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 company that authenticates and grades collectible items, according to police. The 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 on Oct. 13 outside the Professional Sports Authenticator. (PSA) in Santa Ana. The hundreds of stolen cards are estimated to have a total value of $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 belong to collectors across the country who submitted them to the PSA to be authenticated and graded. Two full pallets of trading cards were stolen, and some cards in a third pallet were also stolen when thieves broke into a FedEx truck, according to police. “The pallets contained various trading cards, including, but not limited to, sports cards and Pokémon cards,” according to the police statement. Thieves cut holes in drywall to steal high-value Pokémon cards from Anaheim store. The video shows thieves smashing glass display cases and grabbing hundreds of trading cards in less than 10 minutes. As of Wednesday, no arrests have been announced in the memorabilia scam. Police said the investigation is ongoing. “The value is definitely there,” said Gregory Lawrence of Shiny Vault Pokémon Cards. “Now it’s another asset class. It’s not just stocks, bonds and putting money in the bank. You can put money in cards. Whether it’s Pokémon or sports, there’s a huge following around the world.” The theft was first reported by The Athletic, which cited law enforcement sources as 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 authorities and the carrier as the investigation continues,” Collectors, PSA’s parent company, said in a statement to ABC News. The company said it deactivated the certificates for the missing cards and notified its “marketplace partners to be on the lookout for rare and serialized items.” “Our customer service team has been in direct contact with affected customers and is arranging compensation based on fair market value,” the company said. “We understand the impact this has on the collectors involved, many of whom view these cards as much more than a financial asset.” FedEx issued a statement to ABC7, saying, “The safety of our customers’ shipments is a top priority, and we are working with local authorities in their investigation. Additional questions should be referred to local investigators.” A victimized collector, known by his online handle, Sky-B Cards, issued a YouTube video statement, saying that the 104 cards he sent to PSA for grading 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 were 104 cards that I have accumulated over two years,” Sky-B Cards said in the YouTube video. “There are a lot of irreplaceable cards here that I will never see again and honestly, that’s what hurts the most, besides being completely destroyed financially.” The heist is the latest in a series of thefts in Southern California and other parts of the country of highly valuable Pokémon cards, highlighting what appears to be a 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 neighboring store. broke in, stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of Pokémon cards. Captured on video surveillance cameras, the three thieves were seen taking hundreds of trading cards and fleeing the store in less than 10 minutes. In April, thieves pulled off a heist at Elite Sports Cards in Chicago, stealing $100,000 in 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 with alternative investments, including collectibles such as Pokémon cards, told ABC News that the value of Pokémon cards has increased considerably in the last year. “I would say that, as a whole, over the last 12 months, things have increased by 200 to 300%,” Mast said. Mast explained that the value of Pokémon cards has increased in three different waves over the last decade. First in 2016, with the arrival of Pokémon Go, the popular card-based mobile game, and then again in 2019 and 2020, when a generation of celebrities like Logan Paul invested in collectibles. ABC News contributed to this report. Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
