Pokémon bandits steal $300K in cards across two daring heists, including one with an electric saw

They’re now card-carrying criminals.

Merch-loving thieves stole a $300,000 set of Pokémon cards and other collectibles in two robberies in Los Angeles on Sunday — including a brazen caught-on-camera heist using an electric saw.

Footage obtained by The Post showed five masked men in hoodies using a reciprocating saw to break into Simi Sportscards in Simi Valley during the first robbery on Sunday at around 3:30 a.m. The crew were seen ignoring blaring security alarms as they smashed glass cases and stuffed bags with Pokémon and sports cards the store’s owner said are worth about $50,000.

“They were in and out in three minutes,” owner Jake Miller told The Post.  

Miller said he has been hit twice by robberies since he opened the store a little over two years ago. In April 2025, thieves made off with about $10,000 worth of merchandise, but this time the thieves took everything, he said.

“I have a few cards in the $1,000 range, but this was about volume, they got it all,” he said.

The second heist came at 10 p.m. in Sawtelle when a card collector leaving Sawtelle hobby shop RWT Collective with a pricey Pokémon haul was ambushed by thieves with a handgun who snagged the cards and hopped into a nearby car, according to NBC Los Angeles.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the two incidents are connected, according to KTLA. But Miller said he believes the cases are related — and may be the work of thieves who have hit four other shops in the area in recent months.

“It’s definitely an organized ring or multiple rings,” he said.

Police did not immediately return calls from The Post.

The store owner said the asking prices for Pokémon and sports cards have been soaring in the past year and could be targets for thieves because they are hard to track.

“They are easy to resell,” he said. “They can go to a card show and unload them pretty easily or they can sit on them for a few months.”