Every day, I get all bummed out that Pokémon aren’t real, but hey, sometimes we get a taste of their world right here on Earth. Team Rocket may not be real, but we’ve got some real-life villains pulling off Pokémon crimes. Case in point: a dude in the UK’s Tameside, Manchester recently got nabbed for swiping a load of Pokémon trading cards worth around £250,000, or $332,500 for us Yanks.
The British Tameside Police spilled the tea about the bust on their Facebook page, where they dish out mugshots, updates on their operations, and all that jazz for the locals. They revealed that they uncovered “thousands” of stolen cards, totaling up to a cool quarter of a million pounds. The loot included unopened booster packs, as well as some fancy graded cards worth a pretty penny on their own. The cops are trying to reunite the cards with their rightful owners. Among the haul were gems like a grade 10 Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare from Paldean Fates, and the Silver Tempest Lugia V full-art also in a PSA 10, both fetching hundreds of dollars.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has turned into a wild ride of a hobby lately, thanks to scalpers and resellers flooding the market. Just a fortnight ago, some poor soul got beaten up and robbed for a $5000 Charizard card. Grown-ups are throwing down over cards, camping out at grocery stores for restocks, and turning Pokémon events into something out of a Black Friday horror show. It’s a goldmine for scalpers, but man, the lengths people go to for this stuff is downright bonkers. If you want that sweet, sweet dopamine hit from a good card pull without the drama, maybe give the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket a whirl on your mobile device.
