The surging price of Pokémon products has been no secret over the past few years, with some turning the trading cards into a lucrative side hustle.

And as the cards become a commodity, larger businesses are now following suit.

George Kozma started the multi-million-dollar streetwear business, Waves Never Die, in 2018, out of his home in Sydney's west and has kept his finger on the pulse of upcoming trends ever since.

He began selling high-end sneakers and streetwear from brands such as Supreme and Yeezy before adding coveted collectibles like Labubus and even Rhode beauty products into the mix during their highest demand.

After transforming a Moorebank warehouse into a streetwear store and dessert shop, he now has his eyes set on Pokémon cards, a hobby he claims is "going through the roof".

"I've got 45 to 50-year-old men calling me. I had one guy ask me for 50 packs of the bundles.

"We're talking 50-year-old men who've transitioned from watches to Pokémon, because Pokémon holds more value than a Rolex."

"You buy a Rolex, you're gonna flip it maybe in a year and make [up to] five grand, while you buy 50 packs worth five grand, and you might pull out a card that's worth a few grand.

"It's got a gambling aspect, it's like a thrill."

George isn't wrong. Earlier this year, professional wrestler and YouTuber Logan Paul broke a world record after selling his Pikachu Illustrator card for an eye-watering $US16.5 million ($23.3 million) in an auction, a card many consider the rarest of all time.

That is enough money to buy a harbourfront mansion in a luxury Sydney suburb, a garage full of supercars, or, in this instance, a piece of holographic cardboard cased in plastic and gold. 

Australian YouTuber Michael Anderson, better known as Unlisted Leaf, garnered more than 2.7 million subscribers and almost 1 billion views by opening Pokémon packs and even had the opportunity to reveal the value of a card that Paul opened in a pack live on stream in 2021.

"One of the most incredible cards I've ever filmed was the PSA 10 1st Edition Charizard, the same card that Logan Paul just sold for over $1 million," he told Nine.com.au.

"I got to reveal the PSA 10 grade of that card with its owner Will years before that sale, the whole day was very surreal."

Anderson told Nine.com.au he believes that COVID lockdowns and influencers such as Paul promoting the trading cards created the "perfect storm" that skyrocketed collecting to new heights.

"I've seen card shows go from small events with maybe 100 attendees to massive conventions with thousands of people walking through the doors," he said.

That is the story for Trading Card Show Australia founders Drei and Blair, who say their event began in 2021 with 20 vendors at a small community hall in Sydney's Inner West before it became a national show.

"Each show seems to be breaking records. We just did one in Brisbane with over 4500 people through the door," Blair said.

They say that Pokémon cards make up "at least 80 per cent" of tables at their shows, and they have seen cards worth as much as $80,000 at the events.

"Retail stores will always have a place in the hobby, though, especially as a space for people just to go during the week, to buy cards and sell cards," Blair said.

Despite being one of the few secondary retailers flipping Pokémon products, George said it is only a matter of time before his competitors hop on the trend.

"Everyone's gonna start, I guarantee every secondary resell store in Australia will be selling Pokémon within the next two, three, four weeks, because no one is spending money on anything else.

"Pokémon sells out instantly, they've got to go to the secondary market.

"You just got to chase what's selling at the moment," George said.

"In these current times, it's so tough, so we're hustling harder than ever."

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Two people, including a 16-year-old boy, have been charged after a Docklands restaurant was firebombed.

Police allege the two males smashed through glass doors at the Almina restaurant on Docklands Drive at about 3.30am yesterday.

They then allegedly poured accelerant inside the restaurant, before setting it on fire and fleeing the scene.

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The restaurant was lightly damaged, but the glass doors remain boarded up.

The pair attempted to get into an allegedly stolen car, but were disturbed by police who were patrolling the area.

They allegedly attempted to run from the scene, but were found hiding under the Bolte Bridge in Ron Barassi Snr Park.

They were arrested, along with a third male who was found in a car on Docklands Drive.

WORLD: New US warning over Strait of Hormuz 'tollbooth'

Inside the car, police seized jerry cans.

A boy, 16, from the Glen Eira area, and a 22-year-old man were each charged with criminal damage by fire, reckless conduct endangering life and burglary.

