The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 13th (local time) that a rare Pokémon card and a vintage Pokémon card box set worth more than $100,000 (approximately 137 million won) were stolen in Massachusetts.
William Gilmore, who runs a store selling Pokémon items and sports trading cards in New Bedford, Massachusetts, posted CCTV footage from the store along with photos of the missing Pokémon cards on his Facebook that day, notifying the public about the theft.
The footage shows that the thief smashed the store door with a hammer around 2:30 a.m. on the 10th, then quickly ran to the display case and left after putting Pokémon cards into a bag. He stayed in the store for about 30 seconds.
The items stolen included a first edition, shadowless Charizard card graded BGS 8.5, and a first edition, shadowless Blastoise card graded BGS 7.5. Charizard and Blastoise are the final evolution characters of the main Pokémon characters Charmander and Squirtle.
Gilmore claimed that the value of the stolen cards and vintage card box set amounts to between $100,000 and $113,000.
Pokémon cards featuring various characters from the popular Japanese animation are one of the popular trading items among collectors worldwide, including in the United States. Their value is assessed based on collector preferences and the rarity of the cards.