YouTuber Logan Paul wasted $3.5 million on fake Pokemon cards.
Last month, the influencer bragged about “dropping” the money on what he believed to be a “sealed, authenticated box of 1st Edition Pokemon cards”.
It turns out, however, that when they arrived, they were actually GI Joe cards – which were worth much less.
just dropped 500,000 on that sealed, authenticated box of 1st edition Pokemon cards? pic.twitter.com/rMY2bVnKV2
– Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) 20 December 2021
Paul shared the news on his YouTube channel, beginning, “This story is absolutely crazy. And it sucks. And I’m three and a half million dollars short.”
It documents the build-up to the opening, including the Pokemon community believing the cards would be fake due to their sketchy origins.
He then travels to Chicago to open and check the sealed boxes, which are authenticated by a Baseball Card Exchange representative due to their untampered appearance.
Instead, they’re unboxing what they describe as “the biggest cheat in all of Pokemon history.”
“It’s so sad for all parties involved,” Paul said after the opening. “It’s sad for the Pokémon community, like how many fraudulent fucking things exist. I’m grateful for the things I have now that are real.”
He adds: “We got screwed. End of the story.”
Rare card auction prices have skyrocketed over the past two years, with one card fetching $195,000 last year. But Paul’s purchase is the most spent on a card collection – too bad he got it wrong.
Yet he also notes in the video that he trusts the seller to give full refunds in case of fake cards. So was this a major troll or a planned publicity stunt from the start?
