Stolen Power

NahHolmes · Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 578

This message was posted by Roland Chang in the source forums. It regards the theft of over $10,000 worth of magic cards from a store in New York. There is a "sizeable reward" being offered for any information that leads to the cards being found. just figured I would pass on the word. If you know anything I guess the thing to do is PM him through the Source or TMD.

"Dear Vintage and Magic Communities,

I, Roland Chang, come to you today not to ask for your pity, but rather your help. My White Rook Case of 8 deck boxes was stolen today at Neutral Ground in New York City. Inside those boxes contained most importantly my fully Beta Powered/Foiled Stax deck, Grim Long minus Power, Slaver minus Power, another set of my teammate’s Beta Power and other very valuable cards. These cards may exceed a total of 15,000-20,000 dollars in cards. I am completely devastated by the events that took place around 2:30pm earlier today…

At approximately 2:25 pm, I met with a person I know by the name of Ici Li, to meet and test decks. After I got there and sat, I had taken out my trade binder as well as Rook Case of decks to set up for the testing session. Ici wanted to check out my binder for cards he could possibly purchase from me, so I handed my binder over to him. While he did that, I took out the 3 deck boxes of Stax, Grim Long, and Slaver out from my Rook Case.

After doing so, I mentioned to him I was going to leave briefly to grab a drink. I asked him if he needed a drink, but he declined, so I went to pick up a drink for myself at the main register about 25-30 feet away from the table we sat at. From the main register, I could not see my cards because of the drink refrigerators stood blocking my view. I waited for about 2 minutes in line to purchase my drink, then I saw Ici walking up to the other side of the counter to ask for a pen.

Assuming my cards were unprotected, I rushed back to the table with drink in hand only to find my Rook Case missing and my binder still there. Ici had gotten up to ask for a pen, so he could write down what cards he wanted from me. Before he left the table, he said to a couple of players at the same table to guard over the cards for a second. They complied and somehow when both of us returned, my Rook Case had completely vanished.

I looked for about an hour around the store and asking people to open their bags before leaving shocked, in disbelief, and enraged. “How could this have happened to me?” I asked. Within a time frame of 2 or less minutes, while I was up at the register to purchase my drink, my cards had been stolen right off of the table.

Upon leaving Neutral Ground, I had called many people I know and trust and alerted everyone I knew in the area regarding my stolen property. Within the boxes included Jacob Orlove’s (my teammate) Power he was lending out for another teammate at the upcoming Gencon. Now his Power and mine are missing.

I have played this game for well over 10 years and have not once dealt with theft from my collection until today. I strongly believe that the malicious person(s) involved in this want to cash out my cards either through e-bay, local card shops, or some online dealing.

FYI: A police report has been filed and I will be looking over security video footage from the building tomorrow.

My decks contained very unique cards with particular alterations, signatures, and versions.

If any of you have information on the cards listed below, please let me know through IM, PM, or e-mail ASAP. A hefty reward will be given out to the people who help me get my cards back. I would greatly appreciate any help I receive from anyone in the following weeks/months/years regarding the stolen items.

Here is the list:

First and Foremost… Jacob’s List of Cards:
Underground Sea (revised)
4 Force of Will (2 english, 1 portuguese, 1 french)
1 Tinker (normal)
1 Yagwmoth's Bargain (japanese, signed)
1 Memory Jar (normal)
1 Mana Vault (korean bb)
1 Mana Crypt (english bb)
1 Lotus Petal (japanese, signed in gold along the side)
1 Lion's Eye Diamond (normal)
1 Vampiric Tutor (french)
5 Moxes (all bb, emerald and ruby def. beta, the rest could be alpha, sapphire in great condition)
1 Black Lotus (bb)
1 Ancestral Recall (bb, beta, signed, has "The Book" written on it, AND an art alteration showing a book. Unique)
1 Time Walk (bb, pretty bad condition)
1 Timetwister (unlimited)

