A bold thief smashed through the doors of a trading card store in Tempe, Arizona, making off with $7,000 worth of Pokémon collectibles in a brazen smash-and-grab early Tuesday morning.
The unidentified burglar used a sledgehammer to break into the front door of Skyluxx Grinds before entering Phi Cao's store, Bussin’ or Bustin’ Trading Card Lounge, according to AZ Family. The thief stole merchandise in two large storage containers before fleeing into the night.
'Imagine going to jail and catching a felony charge over shiny cardboard,' Cao told the outlet. 'I’m really hoping someone makes an example out of this guy and have the next guy think twice.'
Surveillance footage captured the moment the glass door shattered into pieces as the thief, wearing a dark jacket, large sunglasses, and with his greasy hair tied in a bun, stepped through. He threw the sledgehammer to the ground before retrieving a storage container and quickly running behind the front counter, shoving boxes of collectibles into the bin.
Using his arm, he swept the top shelf clean before picking up his goods and fleeing around 2:30 a.m. He returned a minute later with another empty container, filled it with more trading cards, and left for good. As of Friday afternoon, the man has not been arrested.
Cao took to Instagram with a colourful description of the suspect, writing: 'If you have any information regarding this five-head, receding hairline a**, greasy, balding, needs a belt, -10 agility, small feet, subhuman, [let me know]. Inventory so good he couldn’t wait till we opened. Heard we only sold heat in the store so he had to go see it for himself.'
Fortunately, Cao told AZ Family he keeps his most valuable trading cards at home, so the thief stole only $7,000 worth of inventory. Cao opened the store just a few months ago and was warned by other card shop owners that a break-in was inevitable.
'An inside joke that some other card shop owners have had with me is that it’s not a if, but when, because stuff like this does happen, especially with how hot Pokémon is right now,' he said. Trading and selling Pokémon cards can bring in thousands of dollars, making it a hobby with 'a lot of liquid money being moved around.'
Although other trading stores have been broken into recently, Tempe Police do not believe it is a 'broader trend,' a spokesperson told the Daily Mail. 'We are not aware of any such trend in other nearby jurisdictions. Detectives say Pokémon and other trading cards are targets of theft because of their resale value and the potential to find rare, high-value cards that are difficult to trace. Demand is further driven by limited availability and secondary-market interest.'
The theft comes amid the enduring popularity of Pokémon, which turned 30 in February and continues to sell billions of cards annually. Swiss tech heiress Jolina Gisèle, known as the 'Pokémon princess,' has amassed a collection of 60,000 cards worth an estimated $67 million, including rare 'illustrator' editions. From ultra-rare Charizards to one-of-a-kind special editions, some cards can make collectors millionaires overnight. YouTuber Logan Paul sold a single 'Pikachu Illustrator' card for a record-breaking $16.49 million.
