$2 million of vintage sports cards reported stolen at Dallas Card Show

For the second time this year, a theft of millions of dollars of sports cards has occurred at a major sports card and memorabilia show.

Sports card dealer Ashish Jai reported the theft of more than $2 million of sports cards Sunday at the Dallas Card Show at the Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel & Convention Center in Allen, TX.

Jai, the owner of Legacy Cardz, reported the theft of a card case filled with dozens of valuable cards, including several 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards, two 1951 Bowman Mantle rookie cards, and several other Mantle cards. One of the Mantle cards, graded PSA 6, was for sale for $175,000. Other high-value cards taken included a 1933 World Wide Gum Joe DiMaggio card, a 1967 Tom Seaver rookie graded SGC 10, two 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson rookie cards, and other cards of baseball Hall of Famers.

Also See: Police recover $2 million of stolen sports cards 

According to Jai, the theft allegedly took place as the show was coming to a close and dealers were packing up to leave. The portable card case was inside his multi-table booth when Jai said three men distracted his two sons and another employee while another man picked up the card case and walked way.

Jai, a regular vendor at major card shows, posted a security-camera video on his X feed showing a man in a dark shirt grabbing the case and quickly leaving the room.

“The man seen taking the case from under the table in the middle of the square of tables had been stacking chairs near the booth for over an hour, and we thought he worked there,” Jai wrote in a post on X. “These guys had been scoping us out all day.

“It was predetermined, and targeted because they knew exactly what case to take, which contained a large portion of my inventory.”

Jai has filed a report with the Allen, Texas police department and is asking collectors to share images of the missing cards. Anyone with information about the theft is asked to contact Jai or the Allen Police Department.

Also See: Protecting your sports cards with hobby insurance critical 

The incident is the second multi-million-dollar theft around a major card show this year. In April, more than $2 million worth of vintage cards were stolen from Memory Lane Inc. at a hotel near the Strongsville card show in Strongsville, Ohio. Two years ago, sports card dealer Rick Giddings was the victim of the theft of more than $100,000 of sports cards stolen at the 2022 National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City.