It’s a turbulent world right now, and the stock market regularly experiences tremors, resulting in sharp price drops. This has led many to consider alternatives when it comes to investing money, with gold, government bonds and currencies generally considered good choices. But perhaps Pokemon cards should be considered as a viable alternative?
They can be worth a fortune, so much so that they are now extremely desirable targets for thieves. The New York Times provides proof of this, reporting that a trio of thieves broke into a fashionable area of Lower Manhattan to steal Pokémon cards at gunpoint. In total, cards worth over $110,000 (£82,500 and €94,600) were stolen.
Among the valuables were “a professionally authenticated first edition card depicting the orange, dragon-like creature Charizard, valued at approximately $15,000.” The gang purposefully went after cards worth between 400 and 18,000 dollars – and they also took cash from the cash register.
The New York Times notes that such thefts are no longer uncommon, as the value of Pokémon cards has risen so dramatically. Just this month, a card store in California had over $300,000 worth of rare Pokémon cards stolen, and a store in Massachusetts suffered the same fate with over $100,000 worth of thefts in July.
At the time of writing, the thieves have not been caught, but the crime was caught on camera, so hopefully the police will be able to apprehend the culprits.
