Otaku USA Magazine
Thieves Steal Thousands of Dollars of Anime Merch from US Store

Multiple thieves were involved in stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of anime style merchandise from a U-Haul in northern California. The products are from Thousand Skies, an anime store located in San Jose’s Japantown.

KRON4, a local news station, picked up the story. According to them, the anime store is owned by a woman named Elda, and she had been packing up a U-Haul with all sorts of goodies in preparation for Fanimecon, which is also located in San Jose. The con is her largest business venture each year.

It took her a week to do all the packing. But then she got up one morning and the U-Haul was missing. There was surveillance video of the theft, and it reveals multiple people breaking in and then driving away.

“I mean, I was… I just feel like crying,” she told KRON4. “Like I was ready to cry.”

She made it clear that this wasn’t just a small amount of merchandise, saying the products taken would amount to “Like ten thousands of dollars. Like, to be honest with you, it was like it’s our biggest show and we sell a lot of plushies. We have like 400 SKUs-like item variations.”

The good news is that authorities discovered the U-Haul only a couple miles away. The bad news? It was completely empty.

Elda plans to look on Facebook and at flea markets to try to find her merchandise. She’s asking anyone in the public who has information to please help out.

If you know anything, or if you would like to support Thousand Skies after what it’s been through, you can go to their website here. The store gave this description of itself:

“At Thousand Skies, we celebrate cuteness, and we want our customers to join us. We love the quirky stuff that animals do, and we tried to capture it through our work. We hope our playful designs can elevate and brighten up your day.”

Source: KRON4

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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.

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