Collect ‘til your Bluey

Even if you wouldn’t give a flying fluffernutter about cartoons for children, you have seen the blue dog somewhere. The immensely popular Australian animated TV show “Bluey” has taken the world by storm. Bluey is an Australian kids’ animated TV show, which follows the life of the eponymous blue dog and her family. It premiered Down Under in 2018, but quickly exploded in popularity worldwide. The show has received numerous awards and has been praised as quality entertainment for both children and their parents. Honestly, Bluey is probably the thing Australia is most famous for (apart from venomous animals). As such, Australian authorities felt they needed to do something to celebrate the one Australian thing that’s not out to kill you. In June, the Australian Mint released a series of commemorative coins based on Bluey. But that wasn’t enough. Now, the Mint is putting out one-dollar coins that are actual legal tender—with Bluey decorating one side of the coin.

The coin relase, however, was marred by someone stealing the coins. The thief didn’t pilfer just a handful of them, either. In total, 63,000 coins weighing more than 1,100 pounds were stolen. For collectors, the one-dollar Bluey coins sell for 10 times their face value. Put together, the stolen coins were worth more than $400,000 in their U.S. equivalent. The Police (NSWPF) threw together an investigative force, giving it the hilariously dramatic name Strike Force Bandit. Named after Bluey’s father from the show. Soon enough, the cops noticed someone was trying to sell the unreleased coins online. A raid of the seller’s house on July 31 revealed that he was a legitimate coin collector who had “innocently” purchased the stolen Bluey coins. Of course, he still couldn’t keep the coins, and the cops confiscated his 189 Bluey dollars. The strike force did locate the bandits and arrested a man who worked at a warehouse storing the coins. The police didn’t manage to recover all the stolen Bluey coins. Most had already been sold online — quite possibly to Bluey fans who weren’t aware they were purchasing stolen goods.

The slighted collector, however, was able to point the cops in the direction of the person he bought the coins from. And he wasn’t the only one. The Bluey coins’ theft online transaction records show they went up for sale mere hours after being stolen. Further investigations gave the cops an address of a house in Sydney. According to the NSWPF, the man used to be a warehouse worker at the Wetherill Park Facility. They claim the arrested man, together with two other individuals, stole the Bluey coins from an Australian Mint truck. As they are technically legal tender, it’s unclear how this incident will affect their planned official release in September. For the time being, the 47-year-old has been charged with three counts of breaking and entering, the Strike Force Bandit is continuing its investigation. The suspect refused bail and was expected to appear at the Parramatta local court on Wednesday. Police said the vast bulk of coins are already in circulation. Those who receive one do not need to surrender it to police, he added. He appealed for anyone with information about large stashes of coins to contact the police.

Cartoon Comedy

Do you know why Scooby Doo is the most viewed cartoon in Denmark?
Because he’s a Great Dane.

Have you ever seen uncensored episodes of Road Runner?
If you do, you’ll understand why they bleeped him out. 

I had a picture of my favorite cartoon rabbit, but when I came home one day, someone encased it in glass and hung it up.
Who framed Roger Rabbit?

I want a cartoon about puppies saving humans from making situations socially awkward.
We can call it Faux Pas Patrol.

August 12th Birthdays

1985 – Miriam Rivera, 1997 – Tori Webster, 1994 – Imani Hakim, 1989 – Leah Pipes

1971 – Pete Sampras, 1976 – Casey Affleck, 1939 – George Hamilton, 1991 – Keith Stanfield

Morning Motivator: