Lawsuit Over Baseball Card Mystery

Kids today are more interested in video games and reality shows, but baseball cards still have a special, valuable place in the hearts of some in America.

Which is why a Detroit sports memorabilia collector is fighting mad after he claims his baseball card and jewelry collection, worth more than a quarter of a million dollars, was lost by the United States Postal Service. Anthony Johnson, 43, has filed a federal lawsuit against the United States government for fumbling away his collection, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Missing Sports Memorabilia Collection:

- Joe DiMaggio 1938 card in mint condition ($25,000)
- Mickey Mantle 1951 card ($25,000)
- Mickey Mantle 1952 card signed and in mint condition ($50,000)
- Cookie Lavagetto 1952 card ($50,000)
- Hank Aaron 1967 card in mint condition ($15,000)
- Rolex watch and gold chain owned by former NBA star Derrick Coleman (more than $45,000)

Johnson claims his items, worth more than $300,000, were stolen by a female house guest in the summer of 2009, who had them sent back to her California home along with thousands of dollars of cash. She demanded a ransom of the items to be returned. Law enforcement was called in, and Johnson had the valuable shipment intercepted.

ThePostGame brings you the most interesting sports stories on the web.

$30,000 in cash was returned, according to the report, however postal officials never gave back the baseball cards or jewelry. Johnson, a car salesman, says the items were sent to the Motor City but ended up in Atlanta and sat in a postal facility for 18 months. At some point the items moved on to Detroit where they were inventoried by a postal inspector.

It's an unsolved mystery as to what happened to the missing items, a lawyer for Johnson says. The insurance company won't pay for the missing items, claiming the postal service is at fault, which says it is not paying, saying that it did nothing wrong.

Test