Tens of thousands Pokemon cards was stolen after three thieves broke into Tofu’s Trading, a small store located in San Jose, California. Tofu’s Trading specializes in selling TCG of famous brands such as Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon.
Pokemon TCG originated in Japan in 1996, a few months after the first Pokemon games, Green and Red, were released on the market. The Pokemon card trading game has achieved great success as many fans show great interest in collecting and storing “authentic” cards. A few decades later, some rare Pokemon cards have skyrocketed in price because of collectors’ desire. With the value of the cards reaching thousands of dollars, finding a rare card can literally make the owner rich. Unfortunately, this increase in value has meant that some card sellers have become targets of robbers looking to make an illegal profit, as was the case with Tofu’s Trading.
ABC7 News reports that three thieves broke into Tofu’s Trading in the middle of the night and fled with no less than 35,000 Pokemon Cards of varying values, along with several other items. Amy Simpson, store manager, said the robbery may have occurred because a faulty motion detector prevented the alarm system from activating. Although San Jose police were unable to catch the thieves in time, security cameras successfully recorded the break-in. In the video posted on Twitter, the suspects can be seen crawling on all fours on the floor of the store before quickly committing the theft.
According to Simpson, the criminals were not experts on the Pokemon TCG market because they overlooked more valuable items. A special set of Pokemon cards was expected to arrive at Tofu’s Trading just two days after the theft. This, combined with the fact that the thieves did not know the store’s layout, made the manager think that this was not a pre-planned attack. The total loss of the theft is still unclear.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time a store selling Pokemon Cards has been a victim of theft. In 2023, a trio of robbers reportedly stole $1 million worth of Pokemon items from another store in California. Incidents like this are a reminder for store owners to increase their security measures.
