Nostalgia and seven-figure sales fuel wave of Pokemon card thefts across Canada

Terri Settle says she thought she solved her Pokemon card theft problem in August.

That’s when someone walked into her store, Terri’s Trinkets and Toys in Winnipeg’s north end, picked up a box that was full of the Japanese cards and ran away.

Her worker caught up to the thief and got the cards back. Settle said she then zip-tied the box to a shelf in her store.

But the knots weren’t tight enough.

Two weeks later, on the night of Sept. 8, someone crawled through the vent, smashed a hole in her store’s wall and fled with roughly 20,500 Pokemon cards.

Now she said she’s done with the games and is planning to stop selling the cards after the ones she has left are sold.

“It’s just not worth the risk,” said Settle.

The theft has cost Settle $2,500 and is among a string of Pokemon card thefts that have been reported across Canada and the United States in recent years, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses.

In a July 2024 robbery in Ontario, the Durham Regional Police Service said a store worker was struck in the head by someone who was fleeing with three Pokemon cards worth roughly $5,000.

Alberta RCMP Cpl. Mathew Howell said a central Alberta store owner lost a binder of cards that was worth roughly $18,000 in a theft last month. The costliest card in the deck showed the black-coloured, cat-like Umbreon ex monster.

Mounties are now asking Albertans to look out for Pokemons in online storefronts.

“Facebook Marketplace and these kinds of things where people are selling cards, especially the more rare cards, just try to be vigilant,” Howell said.

“There’s no easy identifier for each specific card. Some of the more rarer cards have an identification number.”

University of Alberta professor Utku Akkoc said the robberies are not surprising.

“There’s a nostalgic appeal for some people,” said Akkoc, who teaches in the university’s business department.

“Even as a kid, I had Pokemon cards. I used to watch the original Pokemon show with my siblings, so for people above a certain age, it reminds them of those good old days.”

He said people purchase Pokemon cards to relive those memories.

“Research shows that when people feel nostalgic, they also spend or would like to spend money,” he said.

In the roughly 30 years since Japanese video game developer Game Freak Inc. debuted two Pokemon games on Nintendo Game Boy, the franchise has taken over the globe with its animated shows, mobile games, highly coveted trading cards and other merchandise.

The video and card games sees players assuming the role of trainer of a series of monsters called Pokemon.

The monsters battle other monsters in the card and video games. Each monster has its strengths and weaknesses.

The iconic yellow-coloured, mouse-like Pikachu monster, for example, is a fast flyer but not good at defending itself against attacks on the ground.

Akkoc said if there’s a limited supply of some cards, naturally the price of the monster will go up.

Earlier this year, social media personality Logan Paul sold a card called the Pikachu Illustrator for a record US $16.5 million.

Paul had purchased the card in 2021 for more than US $5 million.

Guinness World Record said on its website the card was designed by the original creator of Pikachu.

“Following this sale, it now becomes the overall most expensive trading card sold at auction,” Guinness said on its website.

The card was never produced to sell to the public, unlike the regular Pikachu card. The Pikachu Illustrator was handed out as a prize during an illustration contest organized by a Japanese magazine in 1998.

Companies such as the U.S.-based Professional Sports Authenticator rate trading cards on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being pristine mint condition.

Paul’s card received a 10 from PSA.

PSA said on its website a perfect card has various factors.

“Attributes include four perfectly sharp corners, sharp focus and full original gloss,” its website said.

“A PSA Gem Mint 10 card must be free of staining of any kind, but an allowance may be made for a slight printing imperfection, if it doesn’t impair the overall appeal of the card.”

Settle said many Pokemon theft victims don’t insure their collection because it can be costly, so she’s doesn’t expect to get her money back.

“I think you’ll hear that from a lot of people in this kind of business.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press