Boy hopes for a miracle

Collection of valuable Pokémon cards is gone

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, City4U-Grafik)

A collector's set belonging to an eight-year-old from Lichtenberg in Upper Austria disappeared from the bus stop during Advent. The family is hoping for a Christmas miracle. After all, the cards are not only of sentimental value, but also of considerable monetary value. 

"Gotta catch 'em all!" Pokémon is no longer just a household name for boys - many of those who grew up with the Japanese cartoon series and the associated playing cards or video games have long since become parents themselves.

Collected for years
Nevertheless, the "Pocket Monsters" continue to inspire young and old alike - including an eight-year-old boy from Lichtenberg near Linz. "He's a huge fan. He's been collecting the cards for four years," says his dedicated grandma.

Disappeared at the bus stop
But shortly before Christmas, his collecting success took a tragic turn: "My grandson wanted to take his cards to school, but left his collection box at the bus stop!"

Parents and grandparents searched everywhere
When he noticed that the colorful metal box was missing, he immediately ran back to the bus stop at the Neulichtenberg elementary school, but to no avail: the box had disappeared. "It was a disaster for my dear grandson, the cards were his everything," said his grandmother. His family first tried to buy the cards.

Rare and expensive
"But it soon turned out that many of them were either no longer available or were now quite expensive, so they were worth more than we thought. Of course, we looked everywhere, asked neighbors and acquaintances in the area and tried everything we could think of," says the grandmother. They also asked at school, but to no avail - the colorful tin box with the legendary Charizard, a dragon-like Pokemon, emblazoned on the lid remained missing.

"It would mean the world to him"
"Perhaps someone who knows about the whereabouts of the collection would like to ease their guilty conscience and give my grandson a real Christmas surprise. It really would mean the world to him!" says the grandmother.