Cops are on the hunt for a pair of hammer-wielding masked bandits who stole thousands of dollars worth of collectible Pokémon cards from two Detroit-area stores over a five-day crime spree earlier this month.
The card thieves hit both stores in the early morning before either was open and caused massive damage to one by smashing the glass displays showcasing the cards, according to cops and reports.
In the first heist, the duo — dressed in all black and wearing full face coverings — hit RIW Hobbies & Gaming in Livonia on May 16 around 5 a.m., Fox 2 Detroit reported.
Store owner Pam Willoughby came in to open the shop later that morning and discovered her glass cases shattered and her Pokémon cards missing.
She checked her security cameras and watched the footage in horror as the two Pokémon perps smashed her display cases with a hammer, grabbed the cards, and stuffed them in sacks before running off.
“When I actually watched them just standing in the building by themselves swinging a hammer, it was a little unnerving — it was an invasion,” Willoughby told WXYZ.
She told Fox 2 that the bandits cost her $12,000 between the damage to her store and the price of the cards.
She believes the sticky-fingered duo may have taken the stash to sell at the Motor City Comic Con, where hundreds of vendors gather to trade Pokémon and other similar cards — which began the very same day of her break-in.
A few days later, on May 20, again around 5 a.m., a similarly dressed hammer-wielding suspect broke into Eternal Games in Warren, where he stole more Pokémon cards, security footage shows. That time, the bandit leapt over the display case, crammed the cards into a sack, and escaped, according to WXYZ.
“They didn’t smash out the showcase but hopped the showcase, opened up the showcase and then crouched down and took, took, hopped over and left,” Eternal Games assistant manager Dakota Olszewski told Fox 2.
Olszewski said they stole $3,500 worth of singles — rare cards that are nearly impossible to restock.
“I don’t think we are going to find the cards specifically, which is a bummer because they’re pretty cool,” she said.
This isn’t the first time that Pokémon cards have been at the center of criminal activity and violent behavior.
In January, cops were nearly called to a Costco in Los Angeles when bedlam broke out between customers jostling over the coveted cards. Wild footage captured an older customer wrapping a younger customer in a bear hug during the brawl.
The younger man smashed the attacker in the face with his elbow while a female shopper yelled at him.
“Get the f–k off of me bro,” one shopper said, according to a video posted on X by YouTuber DisguisedToast.
A few months later, a not-so-friendly Spider-Man was arrested after security camera footage caught him breaking into a store in northern Virginia. Joel Brown, 20, was accused of robbing a family-owned collectibles store wearing a Spider-Man suit to conceal his true identity and making off with rare, limited edition Pokémon cards.
With tariffs hurting the market, Pokémon and other trading cards are seeing a surge in demand as investors seek out alternatives beyond the traditional mix of financial standbys.
The trading card industry is valued at more than $15 billion as of 2024.
