Rare Pokémon card stolen from Wauwatosa shop, suspects sought

Rare Pokémon card stolen, suspects sought

The PokeShop, a card and game store in Wauwatosa, is dealing with a real-life Pokémon mystery after suspects stole a rare and valuable Charizard card.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. - The PokeShop, a card and game store in Wauwatosa, is dealing with a real-life Pokémon mystery after a group of suspects stole a rare and valuable card. 

Rare Charizard card

By the numbers:

Woody Xiong owns the store. He said the card in question, a PSA 7 Korean Base Set Charizard, is priced at $2,500.

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What they're saying:

Xiong said the group of suspects showed up on Tuesday night asking only about expensive items.

"They are Charizard cards, encapsulated in a thick plastic holder, and it is serialized with a grade on it – making it more valuable," he explained.

Charizard card stolen from PokeShop in Wauwatosa

Xiong said people typically like to see the condition of a card, so he didn't think anything of it until it was time to pay.

"It was more like spider senses – like something is wrong here," he said. "They are trying too many different cards, they are all getting declined."

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That's when Xiong asked to see an ID and, within seconds, the suspects walked out with the card.

"By the time you know it – they just left the store. Kind of just bolted, like fast-walked," he said.

Suspects in Illinois?

Dig deeper:

On Wednesday, Xiong said he got a call from another shop owner who said the same group – one of the suspects wearing the same outfit – tried to re-sell the card to multiple stores in Illinois. The shop owner in Illinois said they knew something was off. 

Xiong said he reported the theft to police. FOX6 News reached out to the Wauwatosa Police Department about the theft but did not hear back.