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

[Malacoda]

Dave, Jacob, and I made our way down to the GP this weekend preparing to play some awesome Legacy, meet some awesome people, and make some awesome trades. And all of that was going pretty well, until this morning when we came back from checking out of our hotel and found what you'd done to Jacob's car. You smashed the right backseat window, stole all of our bags, and left glass all over the place. We had been gone for 10 minutes, 15 minutes max, while we were checking out and getting breakfast. I guess you had the courtesy to not steal Dave's coat, but that's about it. You were probably watching us from one of the hotel windows, and once we put our stuff in the car you ran down, elbowed that window open, and stole our bags. Thanks for that. I guess in the future I'll know that no matter what, even if I'm just taking five minutes to check out of my hotel room and get a muffin, my cards will never be safe because disgusting people like you still somehow exist. And of course, you didn't just take our cards. You took away our experience, ruined our weekend, inconvenienced us beyond belief, and completely negated all the effort we had put into building our decks and preparing for this. You took my favorite deck, 43 Lands, and you took UR Delver from Jacob and UW Stoneblade from Dave.

Below is a list of some of the stuff we had stolen. We're not exactly sure on the details, since you've got our binders, but we got down what we can remember. I'll be updating this as I remember more things you scored.

$100+

1 Ancestral Recall (UL)
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale (Italian)
1 Mana Drain (Italian)

$50-100

9 Force of Will
5 Tropical Island (REV)
4 Volcanic Island (REV)
3 Scrubland (REV)
3 Dark Confidant (Russian)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Savannah (REV)
1 Bayou (REV)
1 Plateau (REV)
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Mana Crypt (altered - Pac-Man)
1 Wasteland (Player Rewards Foil)

$20-50

11 Wasteland
9 Snapcaster Mage
6 Mox Diamond (SH)
5 Hallowed Fountain
4 Watery Grave
4 Exploration
4 Rishadan Port
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant (2 EvT)
3 City of Traitors
3 Entomb (2 PDS: Graveborn)
3 Maze of Ith (1 Italian)
3 Arcbound Ravager
3 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Polluted Delta
3 Vindicate
2 Crucible of Worlds (1 Russian)
2 Lion's Eye Diamond
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Sword of War and Peace
2 Doubling Season
2 Wooded Foothills (1 signed)
2 Cryptic Command
2 Thoughtseize
1 Foil Stoneforge Mystic
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Engineered Explosives (Foil)
1 Damnation
1 Azusa, Lost But Seeking (Foil)
1 Karakas
1 Survival of the Fittest (French)
1 Angel's Grace (Russian Foil)
1 Lord of the Undead (Russian Foil 9th)
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord (Russian Foil)
1 Windswept Heath
1 Dark Confidant (Portugese)
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Tooth and Nail (foil)
1 Mutavault
1 Blood Moon (Russian BB 9th)
1 Forest (Guru)

$10-20

9 Spell Snare
9 Aether Vial
8 Enlightened Tutor (Mirage)
8 Hero of Bladehold (5 promo)
8 Stifle
8 Blood Moon
7 Arid Mesa
7 Ancient Tomb
7 Mox Opal
7 Life From the Loam (3 Russian)
6 Verdant Catacombs
6 Sensei's Divining Top
6 Marsh Flats
5 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
5 Magus of the Moon (1 Italian)
5 Misty Rainforest
5 Ethersworn Canonist
5 Ratchet Bomb
5 Glimpse the Unthinkable
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Chrome Mox (Mirrodin)
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Chord of Calling
4 Tooth and Nail
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought (Mirage)
4 Lightning Bolt (Beta)
4 Chain Lightning (Italian Legends)
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Consecrated Sphinx
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Vampiric Tutor (Visions)
2 Maelstrom Pulse (1 GP foil)
2 Knight of the Reliquary (KvD)
2 Engineered Explosives (1 Chinese)
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Bribery
2 Dark Depths
1 Sarkhan Vol
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Ill-Gotten Gains (Japanese)
1 Mishra's Factory (Winter Antiquities)
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Propaganda (Korean)
1 City of Brass (FBB Italian)
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Grim Monolith
1 Gravecrawler (Buy-A-Box foil)
1 Raven's Crime (Russian Foil)
1 Pact of Negation
1 Batterskull
1 Olivia Voldaren (Foil)
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Tower of the Magistrate (Japanese)
1 Lord of Atlantis (JSS Foil)
1 Marit Lage Token (Foil with Vertical Cutline)
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (Promo Foil)

