PUBLISHED ONMarch 10, 2026 10:34 AMBYKhoo Yi-HangSome people may willingly pay a high price for a Pokemon card — but is it worth a possible criminal record?
A Pokemon card trader confronted a man at SG HobbyCon who allegedly stole a card priced at $960, capturing the incident on camera.
SG HobbyCon is a collectible and hobby convention that took place at Suntec City Convention Centre on March 7 and 8.
The video, which was uploaded to Facebook on Monday (March 9), has since garnered over 820 reactions and 198,000 views as of Tuesday evening.
The trader, who both collects and trades Pokemon cards, shared in his post that he saw the man flipping through his binder of cards at his HobbyCon booth, pulling out one — a Shining Celebi, which he priced at $960.
His team at the booth was busy helping other customers, he said, but he noticed the man slide the card under his phone, inching it towards his pocket.
"Little did he know I was right behind him the whole time like a ninja," he quipped in his post.
He added: "Not gonna lie… hunting Pokemon thieves feels almost as fun as hunting Pokemon."
The trader stated that he started recording the suspect after the latter slipped the card into his pocket, using his phone as a cover.
The suspect then walked away from the booth and the trader gave chase, calling out to him.
However, when his attempts to hail the suspect fell on deaf ears, the trader decided to escalate the situation.
"Hey, this guy is a thief!" He can be heard saying in the video.
This elicited an immediate response from the suspect, who began to question what was wrong. The trader reiterated that the man had stolen his card.
"Hold on, that's my bad, okay? I didn't mean to," the man said in response as he pulled his phone and the stolen card out from his pocket.
The trader replied, accusing him: "You're a thief! You were going to walk out with this [card]!"
The alleged thief denied the accusations and explained that he had "accidentally" put the card into his pocket.
The trader wouldn't hear any of it, however, and vehemently rejected the man's excuses even as the latter continued to apologise.
A man claiming to be the event organiser who approached the pair added that he would escort the man out and call the police.
"Sincerely right, I apologise — I've done this before," the man admitted, before clarifying he meant that he had "accidentally" taken things from other booths in HobbyCon before returning it to them.
"You looked at my people — I have it on video — you looked at them, you put it (the card) in your pocket, I saw it, so don't lie to me," the trader firmly said.
The suspected thief left the premises as the trader and the organisers attempted to call the police, according to the video.
Responding to queries from AsiaOne, SG HobbyCon confirmed that a police report was lodged.
AsiaOne has contacted the trader and the police for more information.
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khooyihang@asiaone.com
