Pokémon Card Fight Gets Bloody in California
It’s no secret Pokemon cards are setting the market on fire these days, both in quantity and value.. In turn, customers have flocked to this product and generated a huge surge in demand that has overtaken the hobby for the past few months. However, things might have gone too far as these cards have led to a man getting stabbed in Colma, California
According to local police authorities, Miguel Orellanas-Flores, 49, and Isaiah Calles, 27, were both detained after they stabbed an unnamed victim while lining up to get Pokemon cards. As it stands, the former allegedly cut the line in front of a GameStop store in Colma, leading to an argument to occur.
However, Orellanas-Flores took things too far and hit the victim on the head with a glass mason jar. Meanwhile, Calles picked up the shards of the said glass jar and stabbed the other person multiple times.
Local police responded right away and discovered the victim with multiple stab wounds to the body and lacerations to the head. Fortunately, the victim received timely medical attention and is now in stable condition after the incident.
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Moreover, local authorities revealed that they apprehended both suspects by determining the location of their getaway cars. They are now detained at the San Mateo Country jail after being transferred there from Colma.
It’s not yet known how the exact situation unfolded, or what they were after at GameStop. What’s certain, though, is that the Pokemon products being sold by GameStop is not only driving demand from customers. It’s also generating a lot of tension out there on the streets.
The State of Pokemon Cards in the Market
Over in the market, Pokemon cards are goingt strong right now. This is backed by several key updates from Gemrate’s latest report on card grading so far this year.
For starters, TCG cards eclipsed their sports card counterparts for the first six months of 2025. A total of 5.1 million cards were submitted for the latter, while 7.2 million cards came from the former. Doing the math, it looks like those interested in TCG cards came out on top of sports enthusiasts by 2.1 million submissions to various grading companies.
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Another key detail that supports the dominance of Pokemon cards is how 97 of PSA’s top 100 graded slabs featured Pikachu and company. These means that only 3 graded submission from that list this year are from sports and other categories.
These details reflect the surging demand of Pokemon card products on the market and how people will do questionable things to get their hands on them. As prices of both sealed and raw cards continue to rise, buyers will continue to gravitate towards this part of the hobby.
The Verdict on Pokemon Cards Right Now
Like sports cards before, collectors should always be wary of any huge demand that will lead to an insane amount of hype in the market. It’s always wise to wait for the dip and buy those products then. In this way, both true collectors and investors can get their money’s worth from them.
On the other hand, those who can’t wait and need to get their hands on Pokemon cafrds should practice caution in splurging money on them. At the same time, they should also be wary as the demand will sometimes lead to acts of violence, as seen in the stabbing incident in Colma. It pays to extra to be careful these days to prevent collectors from becoming victims anytime soon.
Julio Munar is a sports and culture writer. His expertise revolves around the NBA, but his passion is sports cards and collectibles. He has written for ClutchPoints and The Manila Times, among other outlets.