The bandit had to ‘catch ’em all!’
A burglar used a hammer to break into a collectibles ship in Massachusetts and made off with more than $100,000 worth of rare Pokémon cards.
The thief entered 1st Edition Collectible in New Bedford around 2.30am last Tuesday, took the trading cards from a display case and stuffed them in a bag and fled, according to one of the storeowners.
‘They were in and out of our store within 30 seconds,’ William Gilmour told The New York Times on Sunday.
‘They went straight to these high-value items.’
A CCTV image posted by the shop on Facebook shows a person wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a facemask kneeling in front of a glass display case full of cards.
In another post, the shop shared a list of stolen items along with some photos of them, and asked the public to be on the lookout for them.
‘The overwhelming support that we’ve received from you all this week has been amazing and a reminder as to why we love this hobby and the community involved so much,’ the shop wrote.
Among the stolen items are a BGS 8.5 1st Edition Shadowless Charizard, a BGS 8.5 Skyridge Crystal Charizard, a PSA 9 Gold Star Charizard, a Pokémon Base Set Unlimited Green Wings Booster Box, and a Pokémon Neo Revelation Unlimited Booster Box.
‘They are really rare because how many sealed boxes are still there from 1999 to 2000?’ Gilmour said.
The burglar took five rare cards and vintage box sets that totaled $100,000 to $113,000 in value, according to Gilmour.
As of Sunday, no arrests had been made and the crime remained under investigation, according to New Bedford Police Department spokeswoman Holly Huntoon.
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The shop is located about 60 miles south of Boston.
‘Seriously, thank you all for bringing some comfort to us during this crazy time,’ stated the shop on social media.
‘This incident was devastating but we will bounce back, grow, and come back better than ever.’
Pokémon, meaning pocket monsters, were created in Japan and became wildly popular in the 1990s worldwide as people collected the trading cards and played the video games.
It happened about nine months after burglars broke into a store in Cincinnati, Ohio, and weirdly stole more than 100 right-footed shoes.
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