An employee of a printing house is said to have taken advantage of his job to steal countless rare Pokémon cards. However, when he tries to cash in on his haul, he makes such a clumsy mistake that the theft is uncovered.
What kind of cards are they? The cards were rare cards from the “Fusion Strike” set, which was sold under the name “Fusions Angriff” in Germany. Fans had long complained about the unusually low chances of pulling certain cards.
A possible reason for this has now been found, as an employee of a printing house in America is said to have pocketed thousands of cards at work.
Thief ruins everything when he tries to sell the cards
How was the theft uncovered? The alleged thief made a crucial mistake: instead of selling the cards one by one, he wanted to get rid of his entire haul at once. He contacted Trading Card World, a store for trading cards, and asked if they were interested in rare cards from the “Fusions Angriff” set.
These were rare holographic cards of Trainers and Pokémon like Espeon and Mew. Already a single one of these cards can be worth more than 100 US dollars. How many the man has pilfered is unclear, but according to a picture that was posted in a Facebook group, it was thousands.
The Facebook post has since been deleted, but we have included a Reddit post that shows the haul:
How did the store employees react? They immediately became suspicious given the amount of rare cards. For them, there were only two possibilities: The cards must be counterfeit or stolen.
Upon inquiry, the potential seller reportedly admitted that he works at a printing house for Pokémon cards. Employees from Trading Card World immediately contacted the Pokémon Company, which investigated the matter.
How did it all end? As the site PC Gamer reports, the cards were secured, and the police are investigating the alleged thief. In a statement from Trading Card World, it is said that this was the largest recovery of stolen property in the history of the trading card game.
The stolen Pokémon cards were already rare, but a trading card from Magic the Gathering can top that: It is said to be printed only once. Even before the release, collectors are trying to get their hands on the unique card and are offering a lot of money for it:
