RarePokemoncards have had value for as long as the TCG has been popular.Rare cards have sold for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, making collecting cards not only a fun hobby, but also a potential goldmine for resellers.
Unfortunately, the continuing high value of collectible cards can sometimes lead to problems. While some buyers have seen themselves ripped off when making expensive purchases, likeLogan Paul spending millions on allegedPokemoncardsonly to receive junk, sometimes the sellers suffer, too.
RELATED:Florida Man Arrested for Stealing Pokemon Cards
Such is the case with one small collectible card shop located in Forest Lake, Minnesota. Punch Out Gaming sells card and game collectibles, and was apparently targeted in a recent heist. An unknown man broke into a neighboring store, and then entered Punch Out Gaming through a hole made in the wall. Surveillance cameras caught the thief in the act, but unfortunately, since no doors were opened in the card shop, the alarms weren’t triggered and they were able to take their time. The burglar spent over an hour gathering up money andPokemoncards, and is estimated to have made off with $250,000 worth.
Unfortunately, no arrests have yet been made, and the identity of the man remains unknown at the time of this writing. The shop’s co-owner, Jason Peterson, initially despaired that while the shop does have insurance, which would help to cover the cost of the loss, many of thePokemoncards stolenare in such high demand that it can’t simply be replaced. However, there is a silver lining to this particular cloud. Fans, shoppers, and other shop owners were quick to reach out to Punch Out Gaming, with a range of offers including promising to shop there, helping to resupply the store, to keeping an eye out for the cards being sold, in hopes of tracking down the thief. In the days following the theft, the shop has openly thanked the community for its support, reporting that itsPokemonstock is ‘growing back fast.’
While the vast majority of fans ofPokemonTCG collect legitimately, there’s been no lack of news regarding thefts tied to the game. Multiple offenders have been arrested or wanted for stealingPokemoncards from stores, withscalpers even targeting cereal boxespurely to take the limited edition cards. The crimes even occur inPokemon’s homeland of Japan, where a man was arrested for rappelling down into a store to steal thousands of dollars worth ofPokemoncards.