$5-10
10 Phyrexian Metamorph
8 Sol Ring
7 Surgical Extraction
7 Goblin Guide (3 GP foil)
6 Time Warp
6 Wrath of God
5 Kitchen Finks
5 Green Sun's Zenith
5 Sunken Ruins
5 Demonic Tutor (1 Altered)
5 Isochron Scepter
5 Etched Champion
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Mystic Gate
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Gilded Lotus
4 Chaos Warp
3 Geralf's Messenger
3 Mirari's Wake
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Ichorid
3 Aven Mindcensor (Russian)
3 Smokestack
3 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
2 Strangleroot Geist (Game Day)
2 Manabond
2 Baneslayer Angel
2 Humility
2 Trinisphere (FTV foil)
2 Debtors' Knell
2 Terravore
2 Extirpate
2 Isolated Chapel
2 All is Dust
1 Isperia the Inscrutable (foil)
1 Sygg, River Cutthroat (foil)
1 Experiment Kraj (foil)
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord (foil)
1 Master Transmuter
1 Stonehewer Giant (Russian)
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Seedborn Muse (Russian FBB 9th)
1 Desertion
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Goryo's Vengeance (foil)
1 Academy Ruins (Russian)
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Mishra's Factory (Spring Antiquities)
1 Drogskol Captain (Foil)
1 Fetid Heath
1 Ponder (Textless)

1 Artist Proof Skull Collector (Thomas M. Baxa, original art on backside of card)
1 Artist Proof Masako the Humorless (Ben Thompson, original art on backside of card)

5 Altered Lightning Bolt
1 Altered The Mimeoplasm
2 Altered Animar, Soul of Elements,
1 Altered Riku of Two Reflections
1 Altered Intet, The Dreamer
3 Altered Beta Island
1 Altered Ghave, Guru of Spores
1 Altered Return to Dust
1 Altered Kresh the Bloodbraided
1 Altered Innocent Blood

9 Sealed Dark Ascension Booster Packs

3 Backpacks (1 leather work bag, 2 normal backpacks)
3 GP: Indianapolis Playmats
2 Black Ultra-Pro Binders
1 Pink Monster Binder
1 Zendikar Swamp Playmat
1 Pair Ray-Bans
1 Pair Glasses
1 iClicker for my Science class, for which I just received a "return this or pay $40" notice
1 Sony Cybershot W550
1 Pair Dr. Dre Beats
1 начало Classroom Workbook, Vol. 1

The Apathyhouse total for all of our stuff is $8,639.78. And you all know very well that Apathy doesn't account for alters or foreign foils very well, and half of the data is months old. It most definitely doesn't account for the fact that it took us a lot of time to get these things together. So in addition to stealing multiple playsets of top-tier Legacy, EDH, Modern, and Standard staples from us, you grabbed things that took us incredible effort to find. I already traded everything I had to make Lands once. Thanks for making me do it again. I really doubt you're going to appreciate my set of Russian Tolaria West the same way I would, and you definitely aren't going to play my friends' EDH decks with a fraction of they passion they played with. You also managed to take hundreds of other things of value - not just the piles of $1-4 cards we had, but also the beautiful altered cards done by my friend Eli Lisseck. I was taking them to the Grand Prix as an opportunity to show off his work, and to maybe help him get some recognition. You stole that from him, too, and you stole the cards that we were trading for our friends. They're out money now, and they were back home in Ohio.

You broke into my friend's car. You stole all of the cards we needed to play with and trade with, and you stole everything from our bags as well. That included Dave's house keys and car keys, his $70 work bag, his $300 Ray-Bans, his $150 Beats earbuds, my $150 camera, my $350 glasses, my Russian workbook, and all of our playmats and sleeves and boxes and dice. Thanks, man. I'm 18. I'm a college freshman, and I can't even do my homework tonight because you stole my backpack and my textbook. I'm going to have to rebuy everything, and I can't even sell cards to pay for it. Jacob is going to have to pay $300 to fix the window your elbow so kindly shattered.

