Nearly $1 million in rare Pokémon and sports cards stolen from FedEx truck in Orange County heist, police say

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — Nearly $1 million in rare trading cards, including high-value Pokémon cards, were stolen from a FedEx truck parked near an Orange County business that authenticates and grades collectibles, police say.

This theft is the latest in a series of heists involving Pokémon cards, the value of which has increased exponentially in recent years.

The Santa Ana Police Department said in a statement Tuesday that the robbery occurred Oct. 13 in front of the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) office in Santa Ana.

The total value of the hundreds of stolen cards is estimated at $963,000, according to police.

“However, the exact value of the stolen items has not yet been determined,” according to the Santa Ana police statement.

The cards are owned by collectors across the country who have submitted them to the PSA to be authenticated and graded.

Two full pallets of trading cards were stolen, and some cards from a third pallet were also swiped when thieves broke into a FedEx truck, according to police.

“The pallets contained various collectible cards, including sports cards and Pokémon cards,” according to the police statement.

Thieves dig hole in drywall to steal high-value Pokémon cards from Anaheim store

As of Tuesday, no arrests had been announced in the souvenir scam. Police said the investigation was ongoing.

The theft was first reported by The Athletic, which cited law enforcement sources saying the FedEx truck was broken into during the 60 to 90 minutes the driver was away from the parked vehicle.

“We are aware of a theft involving a third-party shipping vehicle transporting PSA-classified items. We are working closely with law enforcement and the carrier as the investigation continues,” Collectors, PSA’s parent company, said in a statement to ABC News.

The company said it has deactivated the certificates for the missing cards and has informed its “marketplace partners to 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,” the company said. “We understand the impact this has on affected collectors, many of whom view these cards as much more than a financial asset.”

FedEx released a statement to ABC7 saying, “The security of our customers’ shipments is a top priority, and we are working with local law enforcement in their investigation. Further matters should be referred to local investigators.”

One victim collector, known by his online handle, Sky-B Cards, posted a video statement on YouTube, claiming that the 104 cards he submitted to PSA for evaluation were among the stolen items. He said he paid more than $8,000 to have the cards graded by PSA and that his cards were insured for more than $150,000.

“These are 104 cards that I accumulated over two years,” Sky-B Cards said in the YouTube video. “There are a lot of irreplaceable cards here that I’ll never see again, and honestly, that’s what hurts the most, aside from being completely destroyed financially here.”

The heist is the latest in a series of thefts of popular Pokémon cards in Southern California and elsewhere around the country, highlighting what appears to be an ever-growing demand for products from the popular children’s card game.

In February, thieves broke into a collectibles store in Anaheim, cutting a hole in the wall of a nearby store they had also entered, stealing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of Pokémon cards.

Caught on CCTV cameras, the three thieves were seen grabbing hundreds of trading cards and fleeing the store in less than 10 minutes.

In April, thieves staged a burglary at Elite Sports Cards in Chicago, stealing $100,000 worth of Pokémon cards, the store’s owner told ABC Chicago station WLS.

In an interview in April, Jared Mast, president of Mast Wealth Management Group, which deals in alternative investments including collectibles like Pokémon cards, told ABC News that the value of Pokémon cards had risen sharply over the past year.

“I would say, collectively, in the last 12 months, things have increased 200 to 300 percent,” Mast said.

Mast explained that the value of Pokémon cards has increased in three different waves over the past decade. First in 2016, with the arrival of Pokémon Go, the popular playing card-based mobile game, and then again in 2019 and 2020, as a generation of celebrities like Logan Paul invested in collectibles.

ABC News contributed to this report.