As the value of Pokémon TCG cards hits its highest point in the game’s 30-year history, new cards are increasingly difficult to get hold of, and some classic cards have become worth vastly more by weight than gold. This inevitably attracts criminal acts, but few as violent and frightening as that experienced by a man trying to trade a $5,000 card in a parking lot.
The 38-year-old Australian resident of Wollongong, New South Wales had arranged to sell a PSA 9 Base Set (unlimited) holo Charizard to a stranger in a parking lot in Warilla, 20 minutes south of where he lived, according to reporting from ABC. However, instead he was physically assaulted by the person he’d arranged to meet, who then stole the card and drove away.
According to a police report issued by the New South Wales police department, the incident took place on March 28, but the police are only now appealing for help with identifying a car that was photographed leaving the scene, a red Ford Mustang. The incredibly blurry image was posted to the force’s X page, with what seems like a wildly inappropriate comment given the violence involved.
“Turns out Team Rocket’s not the only one causing trouble…” the post begins. After detailing the crime, it continues, “[we] believe the driver may have info that could help us catch ‘em all (or at least the one responsible).” The post then adds, “don’t just sit there like a Snorlax – contact Crime Stoppers.” Er, great everyone. Good stuff.
It’s unclear where the 8,000 AUD valuation comes from. ABC reports that the cops said the card was a Base Set Unlimited holo Charizard, graded 9, but non-1st edition Base Set Charizards tend to only sell for around 1,500 USD (2,300 AUD). You need a PSA 10 to see the big values, where it shoots up to almost $9k.
My guess would be that this was a far more rare “shadowless” version of the card, a printing of the set that saw the shadow effect to the right of the window art forgotten. At a grade 9, those are currently valued at just under 5,000 USD, or 8,000 AUD. (A 1st Edition PSA 9 Charizard, meanwhile, goes for an eye-watering $23,000, while PSA 10 fetches over a quarter of a million dollars.)
Pokémon TCG card robberies are becoming concerningly commonplace at this point, and ABC in Australia reports that Melbourne has seen a “string of Pokémon card burglaries,” with a million dollars’ worth of cards stolen across six months.
Earlier this month, a similar parking lot robbery took place in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with the ironically named Justice Earl Geho arrested for taking the $3,300 card without paying. Meanwhile, just a few days earlier in Calgary, Canada, a card shop was burgled, with more than $5,000 of Pokémon cards taken.
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