My Main Cards in that box:
4 x Workshop (nm-mint)
1 x Time Walk (unlimited, nm)
1 x Black Lotus (beta, good)
1 x Ancestral Recall (beta, good, signed in black marker by Mark Poole)
1 x Mox Emerald (beta, good)
1 x Mox Jet (alpha, miscut to one side, mint)
1 x Mox Pearl (alpha, played cond.)
1 x Mox Ruby (beta, played cond.)
1 x Mox Sapphire (beta, good, signed in black marker by Mark Poole)
1 x Crucible of Worlds (Foil, altered art of Deathstar, signed by Ron Spencer)
1 x Mana Crypt (English, bb, altered art of golden Wurm from Star Wars chasing Mill. Falcon, signed)
1 x Mana Vault (Alpha, nm, altered art of Rubix Cube, signed)
1 x Imperial Seal (Japanese)
1 x Sol Ring (Beta, nm, altered art of LOTR Eye of Sauron in metallic blue marker, signed)
2 x Crucible of Worlds (Foil, Japanese)
1 x Sunderin Titan (Foil, Japanese)
1 x Tinker (Foil, Japanese)
1 x Memory Jar (Foil, Japanese)
1 x Triskelion (Foil, Japanese)
1 x Trinisphere (Foil, Japanese)
4 x Smokestack (Japanese)
4 x Duress (Foil, Japanese)
4 x Tanglewire (Foil, 3 Japanese, 1 Chinese)
4 x Polluted Delta (Foil)
3 x Grim Tutor
3 x Demonic Tutor (Beta, condition varied, one signed and played cond.)
4 x Sinkhole (1 alpha, 3 beta)
8 x Wasteland (Foil)

That was most of it that was most valuable, but the list goes on…

I have lost not only my cards, but cards of my teammate as well. Today’s double blow has seriously made me reconsider playing this game again. I have lost a great deal and only hope to find the perpetrators in time. With your help, that may/may not happen, but I thank you all in advance for any help.

Sincerely,

Roland Chang"

NahHolmes · Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 578

Also here are pictures of some of the stolen cards, http://community.webshots.com/album/548089020DVAvuI

kfcman1084 · Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 434

dude that sux bigtime
if sumnody did that to me idve been cursin up and down the place

launamleto · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 112

Entirely uncalled for response given this situation. Would you enjoy losing 15-20 thousand dollars for no apparent reason other than greed?

theTJtrooper · Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 119

Dzy · Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Posts: 139

It sucks, of course. I felt so bad when my pimped RDW in extended was stolen (8 foil fetchies, 4 foil asian ports, 4 foil wastelands, 4 foil grim lavamancer, 4 foil pups etc) but that's nothing like this.

But I learned something from this.

Never, ever lose track of your cards. Ever. Period.

I hope he gets his cards back and else I hope he can make good arrangements with his team mate..

NahHolmes · Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 578

theTJtrooper · Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 119

by launamleto on 2006-07-31 13:09 PDT

Its people like you that make MTG tournies so unbareable....the you guys fucking stink like shit...seriously do us all a favor and take a 5 min one....better then nothing. god i hate people like you.

He just posted this on Shyft's PTQ report...I mean COME ON, you have to be trying to be this much of an ****

Linkman · Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 72

After reading this post, I can only say 3 things.

1. It sucks to have your p9 and valuable cards stolen, but:

2. It's his fault. You should NEVER leave your valuable cards with someone, even if you asked him to watch over them. Also, NEVER keep all your valuable cards in one box, binder, etc. If you keep them in one box it is only easier to take all the cards in one quick swoop.

3. How are you going to prove the cards are yours? Unless they got specific markings on them, you can't prove anything, even with the security tape. Also, the police will probably not will prioritize this incident, as to them, they're just cardboard.

RichardDWade · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 438

TD · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 105

That really, really sucks, and if I hear anything (unlikely, as I'm about 3000 miles away from Neutral Ground) I'll tell you. In any event, good luck, but let this be a lesson to you - don't ever leave your cards out. I always carry my deck with me, and try not to bring too much stuff to any event unless I'm sure I'll need it.

JVit · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 10

That's horrible. I'll keep my eyes open over card sites and whatnot. I really hope you recover those cards/decks.

Also, launamleto, do you actually think before you write? That was pretty cold, especially seeing you play Magic too.

RThomas · Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 384

sex_monkey · Joined: 23 Oct 2004 Posts: 40

Text searching on ebay with all the cards, and most relevant results.
Would that work?

I have nevr had anything of value stolen from me, well besides Slaught/Mirrodin T2 Gob Bidding, but that was nowhere near the scale of this. I can only imagine how he feels.

Dr_Moo · Joined: 26 Nov 2004 Posts: 950

This really disgusts me. It seems like every day someone gets their cards stolen. Ghettos hell, Magic tournaments are where the real crime problem is. It is really just terrible.

I leave my cards laying around in the open all the time and I have never worried about them. I'm lucky enough to live in a town where ALL of the players are good people.

Somebody knows who took the cards, and I really hope they come forward. This has just got to stop. There are already plenty of negative stereotypes for Magic players; thieves need not be added to the list. This is really upsetting.