Thieves Have Hit Card Shops in 11 States Since December

The FedEx truck outside PSA's shipping site on Oct. 13 was the biggest card heist of the year, but thieves have been hitting card shops all over the country since last December. Besides the truck, I've tracked 29 thefts at or outside card shops in 11 states. Police and shop owners say thieves took more than $1.5 million in cards and sealed product in those thefts.

The biggest shop loss came in Twin Lakes, Wis., where four people broke into Goldenrod City Collectibles on Aug. 11 and got away with about $310,000 in cards and sealed product, the shop told Sports Collectors Digest. On the same day in Chicago, thieves cleaned out the whole Pokémon stock at Bridgeport Hobby and took about $50,000 in inventory, NBC Chicago reported.

In Forest Lake, Minn., Punch-Out Gaming co-owner Mike Johnson told Sports Collectors Digest that about eight stores in Minnesota and western Wisconsin were hit over two months, his own included. Around Houston, six collectibles shops were broken into between Sept. 10 and Sept. 22, FOX 26 Houston reported.

Burbank police arrested four men in January for the Dec. 2 break-in at LA Sports Cards. Police have also caught or charged suspects in Cary, N.C., Grand Rapids, Mich., Forest Lake, Webster, Texas, and Kerman, Calif. In New Jersey, police have a warrant out for one of the two men they say hit Frank's Card Shop and Lurk Cards in July.

Every card shop robbery we've tracked since December

Sources: Burbank Police, CBS Los Angeles (Simi Valley), ABC7 Los Angeles, NBC News, CBS Los Angeles (Anaheim), ABC7 Chicago, Hoodline, WWMT, ABC7 San Francisco, ABC News, FOX 26 Houston (Webster), KSAT, Sports Collectors Digest, FOX 26 Houston (Houston area), Dexerto, azfamily.

Card shop thieves are coming through the wall next door

Twice this year, a crew got into a card shop through the business next to it. In Anaheim, four people smashed the glass door of an insurance office at 3 a.m. on Feb. 18 and cut through the wall into Do-We Collectibles, CBS Los Angeles reported. One of them dropped an unlocked phone inside the shop, which police kept as evidence.

In Phoenix, three people broke into the H&R Block office next door to Crown Cards and Collectibles on Oct. 12, came through the shared wall and left with about $70,000 in cards, the owners told azfamily. The owners are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Break-ins aren't coming in through the front door. A burglar came through the roof of Player's Price TCG in Kerman, Calif., while the Bridgeport Hobby crew in Chicago climbed in through an air conditioning unit.

Stolen Pokémon cards are what most of these crews want

Pokémon cards were taken in at least 16 of the 29 cases I've tracked, from Poké Court in Manhattan to The PokeHive outside San Antonio. The Burbank crew skipped most of the graded cards in the case to grab sealed Pokémon product. "They went for the sealed products, not really for the cards in the showcase, which are serialized and can be traceable," the owner, Kiet Nguyen, told CBS Los Angeles.

PSA deactivated the cert numbers on every slab taken from the truck because a slab with a dead cert number is hard to sell. A sealed booster box can be sold anywhere.

Collectors have also banded together to help crack a case. After the Kerman owner shared surveillance footage online, collectors helped police follow the stolen cards across Northern California, Dexerto reported.

How to ship cards to PSA and what PSA insurance pays

When an order goes missing, PSA pays the card's fair market value up to the Maximum Insured Value you picked when you submitted it, according to PSA's terms. You choose that number before the card is graded. If a card comes back a 10 and is worth more than you declared, PSA's own FAQ says paying a higher fee afterward doesn't raise the insured value on a claim.

When you submit, I'd set each card's insured value at what you think the grade will be when you receive it back. Much harder said than done, because expecting a high grade, paying for the insurance and then getting a lower grade. Just plain hurts.

Regardless, keep a list of what you sent, with photos of the fronts and backs. If the box never comes back, that list is your proof of what was in it.

How to protect your card collection at home and at the shop

The West Los Angeles robbery happened in a parking garage after the victim left the shop. The two suspects had been inside the store while he was there, ABC7 Los Angeles reported. I wouldn't open a binder of high-end cards in a shop full of strangers. When I'm carrying anything I couldn't stand to lose, I'd bring a friend out to the car.

For a private sale, meet in a public place with cameras. If someone wants to see a big card before they buy it, send photos first.

Write down the serial number and cert number of every card worth stealing, and keep photos of both sides. If your cards are ever stolen, that list is what police and other collectors will use to find them.

If you run a shop, put alarm sensors on the shared walls and the ceiling as well as the doors. Keep sealed product and high-end singles out of the display cases overnight.

Santa Ana police are still asking anyone with information on the truck theft to call 714-245-8665.