the hobby. Just seems crazy to me that he could forget about something like this in such a short amount of time. Whatever the case, that's great news for you man!

Btw, congratulations on tying the knot!