An Open Note to the People Who Stole $10K of Cards From Me and My Friends

[dontbiteitholmes]

Well if they do get caught I think when you intend to bolt across state lines with the goods that puts you in some really, really, really deep shit.

If them people who took it immediately got in their car and drove off they pretty much free as soon as the hit the interstate. If they were caught red handed it wouldn't really matter if it was in the parking lot or in another state. Breaking into cars and taking $10,000 worth of collectibles gets you in pretty deep shit no matter where it happens. I don't think crossing state lines has much to do with a crime like this.

[PhanTom_lt]

Are there any scans of your altered cards? So the community can recognize them if they show up online somewhere, even if someone buys them from a pawn shop and brags about his cool new pac man mana crypt. For example, there's one on eBay from a seller in Israel right now.

[dakkon]

I am sorry to hear about what happened. I'm from the central IL area and I will pass word to the local players, stores, and dealers.

I couldn't attend the GP; did WotC make an effort to take extra security precautions on site? While a special task force and cameras would be nice, I don't see this happening in the foreseeable future. However, roping off the tournament area and requiring players to leave the table after their match require little to no effort, and I expect all TOs to do this for 100+ man events. Being careless with your belongings is one thing, but people had their decks stolen at Gencon during their match because a hand would sneak in from a sea of spectators.

I am strongly considering getting a kid-tracker and putting it in my backpack for these events. Most of these have a proximity alert in the form of an alarm (I'm hoping there are some you can track using cell phone apps as well). It won't help much for car break-ins but if someone tries to run off with your bag while you're taking a shit, at least you'll be able to follow the siren and spectators can also help out.

[Malacoda]

Are there any scans of your altered cards? So the community can recognize them if they show up online somewhere, even if someone buys them from a pawn shop and brags about his cool new pac man mana crypt. For example, there's one on eBay from a seller in Israel right now.

I do have some, but unfortunately the cards are all pretty cheap excluding the Mana Crypt, and Tedin supposedly did several Pac-Man alters. I'll put up scans of the alters soon, but they're nowhere near even 1% of the total value.

I couldn't attend the GP; did WotC make an effort to take extra security precautions on site?

No. There weren't even security guards.

[PhanTom_lt]

It's not about the price of the individual alters. The altered cards usually are pretty unique. The rest are pretty unrecognizable, how would I or anyone know if the next russian Dark Confidant I buy was yours? One alter surfacing somewhere on the internet could potentially provide a way to track down the seller and maybe the thieves. Unique details of the items are really important.

[Malacoda]

It's not about the price of the individual alters. The altered cards usually are pretty unique. The rest are pretty unrecognizable, how would I or anyone know if the next russian Dark Confidant I buy was yours? One alter surfacing somewhere on the internet could potentially provide a way to track down the seller and maybe the thieves. Unique details of the items are really important.

Here are some of the cards. I unfortunately didn't manage to get pictures of all of them beforehand.







The far left Teneb wasn't included in the stolen items. I included the middle picture because the cutline on the token is very distinctive. Thanks for the excellent advice.

[baghdadbob]

That's really rough man I do feel for you and hope this asshole(s) get caught! But I have to admit this made me laugh a bit... "You smashed the right backseat window, stole all of our bags, and left glass all over the place" as opposed to them cleaning up the glass afterwords! lol get it? In all seriousness though I really hope you find the cards and if I spot this dude(s) i'll beat his(s?) ass(es?) for you!

[kingsey]

I feel very bad for you all loosing your cards, but what made you pick the backseat vs the trunk?

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

I feel very bad for you all loosing your cards, but what made you pick the backseat vs the trunk?

I was thinking the same thing. Keeping things in plain sight encourages thievery

[Moosedog]

I was thinking the same thing. Keeping things in plain sight encourages thievery

Looks like the perfect crime for captain hindsight to solve

[ImpinAintEasy]

Looks like the perfect crime for captain hindsight to solve

Too bad, Captain Obvious already beat him to the punch.

[dontbiteitholmes]

I know my last post on this topic was TL;DR, but I'm pretty sure security at these events would be better delegated to convention center security or the local police than private security hired by TO's in most cases.

I think a big part of the problem is that convention center management and local police are probably oblivious to the issue of theft and WotC or whatever TO never brings it up.

TO's and WotC should reach out to convention center security and make them aware of concerns regarding theft. Most convention centers would probably at very least remind players not to leave articles in their car in plain sight when entering the parking structure and maybe set up increased patrols of the lot. Most would probably direct their security to pay special attention to the event area as well. During any given time there are at very least a handful of convention security guards wondering around. Since they are covering usually multiple floors and multiple events they usually just wonder the halls for better overall coverage. If they knew the increased risk in a MTG event they would probably try to have at least one security guard patrolling the event room at any given time in case something similar to what happened at GP Chicago jumped off (where a thief ran away and was tackled). Just the sight of a security guard at the door would probably deter at least some of the casual theft.

