Pokemon Products Stolen in Daring Toy Store Heist
Over the last year or so, secondary market interest in Pokemon products has soared, with Pokemon cards, statues, and even Oreos seeing massive interest. In all likelihood, this played a major role in a daring heist that took place in the town of Voorburg, located in the Netherlands. According to a press release from Dutch police (translated by Vice), the thieves crashed their van into the store front, and they began to take Pokemon and LEGO related products. At this time, it is not known if the thieves were specifically targeting Pokemon cards, or just any Pokemon products they could obtain.
"Witnesses saw two men in a white van ram into the shop front. Agents immediately went to the shop, and the registration number and description of the van were passed on to surveillance units in the area," reads the press release.
Apparently, Dutch police did try pursuing a van matching the description by helicopter, but it turned out to be a different van entirely. While Pokemon products have seen more interest recently, LEGO products have long held strong secondary market value among collectors; big sets can be extremely expensive, and those sets tend to retain that value. Given that, it's not surprising that these two products would be targets for some thieves.
Over the last year, resellers have gone to extraordinary lengths to make people pay extra, so this comes as little surprise. Earlier this year, McDonald's locations held a Pokemon card promotion, and the first day the cards were available, entire cases ended up on eBay, despite the fact that McDonald's policy explicitly prohibits whole cases of toys from being sold. The restaurant chain replied by placing strict limits on the number of cards that could be sold, and it seemed to make a quick difference, allowing fans old and new a better chance at completing their sets. Given that kind of interest, it's not hard to imagine some resellers going to extreme lengths, knowing how great interest is. Hopefully, police will have luck finding the perpetrators!
Are you surprised resellers would go to this length to steal Pokemon and LEGO products? Have you had a hard time getting Pokemon products this year? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!