On Tuesday, two days before a giveaway of Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads, the Pittsburgh Penguins learned that the toys had been stolen, plunging the front office into a whirlwind of activity.
The 18,500 tiny likenesses of No. 68, complete with hand raised in a salute, had disappeared after being shipped by boat to Los Angeles from China, Kevin Acklin, the Penguins’ president of business operations, said Friday.
The team was alerted to the missing merchandise when it asked why the delivery of the juddering dolls honoring Jagr, the Czech-born, mullet-haired former star whose number was just retired, hadn’t arrived on schedule, according to Acklin.
“As you can imagine, this has been a frustrating situation for us, and we are trying to secure the stolen property and deliver to our fans,” Acklin said. “I’m the customer who paid for this stuff to be delivered. You’re talking to the victim here.”
The team worked Wednesday with transportation companies and authorities, according to Acklin, hoping to beat the clock and recover the bobbleheads in time for the game Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks.
They learned Thursday from investigators that the truck might be in Pennsylvania, Acklin said.
The team contacted 911 and then was patched through to the Pennsylvania State Police, according to Acklin.
Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said information came through to the department’s communications desk “about a possible ping on a truck regarding the bobbleheads in our area last night.”
Authorities had little to go on, but patrol units searched anyway, likely along interstates and highways in the Pittsburgh area, according to Gagliardi.
They didn’t turn up anything, Gagliardi said.
When the toys couldn’t be found, the Penguins broke the news to fans on social media, promising vouchers with a one-time scannable bar code to pick up a bobblehead down the road.
Jagr, who was in town for Mario Lemieux’s fantasy hockey camp, was happy to shoot a quick, slick video about the missing toys that bore his likeness.
In the 18-second production, trotted out by the Penguins on social media, Jagr strapped a seat belt onto one of his mini-mes, telling the toy, “Buckle up, baby, let’s go find your friends.”
Jagr saluted and then exited a garage in a yellow Ford pickup with the Penguins name plastered on the tailgate and a vanity license plate, 68 WATCH, with the team’s logo. The plate referred to Jagr’s time as a free agent when fans were trying to woo him back to Pittsburgh.
The video ended with the words, “To be continued…”
#JagrWatch ???? pic.twitter.com/dyz64u0QyM
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 14, 2024
Acklin said the bobblehead in the pickup was a prototype for the giveaway. He said he has it locked in his office.
Acklin would not divulge the name of the vendor that made the bobbleheads. He also would not identify the freight company.
“We have no idea where this stuff is,” Acklin said. “It’s either going to turn up, or they’re going to produce more bobbleheads.”
Detective Sgt. Clifford Jones of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said Friday night that the team will have to be patient for the shipment to turn up, but turn up it likely will.
“It could be in Arizona, it could be in Colorado,” he said. It could end up along the side of a freeway.
“They’re most likely going to pop up,” Jones said.
Pennsylvania, though, seemed a pretty unlikely destination.
After arriving in port in Los Angeles, the bobbleheads were transported to a warehouse facility in Carson, a suburb in Los Angeles County south of LA near Long Beach.
There they fell victim to a common crime, Jones said.
Someone with a truck and fake paperwork tricked the warehouse staff, loaded the containers of bobbleheads and drove off, likely having no idea what they were filching, Jones said.
“A truckload was stolen,” Jones said. “Not an actual truck.”
Usually, thieves who raid warehouses are hoping for TVs, washing machines or other valuable items that they can fence.
But Jagr bobbleheads?
At best, they’re a niche item. A very niche item.
“We have the Ducks and the Sharks, but hockey is not like the Lakers,” said Jones, who grew up in Lake Placid, N.Y.
He knows a little something about hockey. Jones said he played defense during his time decades ago at the University of Scranton.
Jones admitted to not being a Pens fan, but said that he liked Lemieux and, yes, Jagr. (“I never got into the whole Crosby craze,” he said.)
Whether in deference to a professional sports team, in recognition of the inherent value of thousands of miniature Jagr lookalikes or something else, the California authorities kicked the case upstairs.
Jones said it had been taken off the hands of the Carson station and turned over to the sheriff’s department’s Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, the Cargo C.A.T.S.
Even though there’s little chance that the bobbleheads will turn up in the Pittsburgh area, authorities here still plan to keep an eye out.
“We understand the community and the Pittsburgh Penguins want their bobbleheads back safe and quickly,” Gagliardi said. “We will help in any way possible and continue to check locations with any updated information we receive.”
Jonathan D. Silver is a TribLive news editor. A New York City native and graduate of Cornell University, he spent 26 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a reporter and editor before joining the Trib in 2022 as an enterprise reporter. Jon has also worked as a journalist in Venezuela, England, Wisconsin and California. He can be reached at jsilver@triblive.com.