At Grand Prix Baltimore, you stole Justin Parnell's cube and you smashed people's faces into bathroom walls so you could mug them for their cards. Maybe you didn't hurt us physically this time. And $10,000 divided amongst three people is a lot easier to work with than $20,000 for just Justin. But we are not going to stand for this anymore. All of the dealers in the area and in the area are on the lookout for you and our cards. Our very distinctive cards, which you were so smart to steal. Many people at the GP had heard about this by the time the day was over, and people are going to just keep hearing about it. A lot of people helped us out today. They said they'd keep an eye out for our stuff, and they helped us get started on our collections again. We thank them for that; it means more to us than anything that some players really do care, really are honest. And we're going to find you. Me, Dave, Jacob, Justin, and all of the other honest players out there. The Magic community as a whole is not going to stand for thievery any longer. Eventually, we're going to catch up with you. And you're all going to regret what you've done.

Please spread this message to everyone you can. Thank you.

Please contact me at mmoritzr@oberlin.edu if you have information at all. Thanks.

Scans of some alters and of the Marit Lage token with cutline:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00347.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00187.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00376.jpg

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00356.jpg

The leftmost Teneb was not included in the stolen cards.

[sdematt]

Malacoda, that's awful. I feel for you, man. I'll keep a look out for your stuff on the online.

-Matt

[lordofthepit]

I'm so sorry. :frown:

[soltakar]

Sorry man, that really sucks.

[JJ-JKidd]

To whoever stole your stuff, what goes around comes around. You lost 10k, worth of cards but I guarantee that whatever you lost will be given back in a different way, and much more better than the value of what you lost bro.

Keep your head high, no one deserves this. :cry:

[joemauer]

It seems like stories of stolen cards are becoming more and more common. I believe it was on this forum where one guy had his cards taken from his side while playing a match!

This should be a lesson of magic players to be more cautious with their collections. Try and only take your deck and trade binder to bigger events, something small enough to keep on you at all times.

I hope you guys find out who stole you all's stuff and get it back.

[dschalter]

It seems like stories of stolen cards are becoming more and more common. I believe it was on this forum where one guy had his cards taken from his side while playing a match!

This should be a lesson of magic players to be more cautious with their collections. Try and only take your deck and trade binder to bigger events, something small enough to keep on you at all times.

I hope you guys find out who stole you all's stuff and get it back.

How are people supposed to anticipate getting their car window smashed and having their stuff stolen that way? Not that it is unheard of, but this seems like the usual blame the victim dopiness.

[sclabman]

If this happens to me or I witness this happening to someone else, the perpetrators better watch out. They will be left in an alley with several holes in their torsos. You are warned.

[Freggle]

I had a judge "steal" my cards in a match just to let me know at games end he did it, and to watch out.

Lesson learned. I feel for you man.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Where was the car parked? Did you already check with the building owners about cameras? Or the owners of nearby buildings?

[Malacoda]

If this happens to me or I witness this happening to someone else, the perpetrators better watch out. They will be left in an alley with several holes in their torsos. You are warned.

Believe me, I feel the same, but at this point I just want to figure out how I'm going to move on and keep up a regular life. This hurts, but at this point fighting through it is just my best option


Where was the car parked? Did you already check with the building owners about cameras? Or the owners of nearby buildings?

It was parked in our hotel parking lot about 10 yards away from the closest hotel building. We checked - no cameras. There weren't really any nearby buildings, and none that looked likely to have cameras. It was a hotel near the airport.

Thanks to everyone for the support. You guys have been phenomenal.

[Pich]

Reading this almost made me cry.. :frown:

[TheShaun]

As unlikely as it is that I'd find somebody holding your card, I hope that I can help you recover what is rightfully yours. I hate that this kind of shit happens to the good people of us who love Legacy. Good luck in finding what you guys have, I hope the world of shit happens to those who are so low that they would resort to taking your stuff.

[joemauer]

How are people supposed to anticipate getting their car window smashed and having their stuff stolen that way? Not that it is unheard of, but this seems like the usual blame the victim dopiness.

I did not blame the victim. There was nothing stupid about leaving his cards in a secure spot.

I was trying to point out how everyone else should be more prepared for criminals as desperate as these.

[miko]

That is one of the reasons why I only take my deck to bigger tournaments. Usually I really want to concentrate on playing magic and do not like to trade.

But: That is so hard. Getting all your cards stolen hurts a lot.

