Nearly $1 million worth of sports, Pokémon and other trading cards were recently stolen from a FedEx truck in Southern California, leaving collectors with significant losses, local police said.
The theft was reported last week outside Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a trading card authentication and grading company in Santa Ana, about 33 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The cards had been graded and were being shipped back to their owners when the theft occurred, NBC News and the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police initially estimated the stolen cards' value at $963,000. The shipment included two pallets of about 100 packages each and approximately 50 packages from a third pallet whose value was still being calculated as of Oct. 20, the Los
Angeles Times reported.
The FedEx driver had left the truck for about an hour to 90 minutes when someone broke its lock and took the packages, police said. As of Oct. 20, there have been no arrests, and authorities have not recovered any of the stolen items.
USA TODAY contacted the Santa Ana Police Department and FedEx on Oct. 20 for additional information about the investigation and incident, but has not received a response.
Here's what to know about the theft, the missing collectibles and the company's response.
What cards were stolen?
The shipment mainly contained sports and Pokémon cards, including rare collectibles and one-of-a-kind items, according to NBC News and the Los Angeles Times.
Nick Andrews, known online as the Boston Card Hunter, has been tracking cards that collectors say were stolen. His list had grown to more than 1,000 items by Tuesday morning, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Among the reported losses were a 1995 Upper Deck 23K Gold Michael Jordan card and a 2024 One Piece Simplified Chinese 1st Anniversary Set Nami card, according to NBC News.
Andrews also said on social media that multiple collectors were affected, including one who reported losing $500,000 worth of cards. The total value of the missing items could change as more losses are documented.
Collectors describe their losses
One collector, known as Sky-B, said 104 cards he spent two years accumulating were stolen while being shipped back to him in Michigan.
In a YouTube video posted Monday, Sky-B described many of the cards as irreplaceable. He said he paid $8,000 in grading fees and that his insurance coverage was capped at $156,000, below what he believed the cards were worth on the market.
What PSA and FedEx are saying
PSA said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and FedEx and has deactivated the certificates associated with the stolen cards. The company also notified marketplace partners so they can watch for the missing items.
“Our customer service team has contacted affected customers directly and is arranging compensation based on fair market value,” the company's statement reads.
FedEx said it is working with local law enforcement and called the security of customer shipments a top priority.
The investigation remains open, Santa Ana police spokesperson Natalie Garcia told NBC News.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com or on X @athompsonUSAT
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nearly $1M in sports, Pokémon cards stolen from FedEx truck
