Man arrested after allegedly confessing to stealing Pokémon cards: ‘I did it to pay off a debt’

A Tokyo man was arrested as a suspect in a heist to steal Pokémon cards inside a trading card store.

On March 29, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced they were investigating 28-year-old Kensuke Nakanishi, who allegedly climbed a six-story building to break into the card store on the top floor, as reported by Mainichi via Kotaku. Roughly 80 Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards were stolen from the store along with cash, a total of $11,940 in value.

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Police identified Nakanishi as a suspect after reviewing security camera footage near the scene. The officers said that Nakanishi used a rope to tread down from the roof of the building and entered the trading card store by breaking the window using a tool.

Nakanishi has reportedly admitted to the crime, saying: “I did it to pay off a debt.”

He claimed that he was able to pull off the alleged heist because of his athletic experience.

“I was in the rock climbing club in high school,” Nakanishi apparently told the TMPD. “I wasn’t afraid of heights.”

Pokémon cards have become highly coveted in the past few years, largely thanks to Twitch and YouTube. After all, the biggest factor that determines the value of a collector’s item isn’t rarity, but demand. The rarest card in the world isn’t worth anything unless a bunch of people want to buy it in the first place.

Rapper and Twitch streamer Logic dropped over $200,000 in October 2020 for a First Edition Charizard card, a stunning piece for any avid collector.

Moreover, accruing rare Pokémon cards could even be a decent investment. Like any collector’s market, the value of these cards will wax and wane over time.

However, it’s unlikely that Pokémon cards, in particular, will suffer any drastic dips. The Pokémon franchise is estimated to be worth somewhere around $90 to $100 billion. It’s safe to say that fan interest (and thus the value of Pokémon collector’s items) isn’t going to tank any time soon.

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If you liked this piece, check out when Mizkif claimed he couldn’t get a mortgage because he bought Warcraft armor for $10,000.

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