Rising value of Pokémon cards sparks smash and grab crime spree

A series of smash-and-grab robberies have hit Pokémon card shops across the UK as the increasingly popular collectible cards soar in value.

Celestial Collectibles in Warrington, Cheshire is one of the latest stores to be targeted after robberies in Rugby, Bristol, Bournemouth, Peterborough and Nottingham among others in recent weeks.

Shops have seen stock worth tens of thousands of pounds stolen. Cheshire Constabulary told the BBC it was in contact with police in the north west and around the UK about the issue.

Pokémon cards have been collected and traded for 30 years but since Covid, they have attracted more attention online, with some of the rarest selling for huge sums.

A recent auction by specialist auction house Stanley Gibbons Baldwins saw over £1.5m in "Pokémon assets" change hands.

While most cards are not worth thousands of pounds, high-profile sales of the rarest items have driven both collector and investor interest.

Earlier this year, the YouTuber, wrestler and boxer Logan Paul auctioned an ultra-rare, high-quality Pikachu card for a record-shattering $16.5m (£12m).

However, as the value grows so does the cards' appeal to criminals.

"Some of these thieves, they don't know what they're taking," said Roy Raftery, trading card expert at Stanley Gibbons Baldwins.

He has personally brokered Pokémon sales worth over £2m, including an £84,000 Pokémon Trainer, a £442,800 Charizard and an £832,000 Pikachu Illustrator.

He said: "Thieves know Pokémon is lucrative, they just know Pokémon is worth taking now. And they think it's an easier target than robbing a bank or robbing a jewellery shop."

Just this week, Wiltshire Police said a shop in Trowbridge had been burgled "during which a substantial amount of Pokémon cards and other items were stolen".

Unfortunately, Chris Grundy has had first-hand experience of this.

The owner of Celestial Collectibles in Warrington said: "They pulled up outside the shop in a transit van, they moved the cameras up with brushes and knocked the glass panel through.

"Then in pretty much four minutes they ransacked the whole shop."

He discovered that his business was the latest Pokémon card shop to be hit when a customer called him late at night to say the window had been smashed in.

"Luckily enough all the cash and higher value stock goes into the safe," he said.

"Most of what they stole were graded cards, a load of single cards and a load of sealed, foiled packs. Collection boxes ranging from £40 to £300."

In total, Grundy believes around £40,000 of stock was taken.

He is well aware that Celestial Collectibles is only one of a number of shops selling Pokémon cards to be burgled.

Trove UK in Bournemouth saw £30,000 worth of products taken in a similar smash and grab.

Full Fire TCG in Gloucester had £25,000 worth of goods stolen. Another retailer in Peterborough reported that it had lost around £80,000 worth of cards and collectibles to thieves.

Detective Inspector Liam Keenan from Cheshire Constabulary is aware the robbery in Warrington is just one of a series of similar attacks.

"While we've only had one incident here in Cheshire, we are aware of others and have linked in with our north west counterparts, along with force areas across the country," he told the BBC.

While this is a story of small retailers being targeted by thieves willing to smash up their shops in order to steal their cards, it is also one of community.

In the days after the break-in, Celestial Collectibles saw nearby trading card shops donating stock and even children bringing in their own card collections to donate.

Grundy said: "We've had people giving us cards, building furniture and cleaning up. A few younger kids coming in with their cards, worth maybe only £3 but to us it meant so much, it made such a difference. It was amazing."

One thing that makes these robberies even more distressing is that so many of these retailers are passion projects first and foremost, opened and staffed by people with a genuine love for collectible cards like Pokémon.

"We were fortunate that only about £2,000 worth was stolen from our premises," said Sam Jackway, owner of Card Catcher Shop in Bristol.

"But the distress and mental health complications for myself and staff have been pretty bad."

His store was broken into in the early hours of Easter Sunday.

"I actually saw them break in live as our camera system sent me an alert saying there was movement in the shop. We have an audible alarm system, a floodlight and cameras that alert to issues in the shop.

"[They] spent only five minutes collecting items and were spooked by the rest of the security systems. The police and I arrived only minutes after they left."

Chris Grundy said he has now upgraded security at Celestial Collectibles and warned other card retailers and even personal collectors that they need to consider how they keep their cards safe.

"We've massively upgraded our security, different machines, motion detectors, the lot. It's just needed now," he said.

"This was heartbreaking but as a business, as a community we'll come back from it. We love Pokémon."