Massive theft at Dallas card show, Nearly 2 Million Dollars worth of cards stolen

[gregndodgers]

The International angle is interesting. These cards may very well be out of the country at this moment.

"Turner, who was a part of a group that purchased Collectors, the parent company of PSA, in early 2021, believes collectors overseas are holding massive cards and aren’t saying anything. 'I guarantee it,' Turner said. 'We have PSA China quietly open in Shanghai. We’re accepting submissions. We have a 100-person Shanghai office now, mainly for coin grading...I bet you that — and this is just gut feel — that half of the ungraded cards in our market are overseas,' Craig said. 'And a lot of it’s high end.'"

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/n...al-card-market

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

The International angle is interesting. These cards may very well be out of the country at this moment.

"Turner, who was a part of a group that purchased Collectors, the parent company of PSA, in early 2021, believes collectors overseas are holding massive cards and aren’t saying anything. 'I guarantee it,' Turner said. 'We have PSA China quietly open in Shanghai. We’re accepting submissions. We have a 100-person Shanghai office now, mainly for coin grading.'”

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/n...al-card-market

As I said before, they could have fled to (back to?) Mexico. I mean hopefully they're just hacks and they'll be nabbed soon, but who knows.

[refz]

I’m not sure if this was asked yet or does anyone who knows this dealer, what is next for him & his sake ? Will he carry on, pack it in hoping to get the cards back eventually?

[packs]

I feel like views on the theft are heavily influenced by movies. For example, if I stole these cards it would be easy for me to regrade them one at a time and sell them one at a time over a pretty long period of time. The last thing I would do is attempt to sell anything now and it would be an even worse idea to try to sell everything at the same time.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by packs

I feel like views on the theft are heavily influenced by movies. For example, if I stole these cards it would be easy for me to regrade them one at a time and sell them one at a time over a pretty long period of time. The last thing I would do is attempt to sell anything now and it would be an even worse idea to try to sell everything at the same time.

You remember what happened in Goodfellas. Some of these guys will start buying their girlfriends caddys and fur coats.

[packs]

Well, that is usually a downfall but in this case stealing baseball cards is a pretty inconspicuous crime. It's not like stealing a car, for example. And unlike cash, if a casual observer at your house catches sight of them, it's more likely than not that it wouldn't even register with the person.

People suggested they might leave the country with them. But I really don't see why you would. I wouldn't. Nobody even knows I have cards unless I tell them. And if you came to my house, you'd never see them.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

Well, that is usually a downfall but in this case stealing baseball cards is a pretty inconspicuous crime. It's not like stealing a car, for example. And unlike cash, if a casual observer at your house catches sight of them, it's more likely than not that it wouldn't even register with the person.

People suggested they might leave the country with them. But I really don't see why you would. I wouldn't. Nobody even knows I have cards unless I tell them. And if you came to my house, you'd never see them.

Their faces are all over the internet. That's the problem for them, not the cards so much. If you were planning this crime and knew you would likely be on surveillance video, how would you plan to avoid the domestic authorities?

[packs]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Their faces are all over the internet. That's the problem for them, not the cards so much. If you were planning this crime and knew you would likely be on surveillance video, how would you plan to avoid the domestic authorities?

I would first reason that the domestic authorities probably wouldn't look very hard and the person who actually stole the case is wearing generic featureless accessories like glasses and a hat. He's not distinct in any way that I can tell other than having a tattoo of something. He's got a little facial hair. He looks like a generic "dude" to me, which is of course probably his ideal observation.

If he were 6'9 and had red hair with nothing covering any of their features, then maybe I'd consider he might not be concerned with his appearance because he doesn't plan to stick around.

[Jewish-collector]

Unfortunately, it would be trivial for them to break them out of the slabs and resubmit a few at a time to any grading company and no one would even suspect anything unusual.

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by packs

I feel like views on the theft are heavily influenced by movies.

This. Fake tattoos and beards? Why not the face mask generator from Mission Impossible?

[packs]

And the Plan B stuff.

The only real way to recover the cards is for someone to know who took them and for that person to still have them. Otherwise it will be years of auction watching and trying to cover every conceivable avenue of sale which I think will both get exhausting and turn up little in the end.

I do hope the cards are recovered and the person who lost them is made whole. I just don't think there will be any theatrics involved.

[gregndodgers]

Are these cards going to the "black market" or somewhere less sophisticated?

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...show-security/

“If the group involved in the theft is well organized, they will offer the items for sale on the black market,” Hayes noted. “If they are amateurs who believed they saw an opportunity to make a quick score off the theft, the items stand a good chance of being recovered in the future as these thieves almost always offer items for sale to pawn shops or other venues that will report the activity to law enforcement.”

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by gregndodgers

Are these cards going to the "black market" or somewhere less sophisticated?

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...show-security/

“If the group involved in the theft is well organized, they will offer the items for sale on the black market,” Hayes noted. “If they are amateurs who believed they saw an opportunity to make a quick score off the theft, the items stand a good chance of being recovered in the future as these thieves almost always offer items for sale to pawn shops or other venues that will report the activity to law enforcement.”

Exponentially more? Why? Not buying this. "Navigating auction protocols." Yeah that's so hard.

“So long as they can be assured the items are of legitimate provenance, they are unconcerned about the legality of the acquisition,” Hayes stated. “In fact, these collectors are often willing to pay exponentially more to acquire these items rather than navigating legal sales and auction protocols.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Exponentially more? Why? Not buying this. "Navigating auction protocols." Yeah that's so hard.

“So long as they can be assured the items are of legitimate provenance, they are unconcerned about the legality of the acquisition,” Hayes stated. “In fact, these collectors are often willing to pay exponentially more to acquire these items rather than navigating legal sales and auction protocols.

What does legitimate provenance mean? I would think it means not stolen but I guess not since the next part says unconcerned about the legality. I also find it hard to believe that people would be willing to pay more for stolen cards if they could get something equivalent for less in an auction. Makes no sense.