Thief steals almost $70K in Pokémon cards from flea-market owner

The owner of a local flea market was left feeling disrespected and in disbelief after roughly $70,000 worth of Pokémon products were stolen over the weekend, but is vowing to rebuild.

Kenan Hyseni, who has owned and operated the popular Mulvey Market in South Osborne since 2022, said high-end sealed products and valuable individual cards from the massively popular collectible card game were stolen sometime between the market’s closing Friday night and midnight.

Hyseni believes someone hid inside the market until employees had left for the night, loaded up the merchandise and fled.

“The night finished, we locked up, did the usual thing, and then we went home and just before midnight, I got a call from the landlord and they said the alarm had been tripped, and that someone was seen leaving the market with bags,” Hyseni said.

He was sent security footage and rushed back to the market, where he found much of his Pokémon inventory gone.

“All of the high-end stuff, including all the singles and the slabs (professionally graded cards) and collector booster boxes,” said Hyseni, who posted on Instagram on Saturday morning in front of empty shelves and display cases.

“It’s a huge hit. It’s been pretty rough. My biggest thing is shock an disappointment right now, and disrespect, because this market has been around since 2001, and I’ve owned it since 2022, and its become a really nice place for people to come out and hang out, bring their kids — especially when it comes to Pokemon.”

The theft, which include sealed boxes worth several thousands of dollars, followed a trade night at the market, where collectors gather to swap cards with other collectors and vendors.

Hyseni said he doesn’t know who stole the merchandise, but surveillance footage captured a hooded person inside the market.

With only one entrance, Hyseni said he is now combing through hours of footage to determine who entered the market but was never seen leaving before closing.

Pokémon, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has experienced a resurgence in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand and scarcity have sent prices for some cards and sealed products soaring, while shops carrying the sought-after merchandise have increasingly become targets for thieves.

Hyseni said there is only so much card shops can do. He is hardly alone.

Two weeks earlier, thieves broke into an East Kildonan collectibles shop and cleaned out its Pokémon inventory.

Terri’s Trinkets and Toys on Larsen Avenue was broken into Sept. 8, with thieves punching through a grate and then the store’s bathroom wall to reach the storefront.

“They knew where everything was that they wanted; they took all of the good stuff,” owner Terri Settle said. “I have a lot of Pokemon cards, a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, a lot of hockey cards. I have a lot of costume jewelry, so they took all of the necklaces, all of the rings.”

The thieves made off with about $6,000 worth of merchandise, including the store’s entire Pokémon inventory — roughly 7,000 cards — along with toys, Lego, jewelry, video games, a debit machine and a personal laptop.

“It’s like the No. 1 seller for every shop right now, and it’s so tough to get these days,” Curtis Howson, who owns First Row Collectibles, told the Free Press at the time about Pokémon cards.

Howson’s shop has also been broken into multiple times, with thieves targeting its Pokémon inventory.

In all three cases, the owners believe their Pokémon cards were specifically targeted.

Like Settle and Howson, Hyseni doesn’t carry specialized collectibles insurance, saying the cost is prohibitive. He said he has been quoted premiums of about $5,000 per month to insure his merchandise.

“It’s just not feasible,” he said.

Despite the loss, Hyseni is vowing to bounce back.

Word of the theft has spread across Pokémon social media groups locally and beyond, while some of the stolen professionally graded cards can be identified through their unique certification numbers if they surface for sale.

“It’s a hit, but it’s not going to cripple,” he said. “It isn’t going to cripple me in any way, shape or form. So the next thing is just rebuilding. Order more stuff, get more product in through the doors, and just create better relationships with everybody that comes through the door.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca