Authorities seize over seven tons of fake ‘Pokémon’ cards

The counterfeit Pokémon card haul weighs more than a fully-grown African elephant

Customs officials have seized 7.6 tons of fake Pokémon cards, with the counterfeit cards allegedly caught en route to the Netherlands.

As reported by Nintendo Life, fake Pokémon cards “weighing over 7.6 tons” were intercepted by customs officials at Pudong airport in Shanghai.

The boxes of counterfeit cards were shipped by a company in eastern China, and were reportedly on their way to the Netherlands when they were seized. According to Yicai Global, the interception marks “one of the biggest fake IP hauls in recent years”.

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A clip posted by Yicai Global, which shows the sheer volume of fake cards, can be watched below.

As well as undercutting the prices of legitimate cards, forged cards also risk being lower quality products. Fraudulent cards are circulated because the card game remains hugely popular. As Nintendo Life points out, 3.7billion Pokémon cards were sold between 2020-2021 alone.

In more legitimate Pokémon news, a digital Pokémon card game was announced for PC and mobile, though no release date has been mentioned. Recently, an in-person Pokémon Go event attracted over 20,000 fans, while 6million Pokémon were caught at the event.

Earlier in the month The Pokémon Company celebrated the series’ 25th anniversary with a £19,500 Pikachu crystal. Only 25 copies of the expensive statue were made, though there was also some cheaper merch on offer.

Universal Studios Japan has also announced a “collaborative partnership” with The Pokémon Company, which will see Universal Studios Japan get a Pokémon expansion in 2022.

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In other news, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé has said “the industry is better because of the Xbox”, and also revealed that he owned an Xbox before he bought the GameCube.

Elsewhere current president of Nintendo America Doug Bowser has also been in the news after sharing that Nintendo has “taken action” in regards to ongoing controversies within Activision Blizzard.

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