Over 20 Million Yen of Pokemon Cards Robbed from Tokyo Store in Just Two Minutes

By: Water Pokémon Master · Posted Posted onDec 13, 2023 at 11:59 AM · 11 Comments

It’s that time again — more Pokemon TCG crime!

A late-night robbery has claimed nearly $140,000 in Pokemon cards from a card shop in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. On December 10th, two masked robbers broke into “Trading Card Highlight” and stole over 300 Pokemon cards. The store estimates the cards were worth 20 million yen.

The card shop posted video of the robbery to their Twitter account. One of the robbers is seen smashing the glass card displays with a hammer, ignoring verbal warnings from the store’s security system, and stuffing the Pokemon cards into a backpack. The robbers did not attempt to steal cash from the store’s registers. The pair of thieves are heard telling each other “You have one minute left” and “Hurry!” before taking off.

The Tokyo Metroplican Police arrived a minute and a half after the store’s security company alerted them of the intrusion. However, the culprits could not be found.

Aoi Ikeya, a store employee, stated, “When I got the call and rushed to the store, the cards were gone and my mind went blank. I had put the expensive cards in the safe, but they wouldn’t fit, so I put them in the [glass] showcases.”

The store will remain closed for now, but plans to resume business as soon as possible. They have filed a police report and damage reports.

Thefts targeting card shops have occurred in the past. As the Pokemon TCG continues to grow in popularity, it continues to suffer from bad actors. Even PokeBeach was held hostage for Pokemon cards!