The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the disappearance of a FedEx truck carrying approximately $1 million worth of trading cards graded by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). The truck went missing on October 13 in Santa Ana, California, shortly after picking up the consignment.
This incident involves the potential theft of 6,451 graded cards, a significant portion of which are believed to be Pokémon cards. PSA is a service widely used by collectors to assess the condition and value of trading cards, with a grade of 10 being the highest. The estimated value of cards often cited in high-profile sales is typically based on these PSA grades.
While PSA has stated it is working to refund affected customers for grading services and compensate them based on fair market value, collectors may find the restitution less than the potential sale price of their graded cards. This is based on previous incidents of lost card shipments, where the compensation offered has sometimes been considerably lower than expected.
PSA has provided the FBI and local authorities with video footage, shipment manifests, and item-level records. The grading service, which asserts that 99.9% of items in its care are historically returned, has pledged to review its security protocols. PSA has also stated that if any of the stolen items are recovered, customers will have the option to either keep their compensation or receive their item back. A full list of the lost cards has been made available by PSA.