Pokemon card collecting is a popular hobby for many gamers, as over 74 different card sets have been released in North America. While collectible cards based on the franchise have been around for years, the popularity of some Pokemon cards spiked in 2020. As a result, some of the more rare cards now sell for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Unfortunately, a side effect of this increased demand is that these sought-after gaming collectibles can be hard to purchase in stores as they often sell out.

Recently, one person took collecting these valuable Pokemon cards a step too far. On December 29, 2021, Eric Jerome Drake was arrested after stealing merchandise. While incidents involving theft are not uncommon, this one was particularly unusual as it involved 68 packs of Pokemon trading cards valued at almost $650. This odd situation involving these stolen cards happened at a Walmart located in Florida.

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According to an affidavit by the Largo Police Department, the 23-year-old Drake had stolen packs of Pokemon cards totaling $354 from store shelves. After taking the cards, he brought them into a bathroom inside the building. Drake then proceeded to unwrap the cards and stuff them into his pockets. After doing this, he left the store with the stolen items.

However, Drake was seemingly unsatisfied with the number of cards he managed to steal from Walmart on his first visit. As a result, after believing that he had managed to get away without being caught, he returned to Walmart only 5 days later to attempt another theft. Returning to the Pokemon card section, Drake took another $292 worth of cards from the shelf and went once again to the bathroom to open the packs. Unfortunately for the thief, a store employee had noticed the suspicious activity and notified the police. He was arrested soon after.

The details regarding Drake’s sentence have yet to be revealed. However, the Largo Police Department stated that he had admitted stealing the cards on both trips to the local Walmart. With this in mind, it seems that his time collecting rare Pokemon cards will be put on hold for the foreseeable future.

This isn’t the only unusual news regarding Pokemon trading cards. Besides 68 packs of cards being stolen from a Florida Walmart, another card collector recently had a disappointing experience after accidentally ruining a valuable Charizard Holo card. According to the card owner, it had, unbeknownst to them, found its way into their washing machine. As one might expect, the result was unfortunate, to say the least.

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Source: Dexerto