The local PD is probably completely oblivious to what an MTG event entails and most likely they don't even know when such an event is taking place in their city. If local PDs were aware that during the 2 days while a GP is going on it is probably the highest theft area in the city they might step up activity near the event.

Most cities consider their convention center a very important asset. Conventions mean HUGE money to the local economy (imagine all the money spent by every Magic player in Indianapolis over the course of this year, between a GP, 2 SCGs, and GenCon from food, to bars, to parking, to hotels... big money). Most cities would take crime inside their convention center very seriously, as having a convention center with a reputation for lax security and crime is something no city wants. Even in high crime cities like Detroit, Baltimore, and Memphis the convention center is usually a very safe place, even late at night. The first step for reducing theft is for WotC and TO's to make the people responsible for convention security aware of the unique situation a MTG event presents. There is no way any city is going to look at the increased risk of theft and turn away an event, since they would then just lose that event and all the money with it to another city.

The security resources to reduce theft are already in place and most cities would be very interested in stopping crime at conventions if they were made aware of the problems. In combination with a very affordable security camera system there could be a very real reduction in theft.

TL;DR Version

1: TO's should make the convention center management and local police aware of the unique risk of theft at MTG events compared to other conventions.

2: Local police and convention security could and likely would step up law enforcement activity at MTG events if they were aware of the problem since convention center crime prevention is a high priority.

3: TO's should purchase camera security systems. At this point high enough resolutions are cheap and easy to use / set up. It would take a handful of people maybe 15 mins. to set up a wireless camera system every event and there is an overabundance of used equipment on the market making it cheap to aquire. The equipment only has to be purchased once and can then be used for years on end. If outside security got involved and there was an incident the recording could then be turned over to authorities to review.

4: If everyone in the event is aware they are being recorded and that police/convention security is present to review tape and handle incidents, theft would significantly drop. Professional thieves would be scared because they could be identified stealing thousands of dollars and would face serious jail time if tracked down or caught. Casual "circumstance" thieves would be deterred since you could easily identify them and have them banned by the DCI even if the value of the cards stolen did not justify tracking them down later.

At this point standard practice should be at least one police officer or security guard present and a small but efficient camera system recording to a computer that could be reviewed on site in case of theft. Event staff should make it 100% clear that if you find unattended cards/binders/boxes/bags you raise your hand and call a judge or event staff (even between rounds) so that they can take the bags personally to lost and found (basically if it's not yours, don't touch it to prevent confusion, because you are on camera).

[TheAardvark]

I feel very bad for you all loosing your cards, but what made you pick the backseat vs the trunk?

Odds are that the thief (or thieves) saw them put their bags in the vehicle and knew them as Magic players. If that was the case, putting them in the trunk results in smashing in the front driver's side window and hitting the trunk release, then taking the bags, etc.

[.dk]

Man, what an awful story. :( This is really frustrating. Quite honestly, I was somewhat distracted the entire event trying to make sure my bag straps were looped around my legs while I was playing, and keeping one eye on my library during games to make sure no one swiped it. That's not the kind of environment to run a high level competitive tournament in...

I was playing in a grinder on Friday night, and one of my opponents had his deck stolen while he was REGISTERING for the main event. He set it on the table in front of him when he was registering, and someone swiped it while he was paying. WTF!?

[Finn]

I don't know you malacoda. I don't have any reason to believe that I will come across this cocksucker. But if I do, and I can identify him as the guy who did this, you will get whatever cards he has on him and he will get a face adjustment.

I will then direct everyone I can find who has anything to do with him to this thread.

[dontbiteitholmes]

[Dia_Bot]

That's downright awful, so sorry to hear this happend to you.
stories like that are one of the reasons I only take my deck and sideboard to events anymore. Hope you find this douchebag and give him (them) what serves him (them) right.

[dahcmai]

Thanks for the good pics. It makes it easy to be sure you have the right people. If I find them, I'll call the cops. After I break their arms and stick them in a dumpster for a day.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Man, so many secret bad asses in the legacy scene. At least if you guys lose your decks you will still have cage fighting and bare knuckle boxing to fall back on.

[xfxf]

I heard this guy got in the business after a friend got his decks stolen too. He is a responsible Joe just like many others, neutral good with his intentions, legal with his gun license and only the god to answer to...