[bruizar]

I can only imagine how much this sucks. I hope the guy gets caught. Let this be a lesson for people NOT to bring anything more than a deck, so that, should something like this happen, at least the damage is kept to a minimum. Also, I'm not sure how it works in America, but in Holland you can insure your cards from theft outside your home.

[phonics]

Honestly I couldn't imagine getting something of that value stolen, that really sucks.

When it comes to these kinds of things, minimizing the chance it happens helps but only goes so far. The sad thing is that the perpetrators will continue to do these things, and there will always be at least one person at a large event that lets their guard down to have it happen cause really, people go to events to play the game, so worrying about their collection will inevitably be a lower priority in some situations.

[SpikeyMikey]

I can only imagine how much this sucks. I hope the guy gets caught. Let this be a lesson for people NOT to bring anything more than a deck, so that, should something like this happen, at least the damage is kept to a minimum. Also, I'm not sure how it works in America, but in Holland you can insure your cards from theft outside your home.

That's not particularly realistic. Some people are bringing stuff for friends to borrow. Some people are paying for their GP trip by trading for value. Some people plan on playing in multiple side events of different formats. You can't just say "don't bring anything more than a deck"; that's not realistic.

I know the one guy I talked to from this group had renter's insurance - I'm hoping that will cover it for him. Of course, having the cash in hand is fine but actually reacquiring all of those cards will take months. It's a shitty situation.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Yeah I recently had my first experience with thieves when I "lost" a deckbox with a Mox Ruby (which wasn't even mine so now I have to replace it), Italian Abyss, and handful of $1-$20 cards at SCG Memphis. I'm pretty fucking pissed about it and I've pretty much stopped playing for the time being until I can go to an event without being on tilt. I also cancelled my plans to go to Indy as a result which is why I wasn't there. Using the money I would have spent for that to pay back the guy who's Mox I "lost". Next time I go to an event that I don't end up playing in I'm leaving a box or a backpack on the table with just enough value inside to make it a felony, the first person to attempt to walk out of the convention center is being personally detained while I call the cops. I've talked about it before, but now that I'm personally a victim talk is over. These people are stealing upwards of thousands of dollars from the community at almost every event. It's time that some people started going to jail for the crimes they are committing to let all the other assholes know the consequences. I'll call it even for my ~$500 when I see someone who thought they were slick being led out of the convention center in handcuffs.

[Leto]

Sorry to hear about that. Sadly this kind of messages can be found on German events more and more often too.

[JeroenC]

This is absolutely disgusting. It's retarded that I'm supposed to be afraid of this kind of stuff now- I don't have a lot of Legacy staples and all the non-played ones are in a small binder in my backpack. None for trade, but just there because I only have one binder and I like to have them at the hand and I use the same binder for possible sideboard options if I want to change my deck up a little.

Whoever did this, if I knew a way to get you caught, I would gladly pay to have people like you arrested and put on trial. You should be retardedly ashamed of yourself. You're obviously a part of this community since else you all would have no idea of what is high value stuff, and then you decide to poison the same community with retarded actions like this.

[luckymartyr]

This was a horrible event.

Is there any way that either your car insurance or home owners insurance can at least reimburse you for some of the things that you lost. Anything purchased on ebay should leave a paper trail and a paper receipt could be generated from things purchased at a local store with a letter from the store owner explaining backdated receipts.

I hope this helps.

[Erdvermampfa]

Are you sure that these guys were consciously looking for your trade binders or did they steal your bags in hope for cash money or other valuable stuff? Furthermore, what's the deal with that "you smashed peoples' faces in the bathroom" part? Did that really happen?

[Wereodile]

That sucks, not only has it affected your hobby but your day to day life (your textbook, house keys & car window).

This sounds like people are targeting the GP's and hotels where potential players are staying because who would take a chance and bust a window for a couple backpacks unless they knew what was in them. Makes me sick.

[TheKingslayer]

I was talking to you in the breakfast area of the court that morning with my friend. It was really painful to see you guys run back into the hotel after having a relaxed talk about the weekend. I could not believe the absurdity of breaking your window in broad daylight. Someone knew you went to the tournament and was watching you load your car. While I it was a huge setback, I hope it doesn't deter you from the game entirely. last I heard, you guys were headed to the vendors. I was hoping to read in the news about someone getting the shit beaten out of them by three guys at a Magic tournament.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

The key is also going to be endurance; if they're smart, they'll wait a couple weeks in hopes of you giving up your vigilance, then sell online or possibly next city over.

