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HUGE collection stolen over 4th

Hey all, I was in Phili at a chess tournament with my sons, over the weekend, someone broke into my home and stole my entire collection of baseball cards (mainly from the 70s) this included 14 psa 9 and 2 psa Yzerman 10 rookies, huge numbers of Cabrera, pulhols and Barry Sanders rookies and about 30K plus psa cards from the 70s (my collection is under MintMoondog and spans 60 through 70s many are registered here) for example have almost 3 complete 1972 psa sets, complete 73 set, almost 5 complete mini sets, 73s, 74s etc. Please get the word out, I suspect the idiots will find it a bit harder to unload these than they thought. I also had 2 sealed 77 topps vending (bought from BBCE) and 2 sealed 1975 mini cases...a sealed 81 (theycould have just asked for thoseimage - and a sealed 79...its hard to think of everything (Kaline rookie and 2nd year in 8) and police are on the way as I type. Any help is greatly appreciated - please keep an eye out and spread the word among dealers...
Henry
75 Minis - GET IN MY BELLY!
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Comments

  • 19541954 Posts: 2,901 ✭✭✭
    hmm
    Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
  • 19541954 Posts: 2,901 ✭✭✭
    Did they take anything else from the house other than cards? If not, who ever stole this knew about your collection and where you store it.
    Sorry for your loss.
    Shane
    Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
  • gregm13gregm13 Posts: 5,798 ✭✭✭
    Henry,

    I'm really sorry to hear this. That is why we should all be careful who you know that you'll be out of town. Personally, I have a close neighbor collect my mail and don't tell anyone else...not the mailman, post office, newspaper. As a kid, someone broke in my house twice and both times nearly cleared out my card collection.

    Rgs,

    Greg M.
    Collecting vintage auto'd fb cards and Dan Marino cards!!

    References:
    Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
    E-Bay id: greg_n_meg
  • MiniDuffMiniDuff Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭
    OMFG Henry, I am soooo sorry for your loss. They had to know about the collection. No random thief would be prepared to lug that volume of product. It would have taken a truck.

    Please tell me you had collectible insurance?

    Jim
    1975 Mini Collector
    ebay id Duffs_Dugout
    My Ebay Auctions
  • TreetopTreetop Posts: 1,474
    I can't stand it when I hear about this crap. It seems that crooks target sports card collectors. If I'm gone from the house one night (or more) I have a house sitter. Don't care the cost, just need the peace of mind.

    Hope the collection turns up, so sorry to hear this.
    Link to my current Ebay auctions

    "If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
  • divecchiadivecchia Posts: 6,650 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sorry to hear about this...

    Get in touch with some of the local cards shops in your area and make them aware of it. That is usually where they would go to unload collections.

    Good luck...Donato
    Hobbyist & Collector (not an investor).
    Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set

    Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
  • Bosox1976Bosox1976 Posts: 8,557 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Good god that is horrible. Not sure where you live (am guessing Detroit), but the upcoming National in Cleveland would be the place for the lowlife to sell - may want to alert folks there.
    Mike
    Bosox1976
  • recbballrecbball Posts: 1,521 ✭✭✭
    I am truley sorry for the loss of your collection.
    I have a question: If you give PSA all your cert #s will they put the cards on a hot list the same way law enforcement does for vin #s on stolen cars?
    One other thing to think about, did your sons show off your collection to their freinds. Have some of their freinds had brushes with the law before? Does anyone in your extended family have a drug problem?
    The best of luck on recovering your collection.
    Tom
  • Sorry, good point - live in Duluth GA, grew up in Detroit. They also took several Stephen Holland limited paintings - we just found that they went through a basement window, cut the screen etc (It is actually easy according to the officer, even though they were locked) I honestly don't know how these guys are going to move 5K PSA graded minis, that is my only hope...
    75 Minis - GET IN MY BELLY!
  • fattymacsfattymacs Posts: 2,579 ✭✭✭
    That's horrible, I hope the low-life perps get what's coming to them. I wish you the best in your recovery efforts.
  • StingrayStingray Posts: 8,843 ✭✭✭
    With a collection like that, did you have extra insurance on your cards??
  • wolfbearwolfbear Posts: 2,759 ✭✭✭

    Sorry this happened to you.

