Tacoma shop owner watches a Dodge pickup allegedly smash through his doors at 5 am. Then he realizes their goal: ‘They came in looking for Pokémon’

A Tacoma, Washington, trading card game (TCG) shop decided to hire security guards for a night shift position after Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering (MTG) cards were stolen by thieves, according to Dexerto.

The theft happened on November 2, shortly after 5 a.m., according to the Tacoma Police Department. The thieves allegedly used a black Dodge pickup truck as a battering ram to smash the rear doors, which are metal, allowing the thieves access to the storeroom, where they stole $50,000 worth of products.

Unfortunately for Northwest Sportscards, this is the second break-in of the same style to happen within four months, according to the Tacoma police. As of writing this, it seems that no arrests have been made related to the case, although the police are offering a reward for anyone with tips that lead to arrests and charges.

Northwest Sportscards is increasing security measures following the theft

With two break-ins in a matter of months and $50,000 worth of inventory now gone, Northwest Sportscards owner Don Knutsen went on local news and talked about the break-in. It only took a few minutes, and he said, “They came in looking for Pokémon. They ended up getting a lot of [Magic: The Gathering] as well.”

Now, Knutsen said that he’s adding to his store’s security with guards who will be present seven nights a week. Knutsen already had security measures in place before the event, but he said, “We already have a fantastic security system, great cameras, high-definition everything, but we need to make it tougher.”

While the value of the sealed packs of cards that were stolen is $50,000, Knutsen explained that the cost hits harder than just the face value of the cards, as he’ll need to sell 10 times as much product to break even from the loss.

The cards are unlikely to be recovered

Trading cards are an interesting choice for thieves to grab because their value isn’t guaranteed, but they’re unique in that the design makes it difficult to recover stolen stock. Even if the thieves were arrested, it’s possible that the cards would have already been sold.

This wouldn’t be the case for graded cards, which would be easy to identify. However, the thieves allegedly stole cards that were still in their packs, which means the exact cards that they have would be unknown and wouldn’t have serial numbers, as explained by Misprint.

There’s a risk of felony charges because of the high value of the items stolen, and it could be worth the police department’s time to keep an eye on websites that allow for cards to be sold, as well as conventions and tournaments, where you can usually find people selling and trading cards during the event.

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