[Aggro_zombies]

The key is also going to be endurance; if they're smart, they'll wait a couple weeks in hopes of you giving up your vigilance, then sell online or possibly next city over.
This.

There used to be a gang of guys operating out of Phoenix who would travel to various GPs and raid cards. I think they got caught after one of the Legacy GPs - I think Chicago? - and I think some of them got time. However, there was a store in Phoenix people knew they sold the stuff to which would then turn around and resell it, without asking where these guys got this incredible supply of high-value cards from and why they weren't ebaying it. If possible, you may want to send word to a bunch of the stores that sell singles in your town and the surrounding ones, detailing the contents of your collection and asking to be contacted if someone tries to come in and offload something like it. I don't know how many store owners would comply, but still...

[nedleeds]

How are people supposed to anticipate getting their car window smashed and having their stuff stolen that way? Not that it is unheard of, but this seems like the usual blame the victim dopiness.

The tournament organizers really need to step up and stop this stuff from happening.

[dontbiteitholmes]

This.

There used to be a gang of guys operating out of Phoenix who would travel to various GPs and raid cards. I think they got caught after one of the Legacy GPs - I think Chicago? - and I think some of them got time. However, there was a store in Phoenix people knew they sold the stuff to which would then turn around and resell it, without asking where these guys got this incredible supply of high-value cards from and why they weren't ebaying it. If possible, you may want to send word to a bunch of the stores that sell singles in your town and the surrounding ones, detailing the contents of your collection and asking to be contacted if someone tries to come in and offload something like it. I don't know how many store owners would comply, but still...

I think the main problem here is that this happened at a GP which represented every corner of the USA as well as parts of Canada and overseas.

[Mark Sun]

My condolences. It's so unfortunate that you probably took all the precautions while you were in the venue, and still had this happen to you. I posted the link to this on Twitter so hopefully some people will see it and the word will get out.

I was extra paranoid for this event after what happened at GP Baltimore. The site was relatively safe, as far as I know, but I wound up staying 30 minutes off site at a friend's house to avoid situations like this. I couldn't even go to dinner last night without going back to the lot to check on the car. I hope you are able to dig deeper into the situation.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

I think the main problem here is that this happened at a GP which represented every corner of the USA as well as parts of Canada and overseas.

I doubt that these thieves were from anywhere but local. Crime of opportunity, sure that could be someone who's passing through for the tournament, but a car break-in?

[redhamjack]

I'm Jacob, whose car was broken into. The worst part of this whole thing is that the thieves took my entire collection. All I own are some uncommons and pieces of decks I was working on. These bastards literally stole my favorite format from me. But I will rebuild, better than before.

[Aggro_zombies]

I doubt that these thieves were from anywhere but local. Crime of opportunity, sure that could be someone who's passing through for the tournament, but a car break-in?
This. Because the cards were in bags, the potential "target audience" of thieves is much larger than if the cards had been sitting out in the backseat.

Now that I think about it, checking local pawnshops may also be a good idea. If your cards were just stolen by common thugs, they're unlikely to know what the lot is worth and will probably try to unload it at some local pawnshop or hobby store.

[Malacoda]

Are you sure that these guys were consciously looking for your trade binders or did they steal your bags in hope for cash money or other valuable stuff? Furthermore, what's the deal with that "you smashed peoples' faces in the bathroom" part? Did that really happen?

There were lots of players staying in the hotel. We just don't think it's likely that they would break into the car without knowing we had bags with Legacy cards in them.

At GP Baltimore, someone was taking a piss and had his face smashed into the wall so thieves could grab his bag and run.


That sucks, not only has it affected your hobby but your day to day life (your textbook, house keys & car window).

This sounds like people are targeting the GP's and hotels where potential players are staying because who would take a chance and bust a window for a couple backpacks unless they knew what was in them. Makes me sick.

Yeah. It's not just the cost or the sentimental value of the stuff. This is just a huge fucking inconvenience every way we look at it.


