Alex Balykov walked into his hobby shop in the Melbourne suburb of Hughesdale last month to find a scene of sudden, violent disruption: a shattered storefront window, a stolen laptop, and a broken glass shelf. The shelf had previously held Pokémon trading cards worth thousands of dollars; now, it held only shards of glass.
According to police, the suspect gathered the high-value cards into a shopping bag and fled the scene on a motorbike without license plates. For Balykov, whose business had only been open for a few months, the incident was a brutal introduction to a growing trend of Pokémon cards fueling crime against hobby shops across Melbourne.
What was once a nostalgic pastime for children has transformed into a high-stakes asset class, attracting not only collectors but also opportunistic criminals. In Victoria, the shift is reflected in stark data from the Crime Statistics Agency, which shows that trading card-related crimes at retail stores have surged. Incidents of burglary, break-and-enter, and theft rose from just nine cases in 2021 to nearly one per week in 2025.
there were 50 such incidents reported last year, marking an increase of more than 455 per cent over a four-year period. This spike highlights a volatile intersection where childhood collectibles meet adult speculation.
The shift from hobby to high-value asset
Since its debut in 1996, Pokémon has evolved into the world’s highest-grossing media franchise. While standard booster packs remain accessible for under $10, the secondary market for rare, graded cards has exploded. Some individual cards now command prices in the hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars at high-end auction houses.
This financialization of the hobby accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled in part by internet personalities like Logan Paul, who brought mainstream attention to the investment potential of rare cards. As public interest peaked, the “eye-watering” value of these items placed small hobby shops firmly on the radar of professional thieves.
However, some criminals lack the expertise to maximize their haul. Balykov noted that the thief who targeted his store seemed to have a limited understanding of the market’s nuances. “He was pretty much a hand-length away from getting a few thousand dollars’ worth of other cards,” Balykov said. “But obviously, the thief wasn’t smart enough.”
A community under siege
The impact of these thefts extends beyond financial loss. For shop owners like Trent Clarke, the burglaries strike at the heart of the community that gathers around these games. Clarke emphasizes that these shops serve as social hubs where players invest time, passion, and trust.
“If somebody comes in here and steals from us, they’re not just stealing from myself and my family, they’re taking from everybody else who has put their money, belief, trust, time, effort, love, passion into this business as well,” Clarke said. He noted that disruptions to the business affect the hundreds of people who visit weekly, damaging the social fabric of the hobby.
Small business owners suspect they are more vulnerable targets than large corporate franchises. Camilla Hanbury, brand director for EB Games, acknowledged the rising popularity of trading card games and the resulting increase in industry demand. While noting that media reports of such crimes are concerning, Hanbury stated that the company’s focus remains on maintaining a safe environment for staff and customers.
Mutual aid and the ‘New Reality’
In response to the wave of attacks in 2025, Melbourne hobby shop owners have formed an informal security network. A dedicated group chat allows owners to notify one another of recent robberies and alert the community when criminals attempt to resell stolen products. In the past two months alone, ten separate incidents have been reported within the group.
Some owners estimate that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of product have been stolen across the city. This camaraderie has become a vital support system in an increasingly risky environment.
“We have to safeguard ourselves as a community because, for lack of a better term, we’re all in the same industry,” Clarke said. “We’re all here for the same goal… it’s to have a good time.”
For Balykov, the aftermath of the burglary brought an unexpected wave of kindness. Customers began contributing spare change to a “window fund” to help repair the damage, despite Balykov insisting he did not need the financial assistance. “The community has been more than responsive and more than amazing,” he said.
Despite the support, the operational nature of the business has changed. Balykov has been forced to remove high-value stock from display and keep it locked away during non-business hours. “Unfortunately, this is just a new reality I live in now,” he said. “Just worrying about something being broken into again.”
As police continue to investigate the string of thefts across Victoria, hobby shop owners are expected to further integrate security measures and community-led monitoring to protect their stock and their patrons.
Do you own collectibles or run a small business in Melbourne? Share your experiences with community security in the comments below.
