Rare Pokémon Cards Worth More Than $100,000 Stolen From Shop
A burglar used a hammer to smash open the door of the shop, 1st Edition Collectibles in New Bedford, Mass., around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Once inside, the thief dashed to a display case and stashed the Pokémon collectibles in a bag before taking off, according to William Gilmour, one of the store's three owners.
He said that the stolen items, which included five rare cards and some vintage box sets, were valued at $100,000 to $113,000.
'They were in and out of our store within 30 seconds,' Mr. Gilmour said on Sunday about the burglar. 'They went straight to these high-value items.'
The stolen cards included a BGS 8.5 First Edition Shadowless Charizard and a BGS 7.5 First Edition Shadowless Blastoise. (BGS stands for Beckett Grading Services, a company that grades collectibles and trading cards.) The sealed boxes included a Pokémon base set Unlimited Green Wing Booster Box.
Mr. Gilmour said that a booster box contains 36 packs of original cards.
'They are really rare because how many sealed boxes are still there from 1999 to 2000?' Mr. Gilmour said.
The shop, which sells Pokémon items, sports trading cards and vintage video games, is in downtown New Bedford, about 60 miles south of Boston.
'We are small but mighty,' Mr. Gilmour said of the store, adding that he opened the shop with his childhood buddies 'for the love of the city and the love of the hobby.'
Holly Huntoon, a spokeswoman for the New Bedford Police Department, said that the break-in remained under investigation and that no arrests had been made.
On Facebook, the store's owners posted a surveillance video image of the burglary and a list highlighting the stolen items to raise public awareness.
Pokémon, short for pocket monsters, first became popular in the 1990s, when they were rolled out in Japan as a video game and then as trading cards that introduced a collection of creatures who live in a fantasy world alongside humans.
The monsters, who are more cute than scary — think of the yellow, mouse-like Pikachu, which has a lightning-bolt shaped tail and can discharge electricity from its red cheeks when angered — have cultivated a fierce following among fans and collectors.
Pokémon have appeared over the years in many commercial forms, including as figurines and in animated series, films, and video and smartphone games. Followers enjoy collecting the characters through various games.
'They hit the marketing nail on the head with the 'gotta catch em all' catch line,' Mr. Gilmour said, explaining Pokemon's enduring popularity.
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