I was talking to you in the breakfast area of the court that morning with my friend. It was really painful to see you guys run back into the hotel after having a relaxed talk about the weekend. I could not believe the absurdity of breaking your window in broad daylight. Someone knew you went to the tournament and was watching you load your car. While I it was a huge setback, I hope it doesn't deter you from the game entirely. last I heard, you guys were headed to the vendors. I was hoping to read in the news about someone getting the shit beaten out of them by three guys at a Magic tournament.

Thank you for the support. It was really horrible, one minute we were talking to you and the next it was all gone.


The key is also going to be endurance; if they're smart, they'll wait a couple weeks in hopes of you giving up your vigilance, then sell online or possibly next city over.

Yup. I'm planning on watching for quite a while. The really sad thing is that even if we can find some of the more unique stuff, stuff like 11 Wasteland and 9 FOW and 9 Snapcaster is just going to be able to get sold like that, and nobody's ever going to know :(


My condolences. It's so unfortunate that you probably took all the precautions while you were in the venue, and still had this happen to you. I posted the link to this on Twitter so hopefully some people will see it and the word will get out.

I was extra paranoid for this event after what happened at GP Baltimore. The site was relatively safe, as far as I know, but I wound up staying 30 minutes off site at a friend's house to avoid situations like this. I couldn't even go to dinner last night without going back to the lot to check on the car. I hope you are able to dig deeper into the situation.

Thank you so much for spreading this around. Yeah - it's just terrible because we were incredibly careful on Saturday, and got screwed on Sunday when there realistically wasn't anything we could do about it.


This. Because the cards were in bags, the potential "target audience" of thieves is much larger than if the cards had been sitting out in the backseat.

Now that I think about it, checking local pawnshops may also be a good idea. If your cards were just stolen by common thugs, they're unlikely to know what the lot is worth and will probably try to unload it at some local pawnshop or hobby store.

We're not from anywhere near Indianapolis, but good call. Thanks for the advice. I'll try to find some numbers and make some calls.

[Mr.C]

How did they open the trunk? Smashed the front window and popped it? Or were the bags in plain sight?

[Malacoda]

How did they open the trunk? Smashed the front window and popped it? Or were the bags in plain sight?

We had them on the backseat for all of ten minutes. There was a coat partially covering them too, not all the way though I guess.

[nedleeds]

I doubt that these thieves were from anywhere but local. Crime of opportunity, sure that could be someone who's passing through for the tournament, but a car break-in?

Or they were also at the tourney and had just checked out ... and are now 12 hours away. Kind of puts the other tourney organizer is responsible thread in perspective. Is Pastimes going to man the surrounding parking decks?

[coraz86]

My heart goes out to you, man.

File a police report, if you haven't already. The cops can check video from surrounding businesses and any traffic cams, do some digging. People vandalizing a vehicle in order to steal the contents, during broad daylight in a very public place, is a pretty brazen crime and I'm sure the police are very interested in it not happening again.

It is possible that it was someone from another state/country, but if it happened at the hotel, it strikes me as equally possible that someone local found a gap in security and is raiding travelers, figuring tourists don't want or can't afford the inconvenience of sticking around for an extra few hours to get legal help. Maybe if you file a report now, the cops and the hotel will keep their eyes open and catch these motherfuckers robbing someone else's car.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Or they were also at the tourney and had just checked out ... and are now 12 hours away. Kind of puts the other tourney organizer is responsible thread in perspective. Is Pastimes going to man the surrounding parking decks?
Yeah that seems like the most likely scenarios. A group of players, already near a hotel, about to make a 10 hour drive, then one scumbag says to another, "Hey let's post up in front of that hotel down the street and see if we can catch anyone loading backpacks." They break the window grab the bags and then haul ass down the road.

[nedleeds]

Yeah that seems like the most likely scenarios. A group of players, already near a hotel, about to make a 10 hour drive, then one scumbag says to another, "Hey let's post up in front of that hotel down the street and see if we can catch anyone loading backpacks." They break the window grab the bags and then haul ass down the road.

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.

[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.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00347.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00376.jpg

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w181/endoftheline9/DSC00356.jpg

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? :laugh: 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?:frown:

[RaNDoMxGeSTuReS]

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

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

[Moosedog]

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

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?:frown:

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]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0nxz9XEME1qcs797.jpg

[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...


http://dungeonblarg.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/pic_5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dungeonblarg.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/a-face-not-made-by-god/&h=700&w=519&sz=50&tbnid=jkrfqZ5aYoGsOM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=75&zoom=1&docid=z76rO9WDpzEXNM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uDZjT8eXMsLP4QT0z4ziBw&ved=0CHwQ9QEwCA&dur=1904

[ramanujan]

There is too much violence here. I, personally, have never owned or held a gun. I avoid violence and I believe this to be the only appropriate behavior in almost all situations.

