This is the Jackie Robinson rookie baseball card that was stolen from Collector’s Corner in Belleville on Tuesday and found in a resale store in Missouri on Wednesday. The card is listed for $9,000.
Collector’s Corner
Belleville
Jim Miller was in a good mood when he popped into his sports memorabilia store in downtown Belleville.
He had taken some time off to watch the Chiefs beat the Washington Commanders, 28-7, in Kansas City.
But within two minutes of walking into the Collector’s Corner at 116 E. Main St. on Wednesday morning, his mood soured when he realized a 1948 Jackie Robinson baseball card valued at $9,000 was missing from a display case.
This card is prized among collectors because it memorializes Robinson’s rookie season of 1947 when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball’s modern era. A Robinson rookie card in much better condition than Miller’s card sold for $312,000 last year, according to Sotheby’s. Collectors in general prefer a star player’s rookie season as compared to other seasons.
Miller posted a picture of his stolen card on his shop’s Facebook page along with a surveillance photo of the customer who is believed to have taken the card out of a display case on Tuesday. By Wednesday night, Miller was able to report the card had been found in a resale shop in Missouri.
Jim Miller, owner of the Collector’s Corner stands near his baseball card display in downtown Belleville. A $9,000 Jackie Robinson baseball card was stolen from the store on Tuesday but found Wednesday in a Missouri resale shop that features collectibles. Joshua Carter Belleville News-Democrat
Collectors help locate stolen card
Miller credited the “detective” work by the community of sports memorabilia collectors who saw his post and spread the word. A customer at the Missouri store spotted the stolen card.
“Somebody actually walked in there and said, ‘Hey, I believe that card is stolen and pointed it out,’” Miller said. “Once this all went out on my Facebook page, then everybody in the community started talking.”
A store owner in Centralia told him that the suspect in the Belleville theft had stolen from his store.
“It was like a big detective case going on,” Miller said. “We were pretty impressed with it.”
Miller said his favorite comment was from someone who said, “Let’s make this guy famous.”
“I thought ‘How true is that?’ Famous in a wrong way,” he said.
Miller said no arrests have been made but police told him he should be able to get his card back within a couple of days. The Missouri store won’t be allowed to sell stolen merchandise and will have to surrender the card to investigators.
Belleville Police Department Assistant Police Chief Mark Heffernan said in a statement that the case is under investigation by the department’s patrol division.
This screenshot from surveillance video shows the suspect in the theft of a $9,000 Jackie Robinson baseball card from a Belleville collector’s store. Collector’s Corner
Store security
Miller, who was off work on Tuesday when the theft occurred, said the Robinson card was stolen when a customer reached over a display case, slid open the backdoor to the case and quickly grabbed the card when his colleague was taking a phone call.
The Collector’s Corner shares space with the I Had That vintage toy store. Luke Naliborski, the owner of the toy store, said he was momentarily distracted by the phone call when the Robinson card was stolen.
They didn’t realize the card had been stolen until Miller returned to work on Wednesday and noticed the empty space in the case where the Robinson card was supposed to be.
They used a surveillance system to figure out how the card was stolen and have given police the video of the suspect.
Naliborski said they plan to upgrade their security measures including placing locks on the display cases.
Miller, who opened his downtown Belleville store seven years ago and has been in the collectibles business for 20 years, said the suspect left the Belleville store and soon showed up at the Missouri store.
This is the Jackie Robinson rookie baseball card that was stolen from Collector’s Corner in Belleville on Tuesday and found in a resale store in Missouri on Wednesday. The card is listed for $9,000. Collector’s Corner
“They didn’t say what they bought it for,” Miller said of the other store. “This guy was just wanting money.”
“The police department told me since they bought stolen merchandise, they’re not entitled to it. So unfortunately, they become the next victim. They have to surrender the card.”
Miller said he’s used to leaving things like his back door unlocked at his home in New Baden, where he has lived since the 1970s.
“Our store has always been one where we have a lot of faith in humanity,” he said. “We trust people and unfortunately I think we just can’t do that anymore.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
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Mike Koziatek
Belleville News-Democrat
Mike Koziatek joined the Belleville News-Democrat in 1998 as an assistant editor and is now a reporter covering the Belleville area. He graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee and is from St. Louis.
