Hunting for Pokémon. Shops selling cards with mythical creatures are being massively robbed in Britain
Collectible Pokémon game cards have increased so much in value in recent years that they have become an attractive target for robbers.
Photo: John Keeble/Getty Images
Several shops selling these cards have been robbed in England within a few weeks. Losses amount to tens of thousands of euros, writes the BBC.
One of the latest victims was the Celestial Collectables store in Warrington, Cheshire. Prior to this, robbers had visited stores in Bristol, Nottingham, Rugby, Bournemouth, Peterborough and other locations.
The Pokémon TCG card game will turn 30 this autumn. Rare and valuable cards from the collection have long been collected and traded by collectors, but since the time of COVID, their popularity on the internet has grown significantly, and with it, prices have also risen.
Millions in Assets
At a recent auction held by the specialized auction house Stanley Gibbons Baldwins, "Pokémon assets" worth 1.5 million pounds (more than two million dollars) were sold.
Most cards are not worth much, but the prices of the rarest ones, driven by demand from both collectors and mere investors, have soared.
In February, video blogger, wrestler, and boxer Logan Paul auctioned off an ultra-rare, high-quality Pikachu Pokémon card for a record $16.5 million.
Criminals have also turned their attention to the appreciating Pokémon cards.
"Some of these thieves don't even know what they're stealing," says Roy Raftery, a card expert at Stanley Gibbons Baldwins.
He himself has brokered the sale of Pokémon cards totaling over two million pounds. One went for 955,000 euros, another for 510,000, and yet another for 96,000.
"Thieves know that Pokémon are a good score, that Pokémon are worth taking now. They consider it easy prey, easier than robbing a bank or a jewelry store," says Raftery.
In mid-April, Wiltshire police announced that a store in Trowbridge had become another victim of such robberies.
Chris Grundy, owner of Celestial Collectables in Warrington, says his store was robbed in a matter of minutes.
"They drove up in a van, used mops to lift the cameras upwards, broke the door glass. And then in practically four minutes, they cleared out the entire store," says Grundy.
Wave of Robberies
Grundy learned that he had become another victim of Pokémon card hunters from a customer who called late at night and reported that the store's glass was broken.
"Luckily, cash and the most valuable items are kept in a safe," says Grundy. "They mainly took cards with an official category [of value], a bunch of single cards and a bunch of sealed decks. Collectible decks ranging from 46 to 345 euros."
In total, according to Grundy's estimate, the robbers took goods worth 70,000 euros.
He is well aware that his Celestial Collectables is not the only store robbed for Pokémon cards.
Trove UK store in Bournemouth had cards worth 35,000 euros stolen.
Full Fire TCG store in Gloucester – 29,000 euros.
Another trader, from Peterborough, lost goods worth 95,000.
Inspector Liam Keenan from Cheshire Police told the BBC that Celestial Collectables is currently the only victim of such robberies in their county, but he and his colleagues are aware of similar incidents in other counties and are working in contact with local police there.
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