    Alert every card shop in the area ASAP.
    Also wouldn't hurt to offer them a reward if they assist in the apprehension.
    Pix of 'My Kids'

    "How about a little fire Scarecrow ?"
  • MiniDuffMiniDuff Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭
    I'm thinking the mini cases will be somewhat obvious as well. That was 1/6 of the known pop and the owners of most of the rest are known.
    1975 Mini Collector
    ebay id Duffs_Dugout
    My Ebay Auctions
  • natetrooknatetrook Posts: 613 ✭✭✭
    Would watch Craigslist as well.
    Good luck...
  • theczartheczar Posts: 1,590 ✭✭
    Moondog,
    That is terrible news. I know this won't help you in this instance, but I still feel safe deposit boxes are the way to go. I spend over $400 per year on three monster boxes at my bank. Any card that I spend over $20 goes in there once a week. If they want my 1990 Pro Set hockey, please come and get it.

    There is the age old debate of safe deposit vs. being able to display. I can see both sides. Theft is not the only issue of course. I saw a neighbors house burn down a few years ago so that is always a rare concern.

    Of course a wax case is not able to fit in a safe deposit box. I hope you had your cards in some sort of registry. That is one of the side values of PSA's registry.

    In any event I hope for the best to you in this situation. These low lifes have no morals.

    Frank
  • RonBurgundyRonBurgundy Posts: 5,491 ✭✭✭
    Terrible news. Just a suggestion - and I hope you did this - writing down the cert numbers of all your PSA stuff and storing it somewhere away from your cards will be helpful in tracking down the cards. I have all of my certs stored on my computer and written on hard copy in 2 separate locations. This smacks of someone who knew about the depth of your collection. Highly doubtful it was some petty thief.

    Whenever I go out of town, I also have a house sitter who is an off duty police officer, armed and ready for any nefarious activitiy. I'm not kidding.
    Ron Burgundy

    Buying Vintage, all sports.
    Buying Woody Hayes, Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, and Jesse Owens autographed items


  • << <i>Would watch Craigslist as well. >>



    That's what I was going to suggest.

    Also, do an eBay search for some of the key cards and make sure to include the PSA grade in your search. Then add them to your saved searches in "My eBay". You will receive an email each time one is listed that matches the search criteria.
  • jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,949 ✭✭✭✭
    I am just floored by this! You are well known for having a very huge and awesome collection! Holy Crap!

    The cert numbers should be easy to track if the ever pop up on the grid again, and they will. Since he had most/all of the cards in the Set Registry, they are already "written down".
  • jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,949 ✭✭✭✭
    You should post this at the Sports Cards & Memorabilia Forum too, it'll get much more traffic up there.
  • hammeredhammered Posts: 2,671 ✭✭✭
    Horrible news henry and I feel for you. I watch eBay as much as anyone and I will be looking for you. I agree it had to be someone who knew just what to look for and someone who did not have to go that far to get it. Have you done recent eBay business with a person who lives nearby?
  • FavreFan1971FavreFan1971 Posts: 3,103 ✭✭✭
    Report all Cert #'s to customer service and if they are added you will get the email but PSA will know who requested it and can send that information to the proper authorities.
  • OAKESY25OAKESY25 Posts: 4,726 ✭✭✭
    just read this.. and my heart is broken for you.. I hope it works out for you
    and you get those morons.. people are amazingly selfish
  • Another option to see if these items show up (on ebay or auction house) is goto VCP website and add the key cards to your "wish list", you get an e-mail when a card in your grade (or higher) shows up....

