X

Logan Paul was scammed on $3.5 million of fake Pokemon cards

The YouTuber opened a box to find GI Joe trading cards instead. Talk about a real American hero.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
See full bio
Gael Cooper
2 min read

Logan Paul isn't new to dropping huge amounts on Pokemon cards. He's spent millions of dollars on vintage cards before, and in June, he even wore a $150,000 Charizard card around his neck into the boxing ring. So, back in December, when the YouTube personality spent $3.5 million on a sealed box of supposedly first-edition base set Pokemon cards, it wasn't all that weird. 

It got a lot weirder though on Thursday, when Paul uploaded a YouTube video revealing that he got scammed and that at least one box contained not Pokemon cards at all, but the much-less-coveted GI Joe trading cards.

"G.I. JOE?" Paul yells when the scam is revealed. "G.I. JOE? It could've been anything else..." Cue the dramatic music and Paul looking as if G.I. Joe just ran over his dog.

Almost immediately after Paul trumpeted his purchase back in December, Pokemon card collectors started buzzing that Paul's haul could be fake. As CNET sister site ComicBook.net reported, those in the know were suspicious of the seller's differing explanations about where the box of cards came from and spotted inconsistencies between the box and other verified Pokemon card packs. The website PokeBeach has a thorough breakdown if you want details on those elements.

More on Logan Paul and Jake Paul

In the video posted Thursday, Paul and pals open the box in a Chicago hotel along with the men who authenticated the cards when Paul first bought them, as well as the man who sold Paul the box after himself buying it for $2.7 million.

The owner of the authentication company Paul used discussed what he looked for when approving the box, but once it was opened, declared, "We all got duped."

Paul doesn't say in the video if he'll be demanding restitution from the authentication company or how he'll pursue the original seller. And if you're wondering if this whole thing is just another Logan Paul stunt to get viewers, wonder away. The video revealing the supposed scam earned more than 620,000 views in just three hours.