Two thieves have been apprehended after a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card was stolen from a store in Tokyo earlier this month.
As reported by Sora News 24 and subsequently picked up by Dexerto, one man entered the Fukufuku trading card store in the Akihabara district of Tokyo on the 13th of March and asked to inspect the rare Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.
Rather than purchase or discuss the price, however, after being handed the card by the store staff he grabbed it and made his escape, jumping into a waiting car and driving away with his accomplice.
The man, Sora Takashino, was subsequently arrested by police and admitted to being the person who stole the card, saying that he did so for “living and entertainment expenses”.
Accomplice Kanta Sanmi has admitted to only driving the getaway car, somewhat implausibly saying that he didn’t think that Takashino had stolen anything.
Though Fukufuku had priced the card at nearly 5 million Yen (around $33,000), which we can only assume means that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon was a first edition, the two men had sold the card to another store for around a fifth of that value.
It’s currently not certain where the card is, or whether the ill-gotten gains that the two men received from the sale can be, or have been, recovered.
Though Blue-Eyes White Dragon is one of the most iconic cards in Yu-Gi-Oh history, it’s been reprinted over 100 times in various sets and expansions, so it’s actually not expensive or difficult to get your hands on one if you’re looking to use it in a game.
However, I think it’s fair to say that playing Yu-Gi-Oh with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon’s first printed version was the furthest thing from the mind of the two Tokyo-based criminals!
Despite the $33,000 price tag, however, the version on sale in Fukufuku would seem to be quite a bargain, given that the earliest printings of the card in graded form can sell for over $100,000, if not more!
You can take a look at our list of the most expensive variants of the iconic Blue-Eyes White Dragon card for more details on its priciest releases.
