Increase of 8% this year in line with ‘strong rebound’ in global market, data shows
UK toy sales have bounced back as adults increasingly muscle in on the market, snapping up everything from Pokémon trading cards and Lego sets to collectibles and action figures based on movie and TV franchises.
After falling almost 4% in 2024, UK toy sales have risen 8% so far this year, in line with the “strong rebound” enjoyed by the global market, data shows.
Continue reading...Owners of 1st Edition Collectibles in New Bedford say suspect broke in to courtyard and smashed window in door
More than $113,000 worth of rare Pokémon cards have been stolen from a Massachusetts shop, according to the store’s owners.
Officers responded to a reported break-in at 1st Edition Collectibles, a trading card shop in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. The break-in reportedly happened around 2.30am and the thief stole a handful of Pokémon cards including five to seven rare cards and a few vintage boxes.
Continue reading...Thieves broke into Tofu’s Trading card store in San Jose, but missed the special collection of cards to be released days later
The thieves entered a San Jose business under cover of the night to execute their heist. They broke in, with one crawling along the floor to avoid detection, and began searching in the dark.
Within minutes, they made off with the goods – more than 35,000 Pokémon cards.
Continue reading...Booming resale market for cards featuring Pikachu in style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat
They are more commonly associated with pop concerts or football matches than art exhibitions. But rows of ticket touts have become a familiar sight outside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in recent weeks as they seek to get their hands on a limited edition Pokémon card.
There was so much interest in the card, which was being offered as part of an exhibition of modern art by Pokémon artists inspired by Van Gogh’s links to Japanese culture, that the museum has clamped down.
Continue reading...It was the decade Sonic the Hedgehog, the original PlayStation, the Nintendo 64 and so much more entered the world – here are the 15 best games of this golden age of gaming
Of all LucasArts’ memorable, quip-fuelled point and click adventures – from dark afterlife comedy Grim Fandango to the surrealist Day of the Tentacle – it’s Monkey Island 2 that gets the most love nowadays, and justifiably so. The puzzles were just on the right side of deliberately obscure, the characters were strange and colourful, and the music unforgettable. And that ending still sparks discussion, 30 years on.
Continue reading...The dramatic rise in the re-sale value of the cards prompted a fight in Wisconsin during which a man pulled a gun
US retail giant Target will stop selling Pokémon playing cards out of an “abundance of caution” for its staff and other shoppers. The re-sale value of the cards has increased dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting chaos and threats to staff. Target will also stop selling MLB, NFL and NBA sports playing cards.
The decision comes after man pulled a gun during a fight over trading cards in a Target parking lot in Brookfield, Wisconsin on 7 May. Police said the 35-year-old man produced the gun when he was assaulted by four men aged 23-35 as he left the store, ABC reported.
Continue reading...Dominic Rushe has caught over 11,000 Pokémon, walked 1,841km in Poké-land, and doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon
A thunderstorm is rolling towards Chicago’s Grant Park. The thousands of people gathered for the city’s third annual Pokémon Go Fest, already sodden after a day of drizzle and rain, are now being told to evacuate for fear of lightning strikes. But I need to take a snapshot of a Gastly in the Spooky Woods if I’m going to complete this year’s festival challenge and uncover a rare new Pokémon. And I don’t have a Gastly.
Risking death by lightning, I jog towards the Spooky Woods.
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