Criminal gangs have forced retailer HMV to withdraw Pokemon trading cards worth thousands from its shop floors and online.
Phil Halliday, boss of the high street chain, told The Mail on Sunday that demand for the cards has become so intense that even its delivery vans are being targeted.
Halliday said: “They're phenomenally sought after. [So there is] a rabid threat of theft.”
The flagship store on London’s Oxford Street has seen thieves breaking in to search for rare cards that they can sell to collectors for large profits.
Halliday added: “We got broken into here at the Oxford Street store – the theory was they went straight to the back of the shop to try and see where these Pokemon cards were.”
“We had people chasing a DHL delivery van because they thought there were Pokemon cards in it.”
HMV keeps the packs, pictured, behind the shop counter and limits sales to four per customer.
'We can't keep them anywhere near [the shop floor], they are all behind the counter," Halliday said.
He added: "They are also very easy to shove down your trousers when you're on the run."
HMV no longer sells them online because the site is attacked by bots, which are programed to buy as many as possible as fast as possible.
The company also removed information from its website about stock levels in stores.
Pokemon cards, which depict cartoon monsters that are used by their “trainers” to battle each other, exploded in popularity in the 1990s and continue to attract new generations of fans.
The characters also inspired a long-running Japanese cartoon series and numerous video games and merchandise.
Rare cards command huge prices on the resale market.
One set, featuring a Charizard dragon character from 1999, is on sale for £25,000 on eBay.
In 2022, American YouTuber Logan Paul set a record when he bought an ultra-rare Pikachu Illustrator Pokemon card for £3.9million.