The boy will appear before a children's court today, while the man will appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

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The man, 19, who was arrested in the car was released pending further investigation.

Police are now investigating whether this attack is linked to a spate of recent firebombings and shootings on Melbourne hospitality venues.

The motive for the attacks is not known, but police believe they are being coordinated by an organised crime syndicate, which is using encrypted apps to recruit people, sometimes children.

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The United States is warning shipping companies that they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The alert by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control adds another layer of pressure in the standoff between the US and Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

About a fifth of the world's trade in oil and natural gas typically passes through the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in peacetime.

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Iran effectively closed the strait to normal traffic by attacking and threatening to attack ships after the US and Israel launched a war on February 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through alternate routes closer to its shoreline, charging fees at times for the service.

That "tollbooth" effort is the focus of the US sanctions warning.

The payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also "digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments", including charitable donations and payments at Iranian embassies, OFAC said.

"OFAC is issuing this alert to warn US and non-US persons about the sanctions risks of making these payments to, or soliciting guarantees from, the Iranian regime for safe passage. These risks exist regardless of payment method," it said.

The US responded to Iran's closure of the strait with a naval blockade of its own on April 13, preventing any Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Iran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.

The US Central Command said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.

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Trump rejects Iranian proposal

The warning came as US President Donald Trump swiftly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war between the countries.

"They want to make a deal, I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens," Trump said at the White House. He didn't elaborate on what he saw as its shortcomings but expressed frustration with the Iranian leadership.

"It's a very disjointed leadership," Trump said. "They all want to make a deal, but they're all messed up."

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Iran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.

The shaky three-week ceasefire between the US and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations. The standoff is increasingly putting pressure on the global economy, driving up prices and leading to shortages of fuel and other products tied to the oil industry.

Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys' trip to Pakistan last week, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the critical passageway used by America's Gulf allies to export their oil and gas.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has briefed many of his regional counterparts on the country's initiatives to end the war, according to his social media. He also held talks Friday with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is in contact with the EU's Gulf partners.

Iran hangs two men convicted of spying for Israel

Iran on Saturday said it hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel.

The Iranian judiciary's news outlet, Mizanonline, identified the men as Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh. It said they were hanged after the country's Supreme Court upheld earlier death sentences.

The news outlet said Karimpour was accused of sending "sensitive information" to an officer in Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, while Bekrzadeh was alleged to have sent details about government and religious leaders as well as information about Natanz. The central Iranian city is home to a nuclear enrichment facility bombed by Israel and the US last year.

Iran has hanged more than a dozen people over alleged espionage and terrorist activities in recent weeks.

China's UN envoy urges Iran to lift restrictions

Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, said Friday that maintaining the ceasefire is "the most urgent issue", as well as bringing together the sides to resume good faith negotiations "to make sure that the ground is laid for reopening of Hormuz".

Foreign Minister Wang Yi "has been on the phone almost constantly" with representatives from all sides, Fu said, adding that China supports Pakistan's efforts to mediate between the parties.

Fu stressed the root cause of the tremendous suffering in Iran and neighboring countries and the growing turmoil in the global economy, especially in developing countries, "is the illegitimate war by the US and Israel".

The owner of a Sydney removalist business has been targeted by scammers who tanked her online reviews in a bid to extort money from her.

A sudden flurry of negative reviews came as a shock for Move It With Gina owner and single mother-of-six Gina.

"I started it 11 years ago, packing and cleaning," she said.

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"All my clients wanted a removalist so I ended up buying a truck.

"Four days ago we got one-star reviews in consecutive orders within every half an hour.

"When we had a look at the reviews and who they're from, we were like, 'we haven't serviced these people'."

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Then Gina started getting suspicious text messages.

"I have received A order for posting thirty bad rewiews (sic) on your business. Now he is ignoring My message please pay my loss. 60$. Otherwise I'm going to More One Star review," one of the messages said.

Gina said she ignored the messages.

Cybersecurity expert Simon Smith said there were a few tell-tale signs of a fake review.

It could include generic language and a succession of negative reviews in a short period of time.

"The most important thing is to never pay the extortion," Smith said.

For Gina, it took days for the reviews to be taken down.

9News attempted to get a response from the scammer on their number based overseas but they have since gone quiet.

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