Rare Pokemon trading cards have become so expensive in recent years, even criminals are chasing the shiny ones (for money laundering purposes, I should say, there isn't an underground Pokemon TCG scene.)
Trading Pokemon cards has been an age-old tradition ever since The Pokemon Company had the bright idea to trap the adorable critters in paper form, but in recent years, Poke Card prices have absolutely ballooned to the point where you can now buy (or resell) really valuable ones for thousands of dollars online. That high price tag has attracted more than just collectors to the TCG scene, however.
Shunkai Gendai online reports (with translations from Automaton) that a former crime syndicate head dished out on the growing large-scale laundering schemes. Criminals will reportedly chase the most expensive Pokemon cards because they're relatively small and easy to travel with. Money launderers who are moving cash abroad usually don't take the actual physical notes - they'll instead buy expensive goods that don't depreciate in price, like designer watches, and then resell those goods for whatever local currency is strong. Pokemon cards fit right in with that criteria since airport security can't exactly tell you off for carrying a shiny Charizard.
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Shunkai Gendai's investigation also explains that the criminals will use either metal detectors or weights to determine which five-card-packs contain the most valuable pocket monsters, that are usually encased in foil, before opening them. They'll then apparently resell the unopened packs for retail price and sell the rare shiny ones at a predictably extortionate price.
A Pokemon archivist spent hundreds of hours learning how to develop a website to create the ultimate TGC database, which currently includes over 23,000 cards from more than 500 artists.
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