A peaceful community night at a Manhattan card shop turned into a nightmare this week. A group of armed men stormed into Poke Court in the Meatpacking District during a special event for fans. While about forty people were busy decorating card sleeves the robbers pulled out guns and held everyone hostage. One of the thieves used a hammer to smash through glass display cases to reach the most expensive items in the store. The entire robbery was caught on camera and lasted only about three minutes before the suspects fled.
The store owner estimated that the thieves made off with over one hundred thousand dollars in merchandise. Among the stolen items were some of the rarest Pokemon cards in existence today. The most valuable piece was a special Japanese Charizard card worth about twenty-three thousand dollars on its own. They also grabbed another famous Charizard from the very first set of cards which is valued at over seven thousand dollars. The robbers even took cash from the register and a cell phone from one of the terrified customers.
Several other rare cards featuring characters like Pikachu, Treecko, and Mudkip were also taken during the heist. These cards are kept in thick plastic cases that verify they are authentic and in perfect condition. Collectors call these cases “slabs” and they usually make the cards easier to track. However experts worry the thieves might break the cases open to try and sell the cards secretly. Along with the individual cards the group also stole rare unopened boxes of packs from over twenty years ago.
The local community has shown a lot of support for the store after the scary incident. The owner expressed relief that nobody was physically hurt during the confrontation. She reminded everyone that while expensive cardboard can be replaced human lives are much more important. Despite the loss and the broken glass the store managed to reopen just one day later. Many fans have been sharing pictures of the stolen cards online to help the police find the people responsible.
This robbery is part of a growing trend of high-value card thefts across the country. Just a few weeks earlier another store in California lost three hundred thousand dollars worth of inventory in a similar way. In New York specifically other card shops have reported smaller thefts and fraudulent purchases over the last few months. Police are still looking for the four men involved in the Manhattan heist and are asking the public for any information. They hope that the unique nature of the stolen cards will make them difficult for the thieves to sell without being caught.
