Nintendo / Game Freak / Garigari-KunOh, milk me – it looks like someone was caught with their hand in the jar of ice cream.
Takashi Ono, a 43-year-old Japanese man, was arrested today on suspicion of fraud after attempted victory Pokémon cards by illegal means. A competition organized by Japanese ice cream makers, Akagi Nyugyo Co., asked people to send winning popsicle sticks for their Garigari-kun brand. Winning sticks have “You won a Gari-Pokémon card” engraved on them, and winners can send them back to the company to redeem them for rare Pokémon cards.
According to the Japan Times, Ono is suspected of forging 25 winning ice cream sticks in total. The company contacted the police after starting to suspect so many clubs being won by one person. There are even reports of similar winning sticks sold on auction sites for more than $ 500 (about £ 367), although a box of ice cream costs just $ 3 (£ 2.20).
PokeGuardian’s story coverage states that at least one person had to open 41 boxes before finding 1 luck – it seems that each box contains 6 popsicles, which means that the chances of winning (at least for them) were around 1/246. This means that, to find 25 toothpicks, Ono must have eaten about 6,000 pineapple-flavored treats. Yes, we see why the company was suspicious.
All this for Pokémon cards? You better believe it. The winning toothpicks receive a limited edition Mythical Zarude card as a draw for the next Pokémon movie, Secrets of the Jungle, which will be released in the west this year. The card itself sells for around $ 300 (£ 220). Here is the bad boy himself:
© Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / Game FreakWould you pretend to have eaten thousands of popsicles to make a profit? This is coolest crime already committed, or the most lame? Discuss your thoughts below in the comments!