A man looking to trade his Charizard Pokémon card was beaten and robbed for the highly sought-after collectible.
According to a report by ABC, a man arranged to meet with another person in a parking lot in Australia to trade a holographic Charizard Pokémon card. The item itself is a hot commodity in the card-collecting industry, with resale prices exceeding $400,000.
The man arrived at the parking lot at 10:45 p.m. on March 28 and was assaulted by the potential buyer who ended up stealing the PSA 9 graded card. The New South Wales Police Force posted a tweet in response to the incident using Pokémon references and shared an image of a car leaving the crime scene.
“Turns out Team Rocket’s not the only one causing trouble...," read the tweet. "Detectives are investigating after a rare Pokémon card - valued at over $8000 - was stolen during a trade at Warilla last month. We have released an image of a red 2023 Ford Mustang with grey stripes, seen nearby, and believe the driver may have info that could help us catch 'em all (or at least the one responsible). If you’ve got info, don’t just sit there like a Snorlax - contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."
People stealing or fighting over coveted Pokémon cards is nothing new. At the top of the year, Costco members were filmed getting into a brawl over the Pokémon 151 Blooming Waters Premium Collection.
In the clip, a man is seen holding two boxes of collectible trading cards when a second person began wrestling him to get his hands on one of the boxes. A second video showed customers running to grab the collection and fighting over it, while another clip showed people digging up multiple boxes at once.
In 2022, a band of thieves in France assaulted a man at gunpoint and robbed him of his Pokémon card collection worth $15,000.
