Two brothers have been caught trying to steal £62,000 worth of Pokémon TCG by Cheshire police who aptly commented: "gotta catch 'em all!"—true, but I'm not sure Ash Ketchum envisioned it quite like this.
Keith Johnson, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary with intent to steal at a hearing which took place earlier this month and has since been sentenced to 29 months in prison (via IGN). While his accomplice and brother Shane Johnson, 37, admitted to the same offences and is set to be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on July 31.
The brothers targeted Celestial Collectables in Warrington, a shop specialising in all things Pokémon, including memorabilia and TCG. They smashed the shop door in and began to ransack the store, taking £62,000 worth of Pokémon cards, and damaging the shop in excess of £3,000, before getting into a white Ford transit van and driving off.
The brothers went on to steal stock from Pokémon TCG shops in Stockton Heath, Warwickshire, and The Graded Gallery in Rugby. The latter of which had over £9,000 in damages inflicted on the store and cards stolen. The police found the brothers' address by tracing the vans whereabouts, searched the property, and found the stolen cards.
DC Hannah Smith has subsequently commented on the string of burglaries: "The overwhelming evidence collected through our extensive enquiries put them at both crime scenes giving them no choice but to plead guilty. The brothers will now have to pay the price for their part in their criminal Pokémon enterprise."
My heart goes out to all the business and people involved, I truly hope they've been able to pick up the pieces and have had their communities rally around them. Amid all the nastiness that goes on within the wider Pokémon landscape, stealing, scalping, and just overall grottiness, this hobby is still full of amazing people who go out of their way to help others.
But this is unfortunately not all that uncommon in the Pokémon TCG landscape, thanks to manufactured scarcity as a result of The Pokémon Company printing far less stock than is needed. It got real bad post Prismatic Evolutions, and while things are starting to even out, especially with so much Destined Rivals stock floating around, I have a feeling that it's going to get worse again after the 30th Anniversary expansion release. Be prepared for some heinous scalping.
