Pokemon Trading Card Game fans helped police arrest a man accused of stealing cards worth a staggering amount of money. Pokemon TCG has an active market in which a single card can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
As a result, stories of people stealing Pokemon cards in an attempt to profit from them are unfortunately common. A widely reported story occurred in December 2024 when thieves stole more than $315,000 worth of Pokemon cards from Ace Grading, a card grading company similar to PSA. In earlier July, a Pokemon trading card store in Japan suffered a big loss when 123 items worth approximately $94,000 were stolen by the manager of a neighboring store. Once again, a story involving the theft of Pokemon TCG cards has made headlines, but this time it had a happy ending.
Pokemon TCG Fan Makes Amazing Discovery at Local Store
A Pokemon Trading Card Game fan makes an incredible discovery at their local store, and gets an iconic card in a surprising way.
MassLive reported that a man linked to the theft of more than $115,000 worth of Pokemon TCG cards on July 8 was arrested this week by police in New Bedford, Massachusetts. According to the website, the 24-year-old man was attempting to resell a Base Set Unlimited Green Wings Booster Box, which was part of the merchandise stolen from the 1st Edition Collectibles store, to a store called Collectible Tags. On the same day, he attempted to make another sale, this time at Dream Collectors. With the Pokemon TCG community mobilized to keep an eye out for the cards after the theft, the stores became suspicious and notified the police. Detectives then found the man accused of stealing two vintage Pokemon TCG booster boxes, one from the Base Set and one from Neo Destiny, five Charizard cards, and one Blastoise card.
Man Suspected of Stealing $115,000 in Pokemon Cards Arrested
With the suspect's arrest, 1st Edition Collectibles recovered two stolen boxes, which unfortunately had been opened, reducing their commercial value. After that, the investigation led detectives to the man's place of residence, where the remaining stolen items were found in a shoebox. The store's co-owner, Filipe Andre, praised the owners of the other trading card stores for notifying the police and was relieved that the police had recovered the valuable Pokemon cards that had been taken.
Although cases of trading card theft are unfortunately a common occurrence, Pokemon TCG shows no signs of stopping, and the community remains engaged in celebrating their love for pocket monsters. On July 18, the new Black Bolt and White Flare expansion arrived, introducing 345 cards featuring Gen 5 Pokemon for players to collect. One of them is the coveted Victini Black White Rare, an impressive card that one Pokemon fan pulled twice.
- Franchise
- Pokemon
- Original Release Date
- October 20, 1996