Tonies Disney - Vaiana
French
Pockets full of Tonies: Police catch professional thieves of radio play figures
22/3/2024
Translation: machine translated
A gang of thieves was on the loose in Upper Bavaria for more than a year, with one thing in particular in their sights: Tonies! Now the four men have been caught by the police.
Gold robbery or car-jacking was probably too bland for these thieves: in Upper Bavaria, the police have caught a professional gang of thieves of Tonies, i.e. audio figures for the Toniebox.
The thieves had been stealing large numbers of Tonies audio figures in Upper Bavaria North and other Bavarian and Baden-Württemberg regions since autumn 2022 - including from bookshops and drugstores, electrical and grocery shops.
The total value of the stolen goods amounts to at least 85,000 euros, with a small proportion also being electronic items such as video game consoles. In total, there were 60 individual shopliftings. The group of investigators named themselves after the Tonie character Vaiana from the Disney film of the same name due to the unusual haul.
On the road with 3300 Tonie figures
According to the police, the investigation focussed on four gang members. The men, aged between 20 and 58, were arrested in the Leipzig area in March. Three of them were arrested in their car on the A9 motorway. A look in the boot led the projectors to bags and suitcases full of Tonie figures. The fourth suspect was caught on a train in Austria with no less than 3300 Tonies on him.
All men are now in custody. It remains unclear where the rest of the stolen loot is.
Valuable Tonie figures
Some Tonies are already being traded at high prices - especially those that are no longer in production. For example, the Grüffelo Tonie, which is based on the famous story of the same name by author duo Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson, was sold on the second-hand trading platform Ebay for 210 euros in February.
However, the thieves may also have tried to buy the figures legally from Galaxus, but then caved in to the sometimes princely prices:
Why Tonies of all things?
The first Toniebox from the Düsseldorf-based manufacturer came onto the market in 2016. It is a toy for children from the age of one. An audio figure costs between 10 and 40 euros. To date, the system has been a complete success: Tonies and accessories are also a constant bestseller at Galaxus. The business with them is correspondingly lucrative: even used Tonies with scratches are hotly traded at flea markets and second-hand portals. The thieves probably thought so too and ended up turning the cute radio play figures into gold, er money. <p
Header image: ZikG/Shutterstock
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.