Magic: The Gathering Cards Stolen Worth $75,000

Magic: The Gathering cards were stolen from a dealer in Austin, Texas, on January 24, 2016. The Gathering cards were valued at about $75,000, which was a huge loss to the local gaming community.

Pat’s Games, which specializes in selling Magic: The Gathering cards, was broken into at about 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The thieves forced open the front door using a water meter turn-off key. The thieves left the key behind. All three of the business’s display cases were taken. Fortunately, Pat’s Games has a surveillance camera installed, and police are reviewing the footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkkG_yUe-TU

The owner of the gaming store, Pat Johnson, also posted the video online, hoping that the tight gaming community might recognize the men and provide information leading to their arrest.

Tech Times reported a comment Johnson made regarding the thief.

“We feel that he’s a Magic player, and we know that he’s been in the store before because it only took him 20 seconds to go in and find our highest-dollared cards.”

Johnson also said that he was thankful that the Austin Police assigned a detective to the case that actually plays Magic: The Gathering.

“He understands the value, and he understands what the cards look like… I can’t tell you how helpful that is.”

The video taken from the outside camera show two men working on breaking into the store. They did not wear masks and don’t attempt to hide their faces, so side views of them can be seen. One is wearing a distinctive camouflage hoodie jacket and a baseball cap.

https://www.facebook.com/PatsGames/posts/781855171947470

It is obvious that the thieves had been to the store previously, and may have even played MTG there. Although it took about six minutes for them to break into the store, once they were in, they knew exactly where to go to find what they wanted.

The goal was the high dollar Magic cards. They only took approximately 300 cards, which meant that they targeted the most exclusive, most expensive cards available.

Once the door was open, it took the pair of thieves only about 20 seconds inside the store to get in, grab the Magic cards, and get out, running down the walkway with their valuable loot.

Because the MTG communities are so tight-knit, thieves often find it quite difficult to sell their stolen Magic cards. The Washington Post reported on a successful sting operation last year, utilizing local Magic players to find those responsible for stealing about $8,000 worth of cards.

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is a trading card game created in 1993. It was the very first trading game to be be produced, and it continues to have a very dedicated fanbase, with about twenty million players as of last year.

Although Magic can be played in different versions, the most common uses a deck of about 60 cards. You do not have to have physical cards to play. Magic: The Gathering Online cards are available, as well, reports Wikipedia. So you can also play on your smartphone or tablet.

Magic games basically consist of a battle between wizards known as “planeswalkers.” The cards portray the spells, creatures, and artifacts used to fight and defeat opponents.

Although the initial concept of the game was loosely based on the traditional role playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, the way Magic is played is far different now. The rules are much more complex, and there are many more cards to deal with.

MTG has an organized tournament system, and a large number of professional Magic players. Because of this, a substantial secondary market for the cards has developed over time. It can take years for players to accumulate a good deck of cards.

According to Yahoo Games, Magic card prices are based on rarity (how many are printed) and the way the card is used in gameplay. The cards can be priced from just a few cents, up to thousands of dollars.

For example, in 1994, a lucky player opened a new packet of Alpha Magic cards live on the internet to find a Black Lotus. This card is the rarest MTG card in the world, with a total printing of only 4,100 and a street value at the time of about $30,000.

Here is the video showing the exciting find. The 8 minute mark is where the Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus card is found.

[Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images]