A weekend heist in Halifax netted a thief thousands of dollars worth of Pokémon cards.

Located in downtown Halifax, The Deck Box has something to offer for gamers of all ages, selling items such as retro and modern gaming consoles, video games, other trading cards and board games.

Shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 30, owner Joshua Pyle-Carter was notified by police that the Brunswick Street store had been robbed.

Pyle-Carter says it appears a rock was used to break through the front door and the display case inside. Only one display case was targeted in the overnight smash-and-grab.

“We know that we lost a $600 Pokémon pack from the early 90’s and we’re also looking at some other vintage Bayside and Jungle stuff as well. There’s been a real explosion in the valuation for that,” says Pyle-Carter.

Pyle-Carter says he and his employees are still going through their inventory, so there could be more missing.

Right now he says the value of the stolen cards is between $5000 to $7000. While that seems like a lot, he says the thief didn’t get the more expensive cards and gaming consoles in the store.

“There’s been a lot of interest with Pokémon in the last year or so,” says Pyle-Carter. “There’s been a huge increase in the price of a lot of the older collectable cards and the cards that are still sealed in a pack can be very expensive.”

The store owner says reselling the coveted cards will be difficult because of their value.

“For people to do that in a pandemic when everyone is struggling, I find those people that would do that, kind of pathetic in my opinion,” says Jamaul Toussaint.

“I love coming here, I love supporting local business, I just think it really sucks that someone decided that this was a good idea” adds Logan Currie.

Despite the loss, Pyle-Carter says he doesn’t plan on changing the way he does business.

“I don’t want to put bars on my windows, I don’t want to pretend that I’m scared of someone stealing my stuff because I don’t like the feeling that that makes me feel,” says Pyle-Carter.

RCMP are reviewing the security camera footage to try to identify the person responsible for the theft. The investigation is ongoing.