Two South Jersey trading card shops got hit this month, and it’s part of something bigger: a wave of Pokémon card thefts sweeping the country as prices for the popular collectibles keep climbing.
Washington Township police issued an arrest warrant Thursday for Rafael Gordian, 31, of Philadelphia, tied to a July 1 break-in at Frank’s Card Shop, according to NJ.com.
Gordian and an accomplice allegedly took hammers to the store and walked away with roughly $10,000 worth of cards. They came back on July 10 to try again. However, the plan came crashing down when Gordian was pulled over near the store shortly after, which ended up being the break police needed—body camera and surveillance footage tied him to the crime.
Now authorities are looking into whether that case connects to a separate break-in early Wednesday at Lurk Cards and Collectibles in Gloucester Township—just two miles from Frank’s.
Two masked suspects smashed through the front door, stealing roughly $1,000 worth of cards in under five minutes, according to manager Julian Salugao. Here’s the twist, most of what they grabbed was empty boxes, deliberately left empty as a decoy in response to increased break-ins at trading card stores. Had everything been real, the suspects could have walked away with up to $10,000, highlighting just how quickly these heists can turn into tens of thousands of dollars.
Police think the two thefts are connected. The accomplice is still unidentified.
Why Pokémon Cards, and Why Now
None of this is happening in a vacuum.
Pokémon card values have exploded nationally, and thefts targeting collectible shops have followed right along with them, according to ABC News. Since 2004, the cards have appreciated a cumulative 3,821%, blowing past the S&P 500’s 483% over the same stretch, according to Elliot Riley-Walsh, founder and CEO of UK-based collectibles firm Valart.
Riley-Walsh traces a lot of this back to the pandemic, when Pokémon cards took off on social media through influencers filming themselves cracking open packs. It’s not just hype, either. In February, social media influencer Logan Paul sold the world’s most expensive Pokémon card, the Pikachu Illustrator, for a record $16.5 million at auction, according to Guinness World Records.
And New Jersey’s seen more than just these two incidents. Armed thieves stole about $150,000 worth of cards and $12,000 in cash from a father and son at a Woodbridge Township card show earlier this month, according to NJ.com. Back in June, masked suspects broke into Big Pack Hobby Shop in Rochelle Park and made off with $40,000 to $50,000 worth of merchandise.
Shop owners around the region are taking steps to protect themselves against future thefts—increased security and pulling stock from shelves overnight.
As the value of Pokémon cards skyrockets, some have twisted “gotta catch ‘em all” into “gotta steal ‘em all.”
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.