Police Estimate Nearly $1 Million in PSA-Graded Sports and Pokémon Cards Stolen From FedEx Truck

Police are investigating the theft of an estimated $963,000 worth of trading cards from a FedEx truck carrying PSA-graded collectibles in Southern California, with affected collectors reporting losses ranging from high-end sports cards to rare Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards. New details reported by CBS Los Angeles show the theft occurred October 13 in the 1600 block of East St. Andrew in Santa Ana, near Professional Sports Authenticator’s headquarters. As of October 19, police said no arrests had been reported and none of the stolen items had been recovered.

PSA released the following statement on the incident: We are aware of a theft involving a third-party shipping vehicle carrying PSA-graded items. We are working closely with law enforcement and the carrier as the investigation continues. 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. We understand the impact this has on collectors involved, many of whom see these cards as far more than a financial asset. Our team is focused on supporting them. We take this incident seriously, and we will continue working with law enforcement to hold those responsible accountable.

One of the largest publicly identified losses belongs to content creator Sky-B Cards, who said a 104-card submission was among the items stolen. According to Kotaku, Sky-B said he spent more than two years building the collection and valued it at approximately $100,000. He also said he had spent about $8,000 grading the cards and selected Maximum Insured Values totaling as much as $156,000.

In an email shared by Sky-B, PSA told him that the shipment had been affected by a burglary involving the FedEx vehicle after the cards left PSA. The company said affected customers would be compensated based on fair market value up to the Maximum Insured Value selected for each item.

That process could become complicated for rare cards without recent comparable sales. Sky-B discussed several cards from the submission publicly, including a Tyrese Maxey card he estimated at $1,911 in PSA 10 condition and a Caleb Williams card he estimated at roughly $1,500 in PSA 10.

Other collectors have also reported cards from the same shipment as missing. One collector posting to the PSA Grading subreddit said a Magic: The Gathering Smaug the Magnificent Gleaming Gold card graded PSA 9 was among the stolen items. The collector said they had gone out of their way to avoid initially shipping the card to PSA, personally delivering it to the company at a card convention in Miami. PSA later transported the card for grading and shipped it back.

The theft also comes just a month after FedEx launched its Authenticated Delivery service aimed at protecting high-value collectibles. That service was introduced as an added-security option for valuable shipments, using identity verification and controlled handoff procedures at delivery. The Santa Ana theft occurred earlier in the shipping process, however, while the graded cards were still being transported in a third-party FedEx vehicle.