Stolen Cards Returned - More Detailed Info

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Posted By: Robert Edward Auctions LLC

The vintage cards that were stolen approximately three weeks ago from the Evanston, Illinois home of one of the hobby’s pioneers have been turned over to the police and are in hand. About three weeks ago Robert Edward Auctions fielded a call regarding a collection of cards that did not precisely match the reported stolen inventory list but which had cards from some of the same issues in common. Something did not feel right about the call – a combination of factors including certain statements related to how and when these cards were collected by the caller, and discussions regarding cards in general. There was no smoking gun but a few red flags and I could not help but think that there was something that was not right. Trying to get contact information at this point was very challenging – another red flag - but I finally got an address to send a sample catalog (this was like pulling a tooth). The address was in Evanston, Illinois. Bingo. The fact that the collection did not perfectly match the stolen collection inventory was certainly of concern – we didn’t want to jeopardize a perfectly legitimate consignment – but my thinking was that the inventory of the cards being communicated by the would-be consignor could easily be off (possibly to intentionally camouflage the collection) and also, having seen the stolen collection in question years ago (I know the collector whose collection was stolen and have visited with him) I did not believe that the inventory of the stolen collection that was circulating was 100% accurate. Our first call was immediately to the victim to discuss exactly what was stolen and to compare this information with the inventory of the cards being offered to REA for consignment. The victim is somewhat elderly, and as I listed various groups of cards it quickly became very apparent that he did not have a firm idea of what cards exactly that he had. This was a potential problem. We then contacted the Evanston, Illinois detective in charge of this case to discuss our suspicions regarding our recent contact. Working with the police we followed their instructions and planned for various contingencies. It can be very difficult to pursue the retrieval of stolen property based on a third party’s intuition – they don’t exactly issue search warrants in such cases - but the more the detective heard the more he was convinced these were the cards. Initial police contacts with the person who had the possibly-stolen cards were not successful but later communications resulted in the person bringing the entire collection in, turning it over to the police, admitting that they were not collected by him and were very recently purchased locally, and making a formal statement. It is my understanding that he purchased the cards for a modest sum with the intention of making a profit and that there is no reason to doubt this (Note: To me he claimed to have collected the cards over the past twenty years. Though he had done his homework and talked a very good game, it is just not that easy – maybe impossible - to fool someone that is very knowledgeable about cards and the business. I work with cards and collectors everyday. If something isn’t right, I can usually tell.) The post-recovery twist in the case is that the cards were then brought to the victim, who looked at the collection and declared that the cards were not in the condition of his cards, that all of his cards were perfect and that these were not, and therefore these were not his cards. Collectors often think their cards are better than they remember, and it may have been twenty years since the victim actually looked at the cards that were not in binders. When you’re 88 years old, one’s memory can sometimes not be perfect. Having actually seen his collection years ago, I know that while many were in very high grade, many were not. The cards he personally collected tended to be in high grade (this included most issued from the 1930s up) but those that he did not personally collect at the time of issue (which include the mostly 1910 to 1920 era cards, which he did not collect at the time of issue and which he had to buy or trade for like any other collector) were not necessarily in the same high grade. In addition to several specific rare card issues in the collection being the very same as those stolen, the returned collection included postcards addressed to the victim, so there is absolutely no question that these cards represent the victim’s stolen collection. According to the detective in charge of the case, he believes that the cards in hand represent the entire balance of the collection, though I personally do not have enough information to verify this. The police are currently deciding how to approach the situation, and are very pleased that a combination of factors, including luck and the ultimate cooperation of the buyer of the stolen collection, allowed a “bulls-eye” in identifying the whereabouts of the collection and facilitating its return. It has been an honor for us to play a small role in helping to locate and bring about the return of some or all of the extremely valuable card collection which was recently stolen from the home one of card collecting’s great pioneers.

Sincerely,

Robert Lifson
President
Robert Edward Auctions LLC
www.RobertEdwardAuctions.com

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Posted By: Mark

Nice work, Robert! Wish we had more of you.

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Posted By: Jason L

That is an excellent deed you performed for this gentleman, and great news to hear...it is very rare to hear a news story with a good ending. An extremenly commendable effort. I sincerely hope that when this gentleman's collection is eventually passed along, that those invloved will act in the same forthright fashion, and take care of him as well as the cards, given his potential memory lapses, etc.

great story, thank you for the update.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Great work Rob! It's not every day that stolen material is actually recovered. Most is lost forever. Was the person who called you willing to identify the party he bought them from to the police? His source would most likely be the ones who stole it.

