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Look, I know we get these stories what seems like all the time, and it's unlikely raising awareness about this particular case will change the outcome.
Still.
Still, I consider it worth sharing, because this could happen to you next. The warning story today comes to us from this post about a $25,000 collection being stolen at the Grand Prix last weekend.
The basic ways to avoid having collections stolen has been written about before, and today I want to emphasize just one point: don't trust your friends.
Everyone believes their friends are trustworthy enough to watch their stuff. After all, we're confident in our own ability to watch others' stuff, right? But the issue is this: Your friends have a lot going on already. It's not that your friends aren't trustworthy enough to watch $25,000 worth of your stuff, it's that when thieves show up at Magic events they usually do so with a plan. If someone is trying to watch multiple binders laid out across the table, thieves working together will distract that person and then do the deed. You need as many eyes on your stuff as possible, and that means you shouldn't leave your stuff with a friend who also has their own stuff to watch. If you're walking about with a collection you can't afford to lose, you need to be sure you're taking all steps to prevent theft. If you're going to a dealer booth, even for a few minutes, take your stuff with you.
At some point theft is always going to happen. All we can do is everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen to us.
I judged at Standard-Grand Prix Bochum a few years ago. When I returned to my backpack during a break, I found a plastic bag with 3 magic boxes leant against it. 3 other judges were eyeing me curiously. I asked them wether those were supposed to be mine, because I hadn’t retrieved my compensation yet. Turns out another judge had, and left it with his own bag in the judge restroom. When he returned he found out his judge foils were stolen from the plastic bag which now leant against my backpack. (And I found the thief was cheeky enough to smear me with his deed.)
Sadly the thief could never be tracked. I would have loved to get my reputation clean again.
So, the point is, there even are criminal judges in magic. Don’t take the presence of judges as a guarantee that thieves wont take their chance. If your collections are too precious to afford losing them, hawk-eye them yourselves all the time. (I’d ponder to attach a briefcase with a chain to my wrist or belt should I intend to visit a grand prix with participating and/or selling and trading in mind.) Take care!