Rattle Pokemon is making the world safe for dishonest buyers

There’s a person on the Internet who goes by the name of Rattle Pokémon. He’s carved out a niche for himself as the Pokémon fraud investigator. Rattle Pokémon is a cross between Rorschach and Barney Fife, only with a French-Canadian accent.

Almost every video he posts on YouTube deals with someone he deems to be a scammer. Whether his allegations are true or not doesn’t matter. That’s because Rattle flashes a lengthy legal disclaimer before most of his videos.

Here is Rattle’s legal disclaimer:

LEGAL DISCLAIMER
 
All statements contained herein are the opinions of Rattle Pokémon based on personal communications, investigations, findings, research and due diligence, and are not statements of fact. Such information and content provided herein are based on general available information, field research, inferences and deductions through Rattle Pokémon due diligence and analysis. Rattle Pokémon opinions are held in good faith, and we have based them upon publicly available facts and evidence collected and analyzed including our understanding of representations made by the individuals, and companies and reliable platforms that sell products. Opinions and claims and findings are based on the research and investigations done by Rattle Pokémon However, they REMAIN OUR OPINIONS AND BELIEFS ONLY.
 
Our conducted research and analysis is based on public information in a manner that any person could have done if they were interested in doing so. Such information and content provided herein is publicly accessible.
 
Use of Rattle Pokémon's investigation, research and due diligence is at your own risk. In no event should Rattle Pokémon or any affiliated party be liable for any direct or indirect losses caused by any information or content provided. You further agree to do your own research and due diligence and consult with your own legal advisor with respect to any information or content covered herein. To the best of our ability, opinion, and belief, all information contained herein is accurate and reliable and has been obtained from individuals and public sources, that we believe to be accurate and reliable. Information and content provided have been obtained through research, investigation and findings, and voluntary information provided by individuals. However, such information is presented “as is." without warranty of any kind - whether express or implied.
 
Rattle Pokémon makes no representation, express or implied, as to the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information or with regard to the results to be obtained from its use. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice, and Rattle Pokémon docs not undertake to update or supplement the content, recordings, documents or any of the information contained herein.
 
Rattle Pokémon reserves the right to express such opinion through social media accessible to the public. Our opinions and the underlying facts about what we research is in the public interest and that publication is justified due to the fact that Pokémon collectors and the collectible market are connected in a common interest in the true value of such product and content that we research.

The problem is Rattle gets things wrong. He also makes stuff up about people in the Pokémon community.

On February 20th, 2024, Rattle posted a video on YouTube. It shows him pranking someone from Facebook. They were trying to sell a fake First Edition Pokémon sealed Gym Challenge Booster Box for $8,000 Canadian.

Last month, two First Edition Pokémon Gym Challenge Booster Box boxes sold on eBay. One on January 1st for $14,999.99. The other sold on January 15th for an unknown amount. The seller was asking $18,000.00, but accepted a lesser amount from a buyer.

You can’t cheat an honest person

The Facebook seller was asking a lot less for his box of cards than what similar boxes sold for on eBay. Going by today’s exchange rate, $8,000.00 Canadian dollars equals $5,932.29 in U.S. dollars. Anyone who is trying to sell a box worth $14,999 for only $5,932.29 is creating a deal too good to be true. This should present serious red flags for any would-be buyer.

If I looked at the seller’s original Facebook Marketplace listing, I would have assumed the sealed box was fake, stolen, or that the seller doesn’t know its value. Any buyer who jumped on this offer is not someone I would describe as intelligent, honest or ethical. How could they justify such a low asking price? If they thought the box was real. they had to think they were scamming the seller.

Rattle got the guy to drive six hours to make the exchange, with the promise of gas money when they met in person. Once the seller showed up at the agreed upon place, an outdoor ice rink in Montreal with a webcam so Rattle could watch the guy show up and look for him, Rattle Pokémon called the seller. He told the seller that he wasn’t meeting to make the exchange. He told the seller he knew the cards were counterfeit.

There would be no sale.

There would be no gas money.

Rattle Pokémon went on to tell the seller in a text message that if he agreed to destroy the box in view of the ice rink’s webcam, he would not send the seller’s personal information to the police. There’s a word to describe what Rattle did in his text message. It’s called extortion.

Allow me to state the obvious

Just to be clear, I’m not in favor of people who try to sell counterfeit products. I’m also not in favor of people who try to scam sellers by taking advantage of their ignorance. Both types of people are predators.

I don’t think Rattle serves a legitimate public service to the Pokémon collecting community. This seller’s offer was far too good to be true. You shouldn’t need a YouTuber to warn you about engaging in sketchy deals like this.

The video