Criminals aren’t just smashing display cases to get jewelry, fine art, or even cash; they’re after one of the most valuable and most expensive collectibles of the moment, Pokémon cards. As the demand for the cards grows, shops across Southern California are becoming a major target.
“There’s jewelry stores, there’s fashion stores, there’s banks and there’s collectible stores, and unfortunately, collectibles have become so valuable and so popular that they’ve now joined the ranks of a watch store or a jewelry store that makes itself a target,” said Ken Goldin, the owner of an auction house.
Goldin owns Goldin, an online auction house for trading cards, collectibles and memorabilia. He also stars in his own Netflix series called “King of Collectibles: ‘The Golden Touch.'”
People bid millions of dollars for Pokémon cards on his website, put up for auction by influencers with tens of millions of followers, like WWE wrestler Logan Paul.
“These are all kids, young adults, who are playing the game, treating it as a game in the late 90s, early 2000s and they’re now in their 30s and 40s,” Goldin said. “A lot of them have much more disposable income, and they’re spending it on something they love, which is Pokémon.”
On days that big box name stores restock their shelves, some locations have lines of collectors waiting to buy the new drops.
Across social media, at any hour of the day, you can now find creators streaming live, ripping packs of Pokémon cards, hoping to pull something valuable.
Most packs cost about $10 with 10 cards in each pack. The average card is only worth a few bucks. Once in a while, Pokémon slips a special limited-edition card in a few packs to drive collectors nuts and it could be worth millions.
“Part of what makes a Pokémon card so valuable is its scarcity or how rare it is. Buying a pack and pulling a card worth millions, even thousands, is like finding Willy Wonka’s golden ticket,” Goldin said.
Another point of value is the card’s condition.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) is one of the few recognized and respected card graders known for their labels and holders, or what collectors call slabs.
Matthew Hendler, senior manager of brand protection at PSA, said that someone will usually get their card graded to make sure they have an authentic card that hasn’t been altered, but also to see the condition.
Trained experts at PSA guarantee the authenticity of the card, give the card a grade that could make it more valuable and give it an ID number.
It’s all about what’s on the label. While most stolen cards and card packs can’t be traced back to the owner, certain companies like PSA have created online databases to track cards like these that have been graded.
LA Sports Cards in Burbank were burglarized earlier this year and had hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Pokémon and sports cards stolen.
“It sucks, it doesn’t feel good,” said Kiet Nyguen, the owner of LA Sports Cards. “The cards could be anywhere, card shows, offer up, they could be anywhere.”
Goldin said card shops can’t be treated like mom-and-pop shops anymore. He said they need to have better security, camera systems and valuables should be locked up.