The episode makes a reference to Doctor Strange. Dan Harmon did uncredited rewrite work on the script for Doctor Strange (2016). Michael Waldron, one of the producers on the show, will also serve as one of the writers for the upcoming sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
The red origami bird is a reference to the Spanish show Money Heist, which involves a man who assembles a team for the ultimate heist.
The premise of this episode is similar to an episode of Community, Dan Harmon's previous series. In Grifting 101 (2015), Jeff's contempt for grifting leads him to grift a professional grifter. Rick does the same here, only with heists.
When Earth is shown as one of the stolen planets, on the left side of the screen, is the planet "Big Pluto." This system features a large planet with two large moons shown in the upper left and upper right portion of it's cube. The overall arrangement looks unmistakably like the very familiar Disney Mickey Mouse logo: A large circle with two smaller circles for ears.
HeistCon has a big Hall H. This is a nod to San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H that hosts the convention's biggest panels.