Recently, Pokémon TradingcardsReaching its 30-year historical peak, some rare cards are worth more than gold per unit weight. The first-generation Charizard cards have become "hard currency" in the collection world. The market price of the PSA level 10 first printing edition has exceeded US$250,000 (approximately RMB 1.8 million), and the price of ordinary cards other than the first printing edition has also reached US$1,500-9,000. New cards are snapped up as soon as they are released, and second-hand market transactions surge, leading to frequent crimes.
On March 28, a violent robbery occurred in a parking lot in Warrilla, New South Wales. When the seller was carrying a PSA level 9 first-generation unlimited version holographic Charizard card (valued by the police at 8,000 Australian dollars - about 66,000 yuan) for offline transactions, the buyer was beaten and the card was taken away. The suspect fled in a red Ford Mustang, and only blurry images were captured on surveillance. Collection experts speculate that the robbed cards may be "shadowless versions" that miss the printing of shadow effects. The current market price of this version of PSA level 9 is indeed consistent with the police estimate.
Three weeks after the incident, the New South Wales police solicited clues through the social platform
At present, Pokémon card crime cases have become very common. In addition to this case, a series of thefts occurred in Melbourne, Australia, within half a year, and the total value of cards lost exceeded one million US dollars. A robbery occurred in Wyoming, the United States, and the suspect was arrested for stealing US$3,300 in cards. A card store in Calgary, Canada was ransacked, and US$5,000 in merchandise was stolen, etc.