It’s easy to take postal workers for granted and forget that we have been able to send or receive some very valuable items securely and safely thanks to them. However, not all mail couriers are good actors, and one Indiana Pokémon card collector learned that the hard way when a USPS employee stole his most prized possession: a Pokémon card package worth $30K. The package was initially on its way as a PSA submission for grading. Suddenly, the tracking stopped updating, and it never reached its destination. It wasn’t until the collector discovered that his cards were being listed on eBay and weren’t simply “lost.”
Explaining his predicament on r/pokemoncardcollectors, the Indiana Pokémon card collector explained that he was approached by someone in a Facebook group while he was searching for his lost cards. This person had had one of his cards graded and put it up for sale on eBay. But when confronted, the individual claimed they would “keep it safe” and removed the listing.
“Right now, that single card is the only one I’ve been able to locate from the shipment. He still refuses to return it to me,” the collector detailed on r/legaladvice. Frustrated, he eventually called the police, but when the officers spoke with the same eBay seller, the man told them he bought it from his “boss” at USPS. “These were not just valuable cards, they were personal grails. They took years to acquire,” the collector groaned.
The incident, as in the theft, occurred in 2023, but the Indiana collector hasn’t been able to recover his Pokémon cards until now, despite working with both the police and USPS. Plenty of Redditors share their sympathy and best wishes, while others feel as though the situation might be hopeless. One person says, “Friend, your collectibles are gone. You can try to follow up with USPS, but most evidence is likely gone at this point.”
However, many tell the collector to keep going and not give up, at least to get justice against the USPS employees who stole and lied to get his collection. But the fact that he has so little evidence on whether the boss, the eBay seller, or anyone else is involved really makes the case tricky. The seller could be lying about buying the cards from their boss, after all. It’s only up to fate if the poor collector will ever get his $30K Pokémon card package back.
