The LAPD has issued safety tips for Pokémon card collectors, including buying specialized insurance and to avoid flashing their “high-value” cards in public places.
As Los Angeles police warn Pokémon card collectors to keep their Pikachus, Snorlaxes and Charizards under guard during the recent robberies, they have yet to catch them all. According to NBS Los Angeles, a customer at the RWT Collective store in west Los Angeles was robbed at gunpoint for his rare collection of cards worth some $300,000.
That incident happened on the night of Sunday, January 4 as the customer entered an underground parking garage. He was then held at gunpoint by two suspects who had reportedly been in the shop earlier that day.
“He was just leaving, just trying to go home,” RWT Collective co-owner Danny Leserman said.
He and co-owner Christopher Chou told KTLA that due to the incident, they were planning to improve their “security systems” at the shop. Moreover, they were planning to get more cameras into the building. They also said they were working with property management on a plan to have armed guards at their store and in the building.
viva la vida.#Pokemon #ポケモンイラスト (メガブリガロン) pic.twitter.com/3T6vAjGsv0
— rh (@RHonD_45) January 7, 2026
Meanwhile, that wasn’t the only robbery connected to stolen Pokémon cards, as Simi Valley police said officers had responded to a theft at a shopping center that same weekend at around 3 am. The officers found that the thieves used a chainsaw to break into a shop then smashed display cases and stole the valuable Pokémon cards inside. In that theft, they allegedly made off with at least $50,000 in valuable cards.
After smashing the display cases, the thieves stole a mix of rare Pokémon and sports trading cards, Miller said, and were in and out in three minutes. “They took single cards from our show cases [after] busting them open,” he said. “We have five display cases in here and they were all full – almost every card was stolen. It’s several hundred cards, as well as some sealed boxes.”
The heartbroken store owner is still going through the inventory that was stolen, but estimates that he would need to spend more than $50,000 on repairs, merchandise recovery and security upgrades.
Speaking to NBC Los Angeles, the LAPD said it was investigating whether the two thefts were connected but so far, no arrests have been made in either robbery case.
Leserman said that the high value of some Pokémon cards can be attractive to certain thieves. “Most of the time, they’re used, and they’re not in good enough quality to be considered collectible,” said Leserman. “And so when they do rise to a level, that’s when the dollar amount can really get to be something pretty out there.”
Since that time, police has issued safety tips for card collectors in the hope of minimizing the risk of being targeted by the thieves. These safety tips include using discreet packaging to hold their cards and to avoid flashing “high-value” cards in public places.
Moreover, card collectors are recommended to make high-end transactions in monitored and well-lit locations, as well as looking into specialized insurance policies for their collections, especially the high value cards.
