Edmonton police are investigating 11 break and enters at collectible stores across the city since the start of September.
One local business, Red Claw Gaming, has been hit three times in the last three weeks. The first time, their doors held off the intruders, but the second and third time they weren’t so lucky.
“Two weeks later we got actually broken into. They were able to drill out the lock, gain and entry and took a bunch of Pokémon and Magic the Gathering products,” explained owner David Bibby.
On that day, the stolen cards and lock damage cost Bibby $8,000.
On Nov. 17, another set of thieves targeted Red Claw overnight.
“In this case they used two pry bars and bent the heck out of the door. Now I have to replace the door,” he said — as his door handles sat chained up with a padlock.
So why are the thieves after trading cards?
“Because it’s easy to launder,” Bibby explained.
“It’s almost impossible to track once it goes out of the door.”
Unlike bank notes, there’s no serial number and with the packaged product, nobody knows what cards are inside.
Bibby is trying to protect his business, planning to add roll shutters to his security system.
“I’m a small business owner. I’m not Walmart. I don’t have the deep pockets to absorb this.”
Just 10 minutes away, Elisa Huang can relate.
Her shop, Tea Spot & ENV Collectibles was broken into Nov. 11.
Because her business is on the second floor of a strip mall, the criminals first broke into the building, then into her shop.
“It’s deadbolted to the ground here,” she said, showing how the doors were forced open.
“So it looks like they were able to crowbar it and bend the rod, push it up and unlock the door.”
According to her surveillance cameras, that all took about four minutes.
Once the robbers were inside, the damage escalated. Her displays were smashed up, valuable Pokémon and One Piece cards thrown into bags.
Huang is going through insurance, estimating her losses to be around $40,000.
“It’s very upsetting and very frustrating at the same time,” she explained.
The rash of thefts has other gaming stores, including the new Hard Brick Games on the south side, taking pre-emptive measures to protect themselves.
They welded heavy duty bars to their back room as a deterrent.
“Super valuable items are taken home overnight too, so if they do happen to get inside still, there’s not that much for them to take,” explained owner Owen Stevenson.
When their rolling shutters got stuck up a few weeks ago, leaving their door exposed, customers even stepped up to help.
“We had rotating volunteer security overnight to make sure we weren’t broken into,” Stevenson said.
Edmonton police say they’re looking into whether the thefts are connected.