High-End Sports Card Shop Sues Over Insane Smash & Grab

A high-end sports memorabilia company is suing its insurance company over claims of burglary.

In April 2022, burglars reportedly broke into Mamba Cards in Encino and stole thousands of dollars of sports trading cards and valuable merchandise.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Mamba Cards is suing their insurance company over claims that they were robbed. A man named Leor who worked for the company and declined to give his last name told a local ABC News affiliate that “They were looking for our sealed inventory - stuff that was sealed and stuff they can easily just grab.”

A man named Daniel claims that the burglars also stole items that were not that valuable, speculating that they were amateur thieves who were just hoping to make some quick cash. “We also saw them take items that don't have any value, which tells me that they may not know what they were taking,” he added.

Mamba Cards had shared surveillance video of the burglary on Instagram, but the video has since been taken down. The break-in had occurred around 3 AM in the morning on a Tuesday. The owners say the front door had been smashed in and some shelves had been completely emptied.

According to the legal documents obtained by The Blast, Mambacards, LLC, better known as "Mamba Cards" describes itself as a "high-end sports trading card and memorabilia company."

The legal papers say that the company "has experienced exponetntial growth" since 2020.  The price of sports cards skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some cards being sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Some of the types of cards that were stolen included Prizm, NT, and Immaculate, which are some of the most expensive cards around.

"Prizm first off the line released last year, it's a very high-value item," Daniel explained. "Those boxes range between $3,300 to $3,600 per box and we had four cases." Each case of cards contains twelve boxes, which could cost at least $160,000, if not more.

To protect the business, Mamba Cards purchased an "All Risk" commercial general liability and business owner's property policy issued by Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America. The policy reportedly covered losses between September 1, 2021, through September 1, 2022.

The Encino office was burglarized on April 5, 2022. Although the thieves were caught on video and the company had even posted the surveillance footage on Instagram in the hopes that they would be recognized, the legal papers say that the authorities are continuing to investigate the crime.

After the theft, Mamba Cards filed a "timely" claim to their insurance company for its losses under the Business Income, Business Personal Property, and Newly Acquired or Constructed Property Additional Coverages under the Policy.

A few months later, on October 6, 2022, Mamba Cards submitted "substantial documentation" that showed that the losses of the theft cost $448,000. The company also submitted proof that the property was “newly acquired” under the terms of the Policy, in that it was purchased by Mamba Cards within 180 days prior to the loss on April 5, 2022.

About a month later, on November 4, 2022, Travelers denied Mamba Card's claim for the $250,000 in Additional Coverages for the Newly Acquired Property, and for its loss of Business Income. In the legal papers, Mamba Cards claims that their insurance company denied their claim without any "meaningful investigation."

Instead, Travelers stated that it would only pay $72,800 towards the loss under the Business Personal Property coverage. Mamba Cards claims that the theft caused the company to suspend its business operation to replenish its inventory. If that wasn't enough, the company says that they now also had to "retain counsel and pursue this litigation in order to obtain the benefits promised under the Policy."

Mamba Cards wasn’t the only business affected by the rising cost of prices of sports cards during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, customers who headed to their local Target store to pick up trading cards were met with a sign warning them that certain sports cards were not being sold “until further notice.”

“To ensure the safety of our guests and team members, MLB, NFL, and NBA Trading Cards will no longer be sold in stores until further notice,” a sign read. Pokémon trading cards were also limited to two items per guest per day.