Thieves steal $300,000 worth of Trading Card Games at America’s biggest TCG event
The annual tabletop convention Gen Con 2023 had an entire pallot worth over $300,000 of Trading Card Game cards stolen by two unidentified thieves.
Gen Con has been the largest tabletop game event in North America for years, which has taken place each summer in Indianapolis, featuring all things Trading Card Games related.
This year’s event was highly anticipated by TCG card fans due to the long-awaited release of Disney Lorcana, a trading card game featuring Disney characters that was to go on sale for the first time at the Indiana convention.
Although many initially suspected the Disney cards may have been the target of the recent heist on August 2, 2023, it has been widely suspected that the thieves stole a full pallet of Magic: The Gathering cards.
Magic cards are often making headlines due to their increasing value which has made them desirable targets for robbers. Superstar Post Malone bought an extremely rare Lord of the Rings-themed card with a reported value of $2 million dollars in August 2023.
What has the police reported about the $300,000 card theft?
It was confirmed by Indiana Metropolitan Police Department that at least two unidentified thieves had stolen upwards of $300,000 of gaming cards on August 2, 2023, a day before the Gen Con was scheduled to start.
Two days after the crime, the authorities shared two photographs of the suspects making off with their illegally acquired goods asking for the public to help identify them. Police released further photos a day later.
The police state that the alleged theft took place whilst the vendors were busy setting up their stalls, therefore were unaware at the time.
The IMPD have added that the cards were transported to an unknown location, whereby the suspects and goods’ whereabouts remain missing at the time of reporting on August 4, 2023.
Trading Card Game card valuations have continued to reach new heights as they become increasingly desirable, from Post Malone’s $2 million dollar Magic: The Gathering card, to Logan Paul’s Pokemon $5 million dollar Pokemon card.