Last updated on October 22, 2026
Smaug the Magnificent | Illustration by Francisco Miyara
A FedEx truck containing multiple orders of cards graded by PSA was reportedly burglarized last week, with the company alerting affected customer via email. Among stolen packages was an order valued at over $100,000 and a PSA 9 Gleaming Gold Smaug the Magnificent headliner card from The Hobbit.
The issue became known on October 17, 2026, when YouTuber SKY-B Cards, who primarily works with sports cards, posted to X that PSA sent an email informing him that his order of 104 cards, worth more than $100,000, was stolen.
In a reply to the post, SKY-B included the email he received from PSA explaining their next steps. The certifications on the graded cards were deactivated to make them harder to sell, and they “notified commerce partners across digital, auction, and other selling platforms so they can look out for stolen items.” They also promised to compensate SKY-B “in accordance with our terms and conditions, which is based on fair market value up to the Maximum Insured Value” SKY-B selected for the individual cards.
SKY-B followed up with a YouTube video published yesterday, in which he revealed a list of the stolen cards and expressed fears that he would never see the collection (the work of two years) again, as well as concern that PSA will “destroy” him with “low-ball values” as several of the cards in his collection had values greater than the MIV. Grading the order took three months and cost SKY-B $8,000.
The stolen Golden Smaug was reported by a user on Reddit, Bigchocolatecakey, yesterday, who shared an image of the slabbed card:
Source: reddit.com
The Gleaming Gold Smaug the Magnificent was the headliner card for The Hobbit. Approximately 500 were printed, though the card itself was not serialized, and they only appeared in Collector Boosters. Recent sales on eBay show two PSA 10 Gold Smaugs going for $53,499 and $59,999, respectively:
Source: ebay.com
A BGS 9.5 sold for considerably less, though still an incredible price of $28,000:
Source: ebay.com
This makes the Gleaming Gold Smaug one of the most valuable cards printed in 2026, with its primary rival being Cosmic Foil of The Mind Stone from Marvel Super Heroes, with a recent sale of $32,000.
An Update From the Editor
Rules Lawyer | Illustration by Sean Murray
This news has massive implications for trading card communities of all kinds. As major outlets like The Athletic reported, “over $963,000 of trading cards” were taken from this FedEx truck. Pokémon cards, sports cards, Magic and more.
TCGs have never been more popular than they are now. Magic just posted another extremely successful financial quarter, it’s basically carrying Hasbro on its back.
I’ve personally had my car broken into and my own cards taken. It’s a horrible feeling. Protect your cards, folks.
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