As many Magic: the Gathering players know, game pieces in MTG are absurdly expensive. While this can lead to some exciting decks and stories, it, unfortunately, also attracts some unscrupulous individuals’ interest. LGS are appearing increasingly in the news as of late as targets of robberies, and today is no exception. BatCave Games in Vancouver, Washington had thousands of dollars worth of MTG cards stolen from them on December 14 of this year.
Another LGS Robbery
On December 14, BatCave games shared some details of their robbery over Facebook. It didn’t take long for the LGS robbery news to find its way to Reddit, detailing some of the expensive cards that were stolen. Some high-value Pokemon and MTG cards were stolen. Among the MTG cards stolen were the following:
- Damaged Collector’s Edition Timetwister ($1000-$1500)
- Beta Swords to Plowshares ($550-$750)
- Revised Wheel of Fortune ($175-$300)
- Invention Mana Vault ($450-$530)
- Gaea’s Cradle ($600-$1500)
- Ultimate Masters Box Topper Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth ($170-200)
Read More: Thieves Steal $200,000 Worth of MTG Cards
There May Still be Hope
For whatever reason, these robbers also decided to swipe some serialized MTG cards from BatCave games. Recently introduced in The Brothers’ War, serialized cards are numbered special editions of the Retro Artifact collection found in the set. Only 500 of each serialized card exist, and they all have unique numbers to identify them by. This means that the serialized cards stolen from BatCave games are all one-of-a-kinds. If you see them, the player who has them likely has some connection with the thieves (even if they just bought the cards by accident) if they are not the thieves themselves.
By spreading the word, we hope that players in the Vancouver, Washington, and Portland areas will keep an eye out for these specific cards. Maybe BatCave Games will be able to get some of the stolen cards back:
- Helm of the Host #278
- Lodestone Golem #259
- Phyrexian Processor #171
Notably, these could appear as listings on various market sites like TCGplayer. If you are in the market for a serialized copy of one of these cards, make sure you ask for a picture of the card before purchase, just in case it is one of the stolen cards seen above.
Read More: MTG Player Disqualified From Championship for Using Secret Lair Cards!?
Thieves With Prior Knowledge?
As is the case with most LGS robbery attempts, thieves are targeting some pretty specific expensive cards rather than taking a bunch of products. Some Redditors suggest that this could point towards the thieves having some knowledge of the hobby and, at worst, being customers of the store:
“Damn that sucks.
What also sucks is that the thieves had to have had some knowledge of the hobby to go in and pick those out, meaning they’d probably been in the store before, and probably play. At least they also weren’t smart enough to think “Maybe cards with literal serial numbers are quite easily tracked”.” – Koras
There is also the chance that these cards had their price tags on them, which would eliminate the need for prior knowledge, but, to the average thief, I do not think an LGS would be the first place they would think of targeting to steal valuable items. Hopefully, the MTG community will get wind of the serialized cards soon, and this will resolve nicely.
