Two men robbed a father and son at gunpoint of about $150,000 worth of Pokemon cards at a trading-card collectors' event in Woodbridge, New Jersey, police say, in a brazen holdup that turned a hobbyist gathering into a violent crime scene. The pair also made off with thousands of dollars in cash.
According to police, the robbery took place on Sunday afternoon. It happened in the parking lot of a hotel near the Metropark train station, where a card collectors' event had drawn buyers and sellers together.
Investigators said the two men confronted the father and son and knocked one of the victims to the ground. One of the robbers then pointed a gun at them, using the threat of the weapon to carry out the theft.
Police said the men got away with roughly $150,000 in Pokemon cards, along with about $12,000 in cash. The sheer value of the haul reflected how much high-end trading cards can now be worth on the collectors' market.
Collectible cards, and Pokemon cards in particular, have surged in value in recent years, with rare cards and sealed sets fetching large sums. That rising worth has increasingly made cards a target for theft, turning what were once children's toys into high-value merchandise.
The robbery left the father and son shaken but was over quickly, with the two men fleeing after grabbing the cards and cash. Police were working to identify and track down the pair responsible for the armed holdup.
The case added to concerns about security at trading-card shows and collector meetups, where large amounts of valuable inventory and cash can change hands. For the father and son who were targeted, a weekend outing centered on a shared hobby instead ended with a gun pointed at them and a major loss.