A Winnipeg retailer says she lost about 20,500 Japanese Pokemon cards after a second theft attempt, as police link recent robberies to rising collector demand.
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Winnipeg store owner Terri Settle says she believed she had fixed a Pokemon card theft problem in August, only to have roughly 20,500 cards stolen again on Sept. 8. Settle runs Terri’s Trinkets and Toys in Winnipeg’s north end, where she said someone walked into her store, took a box containing Japanese cards, and fled.
Settle said her worker was able to catch up to the thief and get the cards back. After that August incident, Settle said she zip-tied the box to a shelf inside the store, but she later discovered the knots were not tight enough to prevent another theft.
In the second incident, Settle said that on the night of Sept. 8, someone crawled through a vent, smashed a hole in the store’s wall and left with about 20,500 Pokemon cards. She said the theft has cost her $2,500 and that she is now planning to stop selling the cards after the ones she has left are gone, saying, “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Settle’s experience reflects a broader pattern of Pokemon card robberies being reported across Canada and the United States, with police and reports describing losses that amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years. In July 2024, Durham Regional Police Service said a store worker was struck in the head by a suspect who was fleeing with three Pokemon cards worth roughly $5,000.
In Alberta, Mounties said a central Alberta store owner lost a binder valued at roughly $18,000 in a theft last month. Alberta RCMP Cpl. Mathew Howell said Mounties are asking residents to watch for Pokemon cards being sold through online storefronts and marketplaces, noting that there is “no easy identifier for each specific card” and that rarer cards may have identification numbers.
Howell urged people using platforms like Facebook Marketplace to be vigilant, adding that card thefts have continued even as collectors seek specific, limited cards. “Facebook Marketplace and these kinds of things where people are selling cards, especially the more rare cards, just try to be vigilant,” he said. “There’s no easy identifier for each specific card. Some of the more rarer cards have an identification number.”
University of Alberta business professor Utku Akkoc said the robberies are not surprising because Pokemon’s appeal has grown beyond childhood hobby collectors. “There’s a nostalgic appeal for some people,” Akkoc said, explaining that people who watched the original show and collected cards as kids may be motivated to buy again as adults.
Akkoc said the franchise’s limited supply can drive prices. “If there’s a limited supply of some cards, naturally the price of the monster will go up,” he said. He added that nostalgia can also encourage spending, noting that “Research shows that when people feel nostalgic, they also spend or would like to spend money.”
The criminal activity also aligns with the wider market’s high-profile sales of rare cards. Earlier this year, social media personality Logan Paul sold a card called the Pikachu Illustrator for a record US $16.5 million, after purchasing it in 2021 for more than US $5 million. Guinness World Record said the card was designed by the original creator of Pikachu and that it was handed out as a prize in a 1998 illustration contest, rather than produced for sale to the public.
The value placed on condition is often part of why collectors pay large sums. PSA, which assigns grades to trading cards, said on its website that a “PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind,” with sharp corners and full original gloss, while allowing for a slight printing imperfection that does not impair the card’s overall appeal.
Settle said many theft victims do not insure their collections because it can be costly, and that she does not expect to recoup her losses. “I think you’ll hear that from a lot of people in this kind of business,” she said, as she prepares to stop selling Pokemon cards after remaining inventory is sold.
In Winnipeg, Settle’s decision comes after two separate thefts and a failed attempt to physically secure the cards to a shelf. The second incident, carried out through a vent with damage to the store wall, illustrates how quickly high-demand products can attract theft—especially when cards are traded and sold individually online.
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