The price ofPokémon TCGcards rapidly inflated during the pandemic, and, since then, reports ofcard shop burglarieshave also increased. Thankfully, these heists are often uncovered when the burglar attempts to sell the cards, as card shop owners have extensive inventory lists, and there’s a limited number of places you’re able to sell cards, making them easily trackable.
A strange case recently emerged in Tokyo, where a card shop owner revealed in a social media post that he was robbed at knifepoint (reported bySanspoand translated byAutomaton). The robber allegedly stole 123 cards with a combined worth of around $94,000; a big get, had he gotten away with it.
The Nasty Plot Thickens
The accused was apprehended, and his ill-got gains were seized by police. The twist? The offender was a rival card shop owner who was planning to sell the stolen inventory in his store. To make matters worse, both card shops operate in the same neighbourhood. The suspect, who is the third person to have been apprehended in this case, runs a store focused on Pokémon and One Piece cards.
It’s unclear how the police apprehended this individual, but the original article mentions that he pretended to be a customer in the store before threatening the owner, and then drove off with another individual.
If you think about it, a card shop owner is in the best position to potentially sell stolen goods undetected, as long as they don’t attempt to sell everything immediately.
It wasn’t the police who revealed the connection between the assailant and the victim, but rather the owner of the robbed store, whoshared his storyin the hope that the accomplices who are still at large could be apprehended by the police.
It’s one of the stranger cases involving the theft of Pokémon cards, but it’s unlikely to be the last. The staggering value of some rare individual cards has made every card store possessing these cards a target for thieves. The ease of transport involved in stealing cards makes them an enticing prospect for would-be robbers.
Thankfully, a lot of these attempted robberies have been unsuccessful thus far.
