As much as $12K in Pokémon, different playing cards stolen from Seymour store

SEYMOUR — Dr. Cards and Gaming, a card-based interest retailer, was burglarized by at the least three masked people who stole as a lot as $12,000 value of merchandise, retailer proprietor David Regalado mentioned Saturday.

The incident occurred Tuesday at 12:24 a.m, when the suspects broke into the shop on the 90 block of Main Street utilizing crowbars, Regalado mentioned. Surveillance movies present the thieves smashing by way of a number of glass shows, making off with quite a few packs of Pokémon and Magic The Gathering playing cards. The stolen objects are valued between $9,000 and $12,000, based on Regalado. 

Seymour police did not return messages Saturday searching for details about the incident.

Because so many playing cards are bought by way of the shop on any given day, not the entire playing cards had been inventoried, however Regalado mentioned objects that had been believed to be stolen embody a number of Eevee 4-pack tins with Umbreon, Espeon or Sylveon on the entrance; sealed Phantasmal Flames boosters; two XY Generations booster packs; two Unbroken Bonds sleeved booster packs; 4 free Unbroken Bonds booster packs; XY Furious Fists and XY Fates Collide packs. While not one of the playing cards had been restricted version, they had been nonetheless costly and high-end packs, which draw important curiosity from buying and selling card collectors and merchants, Regalado famous.

Regalado mentioned he is upset about what he feels is an absence of motion on fixing the case.  

“It impacts me more mentally because I feel violated. … We’re going on five years of the store being open and I’ve literally dedicated my entire life to it,” Regalado mentioned, who added it’s exhausting realizing the thieves are nonetheless on the market. “Every single person that comes (into the store) wants to know, ‘Did they catch them?'”

Security on the retailer has been elevated because the incident, with new glass shows and a strengthened glass door put in,  Regalado mentioned. Better cameras and an alarm system additionally had been being put in that might alert authorities instantly if one other break-in happens, he mentioned. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Pokémon playing cards have change into extremely valued on the collectors’ market, with resellers competing over purchases at retail shops similar to Target and Walmart, he famous. Regalado attributed this to the age and recognition of the franchise together with latest tariffs imposed by the Trump administration which have elevated the value of playing cards imported from Japan and China. He mentioned a lot of the demand is pushed by individuals who aren’t within the interest, however had been solely seeking to earn money. 

“People want what they can’t get or what they can’t have, and it just creates this toxic community of people saying, ‘Oh, I can go into Target, Walmart, or Costco and I can clean out their shelves, and I could just list it on eBay or put it on Facebook Marketplace and triple my money within 24 hours,” Regalado mentioned. 

“You’ve got people breaking into card stores more than jewelry stores nowadays,” he added. “It’s crazy.”