Thieves around the world are continuing to rob stores in search of valuable Pokémon Cards. In the latest example of this trend, some robbers in Japan apparently didn’t know much about Pokémon and had to ask shop staff which cards were valuable and worth stealing.
As first reported by NHK and spotted by IGN, on September 9 thieves broke into a card shop in Osaka, Japan. The break-in allegedly occurred at 3:30 A.M. while store employees were closing up for the night. The thieves had what appeared to be a knife. After tying up the employees, the two robbers walked out with over $70,000 worth of valuable Pokémon cards. Apparently, the thieves didn’t do their research and needed help with picking the right cards to steal.
As further reported by The Mainichi, the robbery happened right after an employee livestream in which they showed off cards to viewers. According to police, before tying them up with rope and covering their mouths with tape, the duo asked the employees which Pokémon cards were worth stealing. The thieves then left with over 100 trading cards worth about $10 million yen or about $70,000 USD. So it seems the employees did a good job recommending which cards to grab.
Police say the thieves took the two staff members’ phones and wallets, too. No injuries were reported. Local police in Osaka have yet to find and arrest the alleged thieves who reportedly wore dark shirts and sunglasses during the robbery.
This is far from the first time we’ve seen criminals targeting hobby shops and Pokémon cards. Over the last few years, as Pokémon cards have become increasingly more popular and valuable, we’ve seen numerous examples of large-scale card robberies. In 2022, a collector claimed over $500,000 worth of Pokémon cards was stolen from his home. And in 2023 a police officer was fired after allegedly trying to steal and sell Pokémon cards. So uh, be careful who you tell about your awesome collection of Pokémon cards.
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