Sorry that happened to you. If I ever see those cards, a pm will be sent to you and you can decide what to do.

For what it's worth, violence never solves anything. An eye for an eye leaves both men blind and such. The purpose in punishment is to reform the individual and protect society from furthur wrondoings, not to take out your anger on another individual. Being that this is the internet, I imagine that most of these threats of force are empty and just a way of dealing with a tough issue. I just hope that we can all keep it civil and have some fun.

If you ever catch a thief, do not, under any circumstances, beat him/her up. I am pretty sure that the law does not give you a freebee because the person you hurt was a thief. I believe you can take control of the individual if they are trying to escape, but don't beat them into submission. Perhapse a police officer can chime in and tell us what we should really do if we are faced with this situation.

[Royal Ass.]

There is too much violence here. I, personally, have never owned or held a gun. I avoid violence and I believe this to be the only appropriate behavior in almost all situations.

Sorry that happened to you. If I ever see those cards, a pm will be sent to you and you can decide what to do.

For what it's worth, violence never solves anything. An eye for an eye leaves both men blind and such. The purpose in punishment is to reform the individual and protect society from furthur wrondoings, not to take out your anger on another individual. Being that this is the internet, I imagine that most of these threats of force are empty and just a way of dealing with a tough issue. I just hope that we can all keep it civil and have some fun.

If you ever catch a thief, do not, under any circumstances, beat him/her up. I am pretty sure that the law does not give you a freebee because the person you hurt was a thief. I believe you can take control of the individual if they are trying to escape, but don't beat them into submission. Perhapse a police officer can chime in and tell us what we should really do if we are faced with this situation.

Good points regarding violence. No you do not get a free pass to beat a thief. That then makes you a criminal too. You can use physical force to protect yourself and your property but only so much force as needed to stop the act and no more. If you are protecting property the amount of force you can use is less than that which you could use to protect yourself or another person. A human is valued more than property regardless of whether that person is committing a crime.

[nedleeds]

For what it's worth, violence never solves anything.

Well, timely well applied violence would certainly deter it. If all of the people who stole bags at these events had been caught before they left the building, stripped naked and burned with boiling peanut oil I would imagine the next guy would think a little harder. In addition the disfigured thief would likely pursue another life path.

<rant>Violence has been the resolution to 95% of the disagreements ever seen on this planet. Like it or not. When somebody tells you that they have a book that contains the literal word of the one true god, and that their book differs greatly from the rules in your book (or in my case complete lack of a book) the only resolution is violence. </rant>

[Malacoda]

Just wanted to update you guys and thank you for the support again. Jacob and Dave couldn't get anything out of their insurance companies, unfortunately. I'm still working on mine via my parents homeowner's insurance, but nothing yet. Fortunately, my friends and professors have been very understanding and although this week has been very hard it's been getting better each day.

I am going to be putting Lands back together, but I'm also going to be seriously decreasing the amount of time I spend on MTG. I think I should view this as an opportunity as a lifestyle change - I was already somewhat feeling that I played too much (for me) before this occurred.

As for the violence, I think it's pretty irrelevant in this case because the odds of finding these people are very slim. I of course felt very violent towards them when this happened. But going to jail for assault/manslaughter/whatever would only make this month worse for me. I appreciate all your comments, but I can't condone violence. Even here.

And as a last comment, I just wanted to thank Sourcers for being.... Sourcers. Reading this thread here as compared to the thread on MTGS is just so much more encouraging.

The Source: Supportive Legacy players who feel my pain and send me tons of messages about possible leads or card donations

MTGS: Internet lurkers who can't take the time to write in intelligible English, people who don't believe that me and my friends actually could own $10,000 of cards, people who blame us for not being unhealthily paranoid, and one guy who said he wouldn't have minded stealing from me himself because my list had some "pretty nice stuff." A thousand more views and barely a tenth of the intelligence here.

Thank you all.

[Oiolosse]

Violence is certainly warranted here. Sorry you were wronged and ill be sure to pay it forward to the next guy i see swipe cards.

