$100.000 worth of Pokémon cards were stolen from a shop in Manhattan, and this isn't the first time. What does this mean for fans?
Collecting Pokémon cards is not a new hobby, but it has attracted many new people in recent years. Many of them are simply collectors who hope to acquire the rarest and most valuable cards for their own collections. However, these valuable cards have quickly created a market that is now out of control.
The Robbery In Manhattan
A few days ago, a store in Manhattan that mainly sells Pokémon cards was robbed. According to ABC7NY, the thieves stole $100,000 worth of cards. According to reports, the store opened just two months ago by a group of friends who enjoyed watching Pokémon growing up. Although the employees and customers in the store were threatened by the perpetrators, fortunately no one was injured.
Unfortunately, however, the robbery in Manhattan was not an isolated incident. Robberies involving trading cards are becoming more common. The well-known commentary YouTuber penguinz0, also known as Charlie, has interesting insights into the trading card community and comments on the incident in his video:
Card shops have to be getting robbed more often than gas stations and jewelry stores combined.
It is assumed that the thieves intend to sell the cards to fans who have been searching for them for their own collections.
The Trading Card Market Is Getting Worse
According to Charlie, Pokémon cards are the main target for these people, also known as scalpers, but they have now started targeting other trading card games as well, such as those from the very popular anime One Piece. He says:
Pokémon has been so infested with scalpers that even scalpers are getting discouraged from scalping it.
According to Charlie, the market is so saturated with people selling tickets for far more than they are actually worth. This makes it increasingly difficult for fans to keep up with this price trend. As a result, it is also becoming less and less lucrative for these scalpers to sell the cards, too. When addressing the concept of reselling the cards, he says:
There have been numerous cases where people have tried that and got arrested for it.
Fans and shop owners can only hope that this trend will soon stop.