    Cory
    ----------------------
    Working on:
    Football
    1973 Topps PSA 8+ (99.81%)
    1976 Topps PSA 9+ (36.36%)
    1977 Topps PSA 9+ (100%)

    Baseball
    1938 Goudey (56.25%)
    1951 Topps Redbacks PSA 8 (100%)
    1952 Bowman PSA 7+ (63.10%)
    1953 Topps PSA 5+ (91.24%)
    1973 Topps PSA 8+ (70.76%)
    1985 Fleer PSA 10 (54.85%)
  • TNP777TNP777 Posts: 5,710 ✭✭✭
    If you're not going to the National, you might want to get in touch with friends who are and contact dealers that are going to be there so they can be on the lookout as well. That's making the huge leap in assuming that the thieves know what they have, though.
  • Thank you all for your kind words - probably reaching the depression stage as I think of the cards taken. Hopefully I can post some good news, but it is now Thursday and I still dont have a police report or a detective. I am hiring a private dic Monday morning. Great advice all. Thanks,
    Henry
    75 Minis - GET IN MY BELLY!
  • ArchStantonArchStanton Posts: 1,182 ✭✭✭
    This is another reason I like PSA's new set registry format. You can keep an online inventory of all your graded cards regardless of whether or not they are in a set.

    Please post (or PM upon request) a list of all of the cert numbers you have. There is little possibility they can move all of those cards without it leaving some kind of a traceable trail back to the thief.

    Collector of 1976 Topps baseball for some stupid reason.
    Collector of Pittsburgh Pirates cards for a slightly less stupid reason.
    My Pirates Collection
  • jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,949 ✭✭✭✭
    Since you made mention before that you don't think they knew what exactly what they were stealing, that gives you a little bit of a better chance that some of the cards will appear on ebay or craigslist. I HOPE you can track them down as soon as possible. This makes me sick just thinking about it, and thinking it could be me one day. If it were me, I wouldn't sleep until I tracked them down.

    This reminds me of a local story where a couple guys broke into a paintball store, and stole a bunch of stuff including a couple custom guns. There were one-of-a-kind (like the PSA cert numbers are) and the thieves posted them on ebay a few weeks later. The local sheriff's department was notified, the sheriff's department bid on the items and won, drove to the seller's payment address, and made the arrest. They recovered all of the property.

    My god if this happened to me I would have to be committed into a mental hospital...
  • jeffcbayjeffcbay Posts: 8,949 ✭✭✭✭
    (double post)
  • GOODLIEUGOODLIEU Posts: 629 ✭✭
    I am sorry for your loss. As a former law enforcement officer I personally know that one of the worst experience that we can suffer at the hands of these low life predators out there is a invasion of our homes. Your posting of your situation though is a wake up call for all of us to take a hard look at our own property including our card collections and maybe realize that we may need to improve our own security. I sincerly hope if these folks are not apprehended within a short time, that as your cards start to show up out there in the hobby and they will that the collectors and dealers out there take the high road and question where they came from. As others have stated try to get in contact with any of the local shops/card shows and collectors you may know at least within 50 miles of your residece that the average thief would try to drop them off at for a quick buck and see if they can keep an eye out for you. Again sorry about your loss and good luck to you with your search for the lost cards.
  • ga5150ga5150 Posts: 743 ✭✭✭
    You know, you might shoot BBCE a note and see it he'll keep his eyes open for anyone from your area that may try to sell him some of the unopened material you mentioned. It could be at the National, or just in everyday business.
  • Terrible news and I feel horrible for you. Hopefully, the idiots will try to move the stuff and make it easy for law enforcement to apprehend them. I wish you the best of luck in recovering your property.
    Collecting Interests:
    Ripken, Brooks & Frank Robinson, Old Orioles, Sweet Spot Autos, older Redskins - Riggins, Sonny, Baugh etc and anything that catches my eye. image

    My ghetto sportscard webpage...All Scans - No Lists!!! Stinky Linky
  • yankeeno7yankeeno7 Posts: 9,248 ✭✭✭
    Wow, that really sucks! I hope they find the theif(s), get your stuff back, and toss em in jail for a long time! Good luck
  • baseballfanbaseballfan Posts: 5,459 ✭✭✭
    sorry to hear this, terrible news. good luck
    Fred

    collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.

    looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started

  • MBMiller25MBMiller25 Posts: 6,057 ✭✭
    Henry, I am terribly sorry to read about this theft. I will be at the National this year, if there is anything I can do for you to help assist in the return of your cards, please let me know.
  • initialDinitialD Posts: 1,624 ✭✭✭
    WOW what a friggin Nitemare!!!

    I hope the perps are NAILED and justice is served VERY swiftly!!!

