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

[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.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

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.

If my plan is to steal the inventory of a major dealer, I would assume the authorities are going to put in a very solid effort to find me.

[packs]

I don't doubt all of us feel the same way. But I do wonder if that's because we have an emotional investment and it's very important to us. There's a lot of crime out there though. It's hard to know what's important to someone else.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

I don't doubt all of us feel the same way. But I do wonder if that's because we have an emotional investment and it's very important to us. There's a lot of crime out there though. It's hard to know what's important to someone else.

I tend to think whatever was stolen, if you're talking a million or more in value, law enforcement would take it pretty seriously.

[packs]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I tend to think whatever was stolen, if you're talking a million or more in value, law enforcement would take it pretty seriously.

I admit to being a natural skeptic but if you're a cop and a guy is telling you he's had two million dollars in baseball cards stolen, I don't know what the reaction is.

I know how I would react because I like cards. But if you replaced two million dollars worth of baseball cards with two million dollars worth of my beer can collection, you may feel a different sense of urgency.

That's what I was getting at. I don't know how important it is to anyone who is in a position to help. I would hope it's as important to them as it is to the hobby but I honestly don't know.

[jayshum]

It appears that the theft of Memory Lane cards was taken pretty seriously. I'm not sure why this theft would be different.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by jayshum

It appears that the theft of Memory Lane cards was taken pretty seriously. I'm not sure why this theft would be different.

Well for one, I'm not sure the seriousness but there was a limited amount of people who had access to the fed ex package..kind narrowed it down to what 10 people? I don't think there are even 25 employees at the best Western. Sheer luck aka stupidity, it was one of them. They knew who was working that day and time. Doesn't take Monk to solve that one.

It's a jungle out there

[JollyElm]

Every time I check this thread when new posts appear, (like everyone else, I assume) the only thing I am ever hoping to (finally) see is, "THE F*CKERS HAVE BEEN CAUGHT!!!"

Everything else is just noise (no offense to anyone).

And yes, I do realize that since this very post refreshes the thread again, it also rightfully gets thrown onto the heaped up pile of 'noise,' too.

[Beercan collector]

Originally Posted by packs

I admit to being a natural skeptic but if you're a cop and a guy is telling you he's had two million dollars in baseball cards stolen, I don't know what the reaction is.

I know how I would react because I like cards. But if you replaced two million dollars worth of baseball cards with two million dollars worth of my beer can collection, you may feel a different sense of urgency.

That's what I was getting at. I don't know how important it is to anyone who is in a position to help. I would hope it's as important to them as it is to the hobby but I honestly don't know.

C’mon now 😐

[Kutcher55]

Since we are entering the phase of rampant speculation I would put in my two cents and say these guys are Mexican cartel. I would have thought authorities would have them by now and with facial recognition technology they should know who this guy is.

Then again it took them 5 days to catch the Tsarnsev bros in a situation with a few parallels although one non-parallel is that the bombing was a much bigger crime and the manhunt resources were significantly bigger. That said we are ten years down the road of technology and I still feel like this will break by the weekend.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If my plan is to steal the inventory of a major dealer, I would assume the authorities are going to put in a very solid effort to find me.

Peter, we know you would not do anything like that.

It's been a few days now since the police have issued any update. At least there should be a,"There are several people of interest" (duh.)

[samosa4u]

Is there anyone on here who works in insurance? And if so, how will something like this get resolved? Somebody on here did mention that the reward was put up by the insurance company - is this true? Also, what's going to happen when they review all the videos showing the theft? Are they not going to be asking the same kinds of questions people on here have been asking? Why didn't you do this or that, etc. What if they decide to only pay a small percentage of the stolen collection or nothing at all? Is this likely to happen considering the amount of money involved and what about lawsuits? I don't know anything about collectibles insurance and so that's why I am asking.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Is there anyone on here who works in insurance? And if so, how will something like this get resolved? Somebody on here did mention that the reward was put up by the insurance company - is this true? Also, what's going to happen when they review all the videos showing the theft? Are they not going to be asking the same kinds of questions people on here have been asking? Why didn't you do this or that, etc. What if they decide to only pay a small percentage of the stolen collection or nothing at all? Is this likely to happen considering the amount of money involved and what about lawsuits? I don't know anything about collectibles insurance and so that's why I am asking.

This question has been asked for years and unfortunately, still haven’t had an a reliable answer. I asked the same think IRT the memory lane issue and never heard. I believe there are still two missing cards from that theft, so the insurance claim may have happened.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

This question has been asked for years and unfortunately, still haven’t had an a reliable answer. I asked the same think IRT the memory lane issue and never heard. I believe there are still two missing cards from that theft, so the insurance claim may have happened.

As with all insurance questions, it turns on the coverage you have bought and specific policy terms. In high level generalities, I would not expect that arguable negligence by the sellers in breaking down their booth would bar their claim for property loss. They would sue whatever insurance carrier they have and also bring in any other insurance policy conceivably reachable (facility, security company, etc.) Unless the insurance policy sets forth specific conditions that these guys were required to do and did not comply, my gut tells me eventually they would recover the fair value of everything stolen (up to the policy limits).

If the policy says you need to have bonded security guys etc. and such requirements were not adhered to, that's an issue. Some one like Scott might have a better feel for what policies like these generally say.

[Fred]

Just curious - if you had $2M in cash, would you leave it out of your sight at a show? Ok, lets drop that, if you had $1M in cash, would you leave it out of your sight at a show? One more time - if you had $.5M in cash, would you leave it out of your sight at a show?

Overall, it's a crappy experience for the seller. I bet that doesn't happen to him again. It's one thing if the security at the event allows material to be stolen overnight, but this is not what occurred. The good news is that the venue appears to have a lot of cameras up and captured good video. Sad to say that perhaps that should be a consideration for larger shows.

[brunswickreeves]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

As with all insurance questions, it turns on the coverage you have bought and specific policy terms. In high level generalities, I would not expect that arguable negligence by the sellers in breaking down their booth would bar their claim for property loss. They would sue whatever insurance carrier they have and also bring in any other insurance policy conceivably reachable (facility, security company, etc.) Unless the insurance policy sets forth specific conditions that these guys were required to do and did not comply, my gut tells me eventually they would recover the fair value of everything stolen (up to the policy limits).

If the policy says you need to have bonded security guys etc. and such requirements were not adhered to, that's an issue. Some one like Scott might have a better feel for what policies like these generally say.

Cards are incredibly liquid (new cards in and out of inventory lightening fast via sale and trade at each show). This could increase business value by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (the National)) in real time. A house, car, or boat are less liquid (in aggregate-no one dealer is going to sell hundreds of these a day like cards). And unlike most card deals, these assets come with a P&S Agreement and Title. How are prolific card business underwritten and insured? Cards have exploded as a very valuable asset class and the past few years in particular cards have skyrocket in value. So in aggregate are more valuable than ever. So a good takeaway for sellers would be to review and understand current insurance policies, or secure new coverage. It’s a travesty when cards (people’s property and livelihood they’ve put time, talent and money into) are stolen and very good people’s lives are upended due to other people’s lust and greed. Hopefully dealers out there are taking necessary measures. As a buyer, I’d be happy to provide ID, photograph, etc. to put dealer’s minds at ease. Thanks for listening to my TedTalk.