And while the burglary is now before the courts, O'Neill said the theft of Pokémon cards was not being taken seriously enough by police. Along with Pokémon cards, The game Magic: The Gathering was particularly hot at the moment. Scams are also widespread within the trading card community, O'Neill said. He had been collecting Pokémon cards since they first launched in 1996. The first time, Johnson recovered the card after alerting the trading card community.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 29, 2026 23:54 UTC