    Best of luck in retrieving your massive collection

    image
  • corvette1340corvette1340 Posts: 3,384 ✭✭✭
    Moondog,
    I live in Cornelia/Baldwin (Habersham County). If I see anything up this way I'll be sure to contact you and the authorities.
  • image
    succesful deals :richtree, Bosox1976, Bkritz, mknez, SOM, cardcounter2, ddfamf, cougar701, mrG, Griffins : thanks All

    Go Phillies
  • bobbybakerivbobbybakeriv Posts: 2,186 ✭✭✭✭
    Simply horrible. I am very sorry about this happening to you, Henry. People do indeed suck (sometimes, anyhow).
  • Hello all,
    the good news is that I believe (and so does the detective) that we know who took all my stuff - once this is resolved I will relay the story, it is a doozy. However, it has been over 10 days since the theft so I am afraid that my collection might already be partially liquidated. Please keep a eye out for PSA stuff being sold out of the GA area. There are very few if any sellers of PSA from my state.
    BTW thank you all for your kind words and encouragement, I apologize for not replying to all of you yet personally,
    Henry
    75 Minis - GET IN MY BELLY!
  • StingrayStingray Posts: 8,843 ✭✭✭
    This great news!! Well hopefully all cards will be found.
  • flatfoot816flatfoot816 Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭
    sorry to hear that. Even if they catch the person...stuff may be gone forever.

    Shows the need for insurance. No one likes to pay for it...and you may never need it..but............

    Just renewed my policy ...covers everything up to $243,000. Cost? $1,000 per year.

  • MiniDuffMiniDuff Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭
    Who do you use?
    1975 Mini Collector
    ebay id Duffs_Dugout
    My Ebay Auctions
  • jayhawkejayhawke Posts: 1,313 ✭✭✭
    Terrible news about your collection. I hope you recover everything.
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,703 ✭✭✭✭✭
    sorry to hear that. Even if they catch the person...stuff may be gone forever.

    Shows the need for insurance. No one likes to pay for it...and you may never need it..but............

    Just renewed my policy ...covers everything up to $243,000. Cost? $1,000 per year.


    Do you have to provide a video or documentation of the value? What compnay do you use? Sounds like it's worth the piece of mind. Is the premium based on the total value of the collection?


    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • Nathaniel1960Nathaniel1960 Posts: 2,324 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How many trips do you think the thieves had to make to get everything out of the house?
    Kiss me once, shame on you.
    Kiss me twice.....let's party.
  • fiveninerfiveniner Posts: 4,111 ✭✭✭
    Hey I know the feeling had 3 major cards stolen years back.Invested in a alarm system finally.The crook would have one hell of a time gettinh out of the house before Johnny Law pulls up.I am glad they are close to my house and spent the small fortune for the system.
    By the way I also was born in Detroit and lived there 27 years.I have many great memmories of the old neighborhoods.I am sorry for you losses.I hope they catch the SOBS and put them away for a looonnnnggg Time.
    Tony(AN ANGEL WATCHES OVER ME)
  • theczartheczar Posts: 1,590 ✭✭
    i am going to harp on this again. insurance is a band-aid. yes it can replace the financial losses, but if we wanted the money we would sell our collections. it can take years, to replace 1/1's and 1/2's. some will never get replaced.

    a couple of nice safe deposit boxes are actually cheaper than insurance. no dealing with adjusters, because the stuff never gets stolen.

    i know the downside is that you cannot display them, or hold them on a moment's notice-I TOTALLY AGREE. however there are weeks that go by that i don't even give my collection a spare thought. when i get into the mood i head up to the bank, go into one of their rooms and no one bothers you for hours.
  • fattymacsfattymacs Posts: 2,579 ✭✭✭
    Hopefully you can recover your stuff and the trash that stole it goes away.
  • DboneesqDboneesq Posts: 18,219 ✭✭
    Henry ... HOPEFULLY you guys DO KNOW who stole your stuff ... and HOPEFULLY the rarest of the items are still with the scum who stole it. GOOD LUCK and let us know how it turns out. FINGERS CROSSED!
    STAY HEALTHY!

    Doug

    Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
  • heritageheritage Posts: 2,662 ✭✭✭
    That's at least some good news. I sure hope it all works out for you and you get your cards back soon.
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