Brazen thefts not hurting demand to sell at Saskatoon sports card show
Kelly Provost | CBC News | Posted: January 26, 2026 11:00 AM | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
Show organizers say theft of a Tom Brady rookie card was a 2-person operation
Despite brazen thefts in recent years, there is no shortage of people wanting to sell at a Saskatoon sports card show.
The stealing of cards in front of potentially dozens of witnesses is reported at sports card shows across North America.
But at the card show in Saskatoon's The Centre Mall, it's a relatively new phenomenon for an event that's been held monthly for about a decade.
Almost two years ago, cards were stolen from multiple vendors' tables, believed to be the work of one thief. The incident was reported to mall security, but no one was ever caught.
Sharon Sullivan, who organizes the show with her husband Kerry, said the cards were not "high-end" but that was the first time they had heard of widespread theft at one of their shows.
Earlier this month, someone stole Pokémon cards from two of the show's vendors. Kerry Sullivan said it was about to happen to a third vendor when that person saw what was going on and scared the thief away.
"He would put his binder down on top of those cards," Sullivan said. "And when he was done looking at other cards, he would pick it up, at the same time grabbing some cards underneath his binder."
In that case, the two tables had roughly $30 to $40 worth of cards stolen, but it wasn't considered serious enough to alert mall security or police. Sullivan said the thief wasn't caught, but vendors now have a photo of him.
Distraction used in theft of Tom Brady card
However, just over a year ago, a graded rookie card of Tom Brady was stolen from a vendor's table in what the Sullivans describe as a two-person operation involving distraction.
"Having one person call you over to the other side of the table and then their partner takes cards that are unguarded from the far end of the table," Sharon said. "So if you don't have anybody to work with at your table, the chance of that happening is greater."
Kerry said since this card was worth over $1,000, it was easy to notice later that it was missing.
Police and mall security were alerted, and mall security got footage of the suspects from the cameras above the show.
Kerry said none of the vendors had ever seen the suspects before, but he believes they are from the Saskatoon area because mall security staff were previously familiar with them.
He said they came back to the mall a week or two later and tried selling the card to the hobby store that's right next to where the show is held. Mall security noticed they were back, but the suspects left before they could be questioned.
Sullivan said they haven't been seen since and the card has not been recovered.
Most of the listed sales of other copies of this Tom Brady PSA 7 2000 Bowman rookie card on eBay this month sold for between $1,100 and $1,500 CAD.
"The ones who have lost something that's a large dollar amount, they all show up next [time] with a showcase," Kerry said. "So you put your expensive cards under glass. You learn the hard way sometimes."
Dozens of vendors waiting for chance to sell at show
But the thefts are not deterring people from trying to take part in the show as sellers. The show normally has about 25 vendors. The Sullivans said there are now 40 to 50 people on a waiting list.
"I think they could see the popularity of it and that most of the vendors say, 'Yeah, we've done well.' So they want to be a part of that, as well," Sharon said.
"We have a lot of our vendors that would normally do hockey and baseball, the sports cards, getting into the Pokémon, as well, and telling us that they have done a very, very, very good day or very good sales in Pokémon."
The Sullivans recall a time when each month would mean setting up at a card show at a different city: Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton. Now with the monthly show in Saskatoon, vendors from Alberta, Regina, Moose Jaw and the Battlefords come to their city — and the sellers in Saskatoon no longer have to travel.
Kerry said, in the past couple of years, the show has been consistently busy all the time. And the mall has told organizers that each show brings in between 600 to 1,000 people to the shopping centre.
In Lloydminster, organizers of the Border City Card Show, held twice a year, say it's outgrown its former venue, the Gold Horse Casino, and it's moving to the Lloydminster Exhibition WLS Convention Centre for the next show on March 7.
For organizers like Chris Brinklow, the extra space and room for more tables will be worth the extra cost that the show and its vendors will have to pay because he says the waiting list to sell was very long.
In three years, the show has grown from 11 tables in a card shop to 75 tables and over 50 vendors in a convention centre.
'Looking out for the other guy'
Despite the rapid growth, Brinklow said he hasn't heard of thefts at the show, which he attributes to the security at the casino and the admission fee the show charges.
Brinklow said he's heard of situations at other shows where if a vendor notices they are missing a card, they will be quick to text a group chat to get others to watch out for it.
"And I've heard of where somebody shows up at a different table at the same show, which is pretty dumb, but trying to sell the same card," Brinklow said.
"And then [the vendor] is like, 'Hold on, let me just see this card.' He takes and holds on to it and security comes in or the cops show up and arrest this guy."
According to the Sullivans and Brinklow, vendors at shows keep an eye on each other's tables even though Brinklow admits they are competitors sometimes trying to sell the same cards.
"Obviously you want to sell more than the other guy," Brinklow said. "But you're looking out for the other guy, as well, because in business and in collecting, we all share the same nerdy cardboard collecting habit here."