Are you a Quiet Speculation member?
If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.
Only this time he wasn't looking for souls to steal, it was Magic cards. The store "Hi-Tech Gaming" in Brunswick, Georgia was burglarized overnight. It's unclear whether the thief knew what they were stealing but a Magic collection worth anywhere from high-five to low-six figures was among the pilfered items. If you're in the area, be on the lookout for some marquee cards. (copied from reddit post here and reformatted for ease of reading.
- upside down misprint Dark Ritual
- foil MM Brainstorm
- UL mint Mox Jet/Ruby/Emerald
- tons of revised duallands
- some unlimited duallands
- graded UL Mox Sapphire (8)
- graded UL Timetwister (9)
- graded UL Time Walk (10)
- several of each Guru land
- many unhinged foil lands
- misprint Birds of Paradise
If the thief does not know the value, they may try to sell them in local area pawn shops, which have been notified of the theft. If the thief is savvier, they may try to pass this collection off at a GP or similar event. Be on the lookout for these cards. The owner is obviously very interested in both pressing charges and recovering his collection.
If you think you may have found the thief or the collection, contact Jim at 912-265-3105 and obviously contact the police.
These thefts are despicable and only hurt the community. Nice collections are a source of pride for the owner but that pride can quickly turn to despair in situations like this. Take steps to protect yourself from this sort of theft both in a locked store and on a tournament floor.
- Never take your eyes off of your bag
- Keep the bag under the table, zipped up and with the strap around your leg or a chair leg
- Zipper locks are useful but won't keep a thief out if they steal the entire bag
- Don't let a trade partner or game opponent distract you
- Locked in a car is not a 100% guarantee of safety - Eli Kassis' collection was stolen from a locked car
- Insure your collection against theft, fire, flooding and desert twisters
Reall, really sucks to hear this. I’ve known Jim for a very long time and he’s always been a pleasure to deal with. I will keep my eyes open in the NE Florida area. Thanks to social media pretty much the entire states of FL and GA are already aware of the theft and know what to look out for.
Seriously unfortunate for the collection owner. Hopefully the collection is recovered and the thief brought to justice.
A note regarding insuring a collection. I was literally just on the phone for over an hour with my renters insurance carrier. After discussion after discussion, and being passed to about 5 different representatives I was told that Company “X” would not ensure Magic cards, based on the type of item it was and the flux in inventory that I have (from trading, buying, and selling). They also had NO information on how I could go about having these valuable collectibles insured wherever I have them (at home, tournament, friends house, etc).
The reason I purchased renters insurance was to cover my Magic cards. I thought they were safe, but apparently they are not covered as I would like them to be (only covered under $2000 max of “personal items”). Does anyone have ANY idea how I might insure my entire collection??!! How do businesses and LGS cover stock like this??
Good to raise awareness in the community regarding theft and personal safety! Thank you!
James brings up a great future article topic: “How Do You Insure Your Collection?”
You hear a lot of people give this advice (many of whom I suspect don’t actually have a policy on their cards), but few people really say what they’ve done to get coverage.
I’ve also heard a lot of people say things like “It’s covered under my homeowner’s policy”, but I imagine that there are many that would find out that it’s not actually covered or not to the degree they believe (similar to James’s comment above).
I’m sure many people would find this a great topic.
I think this has been done on the Insider side a few times, but I could be making that up.
I have only been a member since December of 2012, but have not seen an article regarding insuring collections since I have been a member. It is certainly possible that I missed it. I agree though, a good topic for an article.
This is my first time pay a visit at here and i am truly pleassant to read everthing at one place.