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Charleston man allegedly leaves his sleeping daughter outside Target at 1 AM. Then he admits he left her to hold his place for Pokémon Cards

Maybe don't catch them all.

As a franchise, Pokémon has been popular for decades and lets you interact with content in a variety of ways, such as the anime, Pokémon Go, the regularly released video games, and trading cards. The trading cards, in particular, receive a lot of interest, and that might be due to how valuable some cards can be.

For John-Michael Dooley in Charleston, South Carolina, getting some Pokémon cards was apparently worth waiting in line at Target. However, Dooley allegedly left his sleeping daughter alone outside Target so that she could hold his place in line, according to TMZ.

Dooley was arrested on November 6 around 2:30 a.m., according to the Charleston Police Department.

Dooley allegedly left his daughter for over an hour

In the early hours of November 6, witnesses reported to police via phone calls that a man left a sleeping six-year-old girl outside Target with a pillow and blanket. The cops then arrested Dooley when he returned around 2:30 a.m., when he apparently admitted that he left his daughter to hold his place in line while he went home.

Dooley is being held at the Al Cannon Detention Center and has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, who was thankfully reported to be unharmed and is now in protective custody. TMZ states that Dooley’s supposed to appear in court on December 18, and his bond is set at $40,000.

Scalpers and resellers can make a lot of money from trading card games

Pokémon cards aren’t the only trading card game (TCG), but they’re among the most popular, and if you’re lucky, quite lucrative. Rare cards can be sold for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. The price is impacted by factors like rarity, condition, and the set from which the card originates. Unique factors that can affect the price include having a card that’s a misprint, which tends to increase its value.

For example, Goldin is a website that auctions trading cards, and one card currently available for bidding is a 1996 Pokémon Japanese Bandai Carddass Vending Prism #006 Charizard. It has 26 bids, putting the price at $4,250. The condition is Mint 9 (almost perfect condition, but with a minor flaw), which adds to the value, along with it being an older card.

However, if you happened to have a 1999 Pokémon Base Set 1st Edition Holo #4 Charizard, Thin Stamp, you’d see that it’s currently up for $12,000. It’s newer and in slightly worse condition than the 1996 Charizard that’s available (Mint 8.5, which means some evidence of wear), but it’s much rarer, so the value is higher.

Of course, not every card is valuable, and the reality is that you’ll likely pull cards that are under five dollars in value from a standard pack. However, the gamble of possibly pulling a valuable card adds to the draw of purchasing packs, even if that means waiting in line for hours.

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Melissa has been writing professionally since 2022. While most of her experience has been in gaming and entertainment, she loves finding unusual news stories that cover unexpected events.