Key Takeaways
- Pokemon TCG cards are stolen for their high value, making recovery difficult with minimal identification methods.
- A stolen Charizard card valued at $39,000 was recovered by police and returned to its owner in England.
- Thieves target Pokemon TCG cards, collectors should purchase from licensed retailers, and safeguard their collection.
A Pokemon fan had a valuable Pokemon TCG card stolen from them, but they’ve been lucky enough to get it back. The Pokemon TCG thief was tracked down pretty quickly by the police due to their method of trying to unload the card.
Pokemon TCG crimes have become unfortunately frequent. Rare Pokemon cards or packs that potentially contain them can often go for high prices, and as they lack serial numbers of other methods of identification, it can be incredibly difficult to get them back once they’re stolen. Criminals have broken into businesses and even stolen Pokemon TCG cards in broad daylight from storefronts. While the perps are sometimes caught, the cards are often already long gone, making this a rare feel-good story.
Related
The Unwritten Rules of Pokemon TCG Explained
Pokemon TCG is a card game with several rules, and a few of them are unwritten but still vital for an enjoyable gameplay session.
The BBC has reported that in Heathfield in East Sussex, England, a Charizard Pokemon card with a value of up to £30,000, or roughly $39,000 USD, was stolen sometime between September 2-5. The card was discovered being sold on Facebook by the police, who tracked down the sale to a nearby town about 12 miles away from the card’s original owner. Police located the seller, a 23-year-old male, who apparently admitted to stealing the card. The card was confiscated, valued, and returned to the original owner.
Surprisingly, the thief was only given a warning in the form of a caution, rather than charged with any crimes. It’s not clear if this is due to the card not being particularly valuable, or the owner deciding not to press charges. It’s possible that this was the thief’s first offense, potentially leading the police to feel that a warning was appropriate.
Pokemon Cards are a Valuable Target for Theft
Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky as to get their valuable or meaningful cards back. A warehouse storing tons of Pokemon TCG cards was previously broken into and stolen from on more than one occasion, with the target largely being Pokemon TCG. Collectors have no way of knowing if the cards they’re purchasing from individuals are stolen goods or not, further complicating matters. Pokemon card collectors can largely avoid this by only purchasing their cards from licensed retailers, but that generally means having to rely upon randomized packs and highly marked-up singles.
Unfortunately, there’s no quick solution to prevent thieves from seeking Pokemon TCG cards to steal, so owners should take care to protect what they have. In addition to keeping the cards at home, potentially under lock and key, it’s a good idea to not openly advertise what one has online, as it could make a person a target.
Pokemon TCG
Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) is a collectible and strategy based card game based on Nintendo’s Pokemon franchise. Two players face off against one another, battling one Pokemon at a time and attempting to knock them out to claim one of six prize cards. The cards have also become highly collectible with some in particular selling for thousands of dollars.
- Original Release Date
- October 20, 1996