A Danish toy shop owner now pays a freight worker to remove his Pokémon cards from the premises every night and return them each morning, after thieves stole between 150,000 and 170,000 kroner worth of cards in a recent break-in.
Jakob Kjær runs a collectibles shop in Fredericia. He keeps one card in his inventory worth 250,000 kroner alone. That single item is valuable enough that leaving it on the shelf overnight now feels reckless. So every evening, a freight worker collects the cards and takes them to an undisclosed location. Every morning, they come back.
The nightly ritual costs time and money. As reported by TV2, Kjær describes it as a lot of time and hassle. But the alternative is worse. Thieves have already hit his shop once, taking everything marked Pokémon. The loss sits somewhere between 150,000 and 170,000 kroner. Insurance will likely pay out, but Kjær says the payout will not cover what it costs to replace the stolen cards at current market prices.
Why Pokémon Cards Are Now Treated Like Cash
According to TV2, Pokémon cards have become a high-value theft target for at least two Jutland retailers, who are now using security measures usually reserved for jewelry or fraud-prone goods. Kjær told TV2 the cards are better than gold because they are easy to sell on and very hard to trace. He also worries the market could be used for money laundering, though this is his suspicion and not a documented police finding.
The cards are compact, easy to resell, and command known prices online. In principle, a thief can carry tens of thousands of kroner worth of cards in a small bag. Retailers are stuck playing defense with tools designed for bigger, less portable inventory.
Bank Vaults and Secret Locations
Kjær is not the only one adjusting. A new Pokémon shop called Evolutionsshoppen is set to open in Egtved on 1 August. Co-owner Sebastian Lundum Hansen told TV2 that the shop will keep its most valuable cards in a bank vault. According to TV2, Hansen said theft is unfortunately now a condition of the industry.
Retailers in this niche now see theft risk as an ongoing condition of the business rather than a one-off stroke of bad luck, according to Hansen in Egtved. The logistics of moving stock off-site every night or renting vault space add operational costs that many traditional toy shops would not normally factor in.
For anyone running a niche retail business in Denmark, the cases suggest high-end hobby goods may benefit from business-grade security. Separating display stock from reserve stock is one practical option illustrated by these two shops. Insurance policies are also worth reviewing to confirm they cover replacement at current market rates, not original purchase prices.
What This Means for Collectors and Small Retailers
The Fredericia case illustrates how underinsurance can become a serious risk. Kjær expects his payout to be lower than current replacement costs, because card prices have risen since he bought them. That gap could put real pressure on a small business trying to restock stolen inventory.
For expats and internationals in Denmark who buy, sell, or collect high-value items, the practical suggestion from these cases is to treat collectibles as portable value. Using locked storage, documenting valuations, and separating display stock from reserve stock are steps both retailers featured here have adopted. The same thinking applies whether you run a farm shop or a card store.
The theft has been reported to the police, and as of the TV2 report no arrests or recoveries had been made public. In the meantime, Kjær will keep moving his cards every evening. It is time-consuming, costly, and in his view necessary. One card is worth 250,000 kroner. That is too much to leave behind.
