BRUNSWICK, Ohio — The Strongsville Sports Collectors Convention is one of the oldest of its kind in the country, and it's where your cards and money truly count.
"When you have a show like that, you're getting vendors from all over the country," Mario Tripp says. "Not just Cleveland."
Mario Tripp has been trading and collecting sports cards and memorabilia for more than 30 years, and now owns Marzcardz Shop in Brunswick. He's very familiar with the Strongsville show.
"When you're collecting vintage — that's like pre-1960s — you're talking about 75 to 100-year-old cards," he explained. "And regardless of what condition they're in, they're sought after by collectors."
Amongst the card-trading world the news spread fast: Vintage collectibles were shipped to the Best Western Plus in Strongsville on April 14, right next door to where the convention was held at Brunswick Auto Mart Arena. Auction operator Memory Lane went to pick up the shipment, but it disappeared, says a source.
Shipping cards is a common practice, but them going missing is not. Reportedly, $2 million in vintage baseball cards were stolen.
However, Tripp says they should be easily tracked.
"Especially when you have graded cards, they all have serial numbers on them," he explained. "So for the fact that that collector has that, he's going to be able to track them."
The collection of 54 missing cards includes rare Cracker Jack cards, along with high-quality Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente cards. Items like these will be difficult to sell to reputable card shops because Strongsville police have already been talking to such businesses in the area, according to a source close to the case.
Tripp deals mostly with modern cards, which are more moderately priced. Vintage cards could cost a collector six figures, and for any collector to have all their hard work stolen is just "out of bounds."
'For that to leave that quickly, that collector, I feel for him."
Memory Lane did not respond when asked for comment by 3News.