Thieves in the Los Angeles area stole almost $1 million worth of sports and trading cards from an unattended FedEx truck.
The memorabilia had been sent to or handed over by owners to Professional Sports Authenticator for grading. On Oct. 13, while the truck was left unattended for about 60-90 minutes in Santa Ana, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the thieves struck and took 200 packages worth a total of $963,000 from two pallets, the Santa Ana Police Department told The Athletic.
The stolen items included sports cards, Pokemon cards and other trading cards. The thieves also took 50 packages off a third pallet inside the truck, but the value of the stolen merchandise from those packages has not been determined, police said.
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The purpose of sending collectible cards and other products to businesses such as PSA is to verify their authenticity and evaluate the condition the items are in, both of which contribute to a collectible’s grade on a 1 to 10 scale.
“We are aware of a theft involving a third-party shipping vehicle carrying PSA-graded items. … We have deactivated the certificates for the stolen items and notified marketplace partners so they can be on the lookout for rare and serialized items. Our customer service team has contacted affected customers directly and is arranging compensation based on fair market value,” PSA parent company Collectors said.
YouTuber Sky-B Cards released a video Monday identifying himself as one of the victims, having given 104 cards from his collection to PSA at its booth at a July card show.
“These were 104 cards that I’ve accumulated over two years. There are many irreplaceable cards in here that I will never see again. And honestly, that’s what hurts the most outside of obviously being absolutely financially destroyed here,” he said.
Collectible card content creator Nick Andrews, who goes by the moniker Boston Card Hunter, said on social media Monday that clients of a PSA dealer he spoke with had lost cards worth at least $500,000 in the heist.
Mr. Andrews told The Associated Press that the value of the cards stolen from the two pallets could be much more than $963,000.
The truck was owned by FedEx, and police found the truck’s lock was missing when they responded to the scene. The shipping company told KABC-TV that “the security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority, and we are working with local law enforcement in their investigation. Further questions should be referred to local investigators.”
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