'Heartbreaking': Thief steals thousands in memorabilia from local collectible store

Thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was stolen from a local collectible and sports memorabilia store this week.

James Pulliam, Capital City Sports Cards owner, told CTV News he called police at 1 a.m. Thursday after he was notified of the break-in by sensors from his glass display cases.

He immediately drove to his store to find shattered glass everywhere and the K9 unit combing the scene.

"It was heartbreaking in about every aspect," Pulliam said. "There were a lot of once-in-a-lifetime pieces that I'll never see again."

"I watched the video and the intruder came and got a Bobby Orr signed jersey in a beautiful frame," he added. "I won't be able to really replace any of it."

A signed Wayne Gretzky jersey, binders full of hundreds of vintage baseball and other sports cards were taken, along with originally sealed Star War figures — some that were 30 to 40 years old.

"The people who have watched the (surveillance) video have said this guy had his eyes on these products and knew what he was getting," he added. "So if he was an intelligent thief, he's probably going to know how to sell it as well.

"Some of them have certified numbers, the Bobby Orr jersey has a certification, but it's easy to just take it off, get rid of it."

The signed and certified Bobby Orr jersey stolen from Capital City Sports Cards this week (Supplied).

Pulliam contacted local card and memorabilia shops to keep their eyes open for any of the stolen items. He hopes some of the more unique and stand-out items can be spotted online or by buyers.

"The vintage baseball cards, you don't see that very often, so definitely keep an eye out for that," Pulliam said. "I'd imagine whoever stole it would be piecing them out, not selling them as binders, so I imagine that's going to be very difficult."

"The Bobby Orr jersey, it's a unique jersey, so that one is the key if somebody can help me find it," Pulliam added.

CTV News has reached out to police for further information. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Alison MacKinnon and Steven Dyer