Surveillance video shows thieves targeted Houston-area trading card game shops

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — MadRat and Nakama Collectibles are two local trading card game shops, both hit with two brazen burglaries this week.

“It’s getting out of control, it’s just a lot,” MadRat Toys co-owner Sam Pacheco said.

Surveillance video shows in a matter of minutes the suspects use a sledgehammer to break the glass at MadRat, enter the store and stuff the popular cool cards into trash bags.

“$10 to $15,000 in product and probably about like $10,000 in damages for the window and cases and stuff like that,” Pacheco said.

Pacheco said thieves are continuing to target the trading stores a lot right now.

“It feels like it’s one every week or something like that, it’s terrible,” Pacheco said.

The trading card craze owners say is at an all-time high as people try to make quick big bucks with resales, some comparing it to the widespread rash of catalytic converter thefts.

“I remember when that was happening a lot and you would see people going under cars, taking out the catalytic converter and running away, it’s kind of like the same thing now, you see people breaking into game stores, busting windows down, busting doors down,” Pacheco said.

On Sunday at Nakama Collectibles in Cypress, law enforcement said two men used a brick to break the door and take the cards.

“It’s very unfortunate because for me it’s like once you do that, when you cross that line of you break in, you still cards, especially if you’re a player yourself that does that, at that point you’re not a player,” Nakama Collectibles employee Aaron Compton said.

Compton said for him it’s unforgivable.

“Don’t do it, it’s not worth it because eventually you’re going to get caught,” Compton said.

Pacheco added that Houston is a hub for card and collectible shows – open to everyone — to get the valuables correctly.

“All of those different shows that you can go and purchase things and do it the right way instead of just kind of breaking in and buying – grabbing all the stuff that you want and trying to sell it somewhere else,” Pacheco said.

Pacheco said they are of course going to beef up their security as well now.

For MadRat’s case, Houston police said they caught two of the suspect’s nearby although they are not charged in the burglary yet.

HPD said the search for the other suspect’s and this investigation is still ongoing.

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