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Posted By: Tim Newcomb

Gee, I hope if I get to be 88 I'll still be able to recognize my own cards....

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Posted By: John Barnes

Is there any way to apprehend the initial thief? Or has that boat sailed?

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Posted By: jP

Awesome job Rob! i would be devastated if my collection got stolen. im only 31 imagine being 88 collecting most of your life and then they get stolen. Good things will come to you Rob, the world needs more of you dudes.

my collection: http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/obaks/

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Posted By: Judson Hamlin

I think the threads that have come out of this theft have shown what is possible when we, as a community of collectors and dealers, step up to help law enforcement. I don't know of many detectives who would not treat the theft of memorabilia or cards as seriously as any other stolen item, be it a GPS unit or jewelry. What is most frustrating for law enforcement is not having access to accurate descriptions of the stolen items, such as grading co. serial numbers, or at least some kind of spreadsheet listing what is stolen. Given that info, detectives can go to pawn shops, card dealers, flea markets and investigate and hopefully solve the crime. The more specific information they have, the more likely it is that they can obtain a search warrant or arrest warrant for a defendant, or at least have some justification to sit a suspect down and ask them questions.
On a related note, if a gypsy "family" was behind the theft, it would not surprise me. In fact, given the age of the collector, he would seem to be a prime target for these groups. They often work an area with a particular scam to gain entry to homes of the elderly and grab what they can in short order, or otherwise gain access to a home via a home health aide or other means for a more thorough criminal fleecing of their intended victim. Just some thoughts, and encouragement to be careful and aware.

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

It is a good thing the owner of this incredible collection had Doug Allen as a friend. Doug was able to effectively get the word out to those in the hobby to make sure the cards ended up back with the rightful owner. This gentleman was fortunate to have Doug as a resource.

Greg

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Posted By: leon

I agree. Doug personally called me about these cards several times and asked about posting on the board, before anyone knew about it. Without his efforts the cards would not have found their rightful home again.....best regards

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Posted By: paulstratton

I agree with Greg that it is extremely fortunate this guy knew Doug. I doubt it would have been recovered otherwise. 30%.

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

It sounds like we otherwise could have been bidding on this stuff in the next REA auction.

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

I'm impressed on how the "collecting community" worked to locate the stolen cards. There's probably no other way the cards could have been located within such a short time frame. This effort reflects favorably on sellers and collectors in general. Helps offset some of the bad press that the Hobby has recieved in the past. Congratulations to all who helped in the effort.

Peter

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Posted By: Steve

Great!!

Steve

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Thankfully we have auction houses that would report this to the collecting community, and that would report it to the authorities when they were contacted by the person looking to sell them. If these cards were raw, there would have been no proof of whether or not the cards were the stolen ones.

It's great to see Rob have the presence of mind to put two and two together and help the authorities solve the crime, and the integrity to do the right thing.

It's also great to see Doug so concerned about an individual collector that he would go out of his way to make sure that everyone was aware of the situation - it's nice to see that profit is not the only motivator for an auction house.

Now these cards can be back in the hands of the collector who loves them and clearly was devastated by the prospect of not having them anymore. Now that the cards are back in his hands, and Doug is helping him protect them, he can be confident that he'll be able to keep the cards that are so near and dear to him forever. It's situations like this that make me proud to be a small part of this community. Kudos, guys!

-Al

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Posted By: joe brennan

Great ending to a very disturbing story. Good work Rob. You have shown you have a true interest in the hobby and strong moral convictions.

People said it was a million dollar wound. But the government must keep that money, cause I ain't never seen a penny of it.

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Posted By: Jay

What a team Rob and Doug made in getting this solved. Now if they could only work together on auctions we could have multiple major auctions each year with 17.5% buyers premiums and honest auto bid.

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Posted By: peter chao

Jay,

You can give up on hoping that the BP will go back down to 17.5%. However, from this thread some enterprising soul may see a potential business plan. The idea would be to make a more formal "collecting community" that would band together to locate significant stolen collections.

Most of us realize that insurance will only pay us a pittance for the lost of our collections. Instead of buying insurance (or in addition to buying insurance) wouldn't it be better to pay a fee to the organizer (or organizers) of the "collecting community" and locate and return stolen collections.

Who knows the time may be ripe for this type of service.

Peter