[Finn]

There is no way the law would ever be able or even willing to properly try to resolve this unless the dumbass left his prints on the window or something like that. So if you run across some fucktard telling you how he whacked a window for cards in Indy, you nod, smile, and put him down.

Violence is certainly warranted here. Sorry you were wronged and ill be sure to pay it forward to the next guy i see swipe cards.I thought I would not be able to laugh while reading this thread. I was wrong. But honestly, I have had cards stolen and that is what I am thinking.

[dontbiteitholmes]

For the record, if you catch a thief in the act I'd recommend calling the police and not attempting to "kick their ass" unless they pose a threat to you or the minimum amount needed to keep them from getting away.

I'd rather take an ass beating any day then have a criminal record or go to jail/prison.

[Richard Cheese]

If you ever catch a thief, do not, under any circumstances, beat him/her up. I am pretty sure that the law does not give you a freebee because the person you hurt was a thief. I believe you can take control of the individual if they are trying to escape, but don't beat them into submission. Perhapse a police officer can chime in and tell us what we should really do if we are faced with this situation.

Does the law allow for a quick teabagging? Humiliation > Violence

[.dk]

Does the law allow for a quick teabagging? Humiliation > Violence

Careful - most thieves are ALSO known biters!

[razvan]

Hey Malacoda
I just saw this post today, and earlier I was looking at the pimp thread and saw your absolutely gorgeous russian life from the loams. After drooling for like 10 minutes, I found my way to this forum and saw this thread for the first time :(
First, sorry about this having happened to you, secondly, I really hope that someone figures out who does this. Finally, I am trying to acquire russian lifes, and if i can get extra, i will send you them. Unlikely that I can get any, but I am trying :).

[Jim Higginbottom]

Apparently fear of the police/courts and just wanting to be a decent human being aren't good enough deterrents. When thieves are caught people need to start curb stomping them.

[DragoFireheart]

Why the fuck isn't there more security at these events?

[birds of paradise2]

Why the fuck isn't there more security at these events?

They stole it from his car..

[Phoenix Ignition]

need to start curb stomping them.

Hyperbole or stupidity are running wild in this thread.

[DragoFireheart]

They stole it from his car..

Do these hotels not have security for their parking lots?

[birds of paradise2]

Do these hotels not have security for their parking lots?

You're making this into a mess. First you're complaining about events not having security, and then suddenly you ask me if those hotels have security on their parking lots.

If the events have security doesn't have anything to do with if hotels got security. There is no correlation whatsoever.

[Tha Gunslinga]

The problem is that there is no security at all, period.

[Mark Sun]

SCG did a pretty good job on site for the Invitational in Baltimore, but you are truly never safe.

I'm no longer bringing play stock to lend to friends or extra trade stock to events, and packing pretty light. Also, I'm parking in locations farther from site if I can. It's not fun, but you have to make some trade offs.

[r3dd09]

I felt pretty safe at the SLC gp. They were tagging bags and players; if you wanted to leave, they(the doormen) would check the tags to make sure the numbers match. I went outside a door that was next to the doorman as there was a line going in that he was attending to. Once he realized this, he literally ran outside the room to find me.

I didn't find anyone with a mtg the source mat, was going to buy it off of them :/

[DragoFireheart]

You're making this into a mess. First you're complaining about events not having security, and then suddenly you ask me if those hotels have security on their parking lots.

If the events have security doesn't have anything to do with if hotels got security. There is no correlation whatsoever.

No one has ANY security. That's the problem. Not the hotel, not the event holders. FFS, people have cards worth thousands of dollars and people are getting mugged. More should be done to ensure that people are scared to go play a fucking card game out of fear of someone trying to pull a knife on them and/or beat them up.

[Antonius]

For the record, if you catch a thief in the act I'd recommend calling the police and not attempting to "kick their ass" unless they pose a threat to you or the minimum amount needed to keep them from getting away.


ain't hard to convince them that you felt threatened and were just defending yourself. I mean... Trayvon Martin, anyone?

[DragoFireheart]

ain't hard to convince them that you felt threatened and were just defending yourself. I mean... Trayvon Martin, anyone?

Only if they're black. And they're wearing a hoodie.

[sdematt]

You'd think in a rich gated community some of those houses would have had cameras that would have seen this.

-Matt