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by Andrew Walker
Magic : The Disappearance At some point, anyone who has played the game of Magic: The Gathering has interacted with people, and after, found some card(s) missing from their collection.... just vanished. Trading, playing, showing off that killer deck - with so many people into the game, there is bound to be some dishonest activity ( fake cards, card theft, cheating ) , but that doesn't mean we like it, or will put up with it. DCI, and almost every other type of Magic leagues, have adopted some rules dealing with fake cards found in decks or being circulated, and have ways to deal with cheating among players... but why has the third - card theft - been ignored for so long? It is criminal activity any way you look at it. Theft has been increasing and I think it's time someone looked at it... so here goes. Who? Just who are those people who walk into a shop or go into a trade with the intent of stealing cards? In my experience it has almost always been OLDER players. The ones with established collections and the multiple boxes/binders already full of out of print rares, and those killer cards. This seems strange because naturally you wouldn't expect someone who has such a large collection to be stealing cards from you - someone who has maybe 10 really good rares - you think it's people with little collections that would be stealing to build their stuff up. The younger players however, show a lot more respect toward others who play, looking through binders full of rares and out of prints that they only dream of ever having. Someone who sinks a thousand bucks into the game just to get everything they could ever want, and then on top of that steals from players who are just starting, ruining their enthusiasm for the game. On top of that, just what is the motive of this theft? That brings me to the next point..... Why? If someone gets to own a lot of stuff that no one else does, they feel special. So if they can get more of those cards (by buying them up, or stealing them), a demand is created for them in the area, making their value potentially higher. Then, also by doing this, they can hold their position as Card barons - the guys with every card you want. And (of course) there are always people who like to steal because of the risks and pure act of it. Pretty sick isn't it? Now I'll go over a couple things you can do to help prevent card theft. I call these things:
1. Thieves commonly get at your cards more easily if they are in boxes than if they were in binders. So try to use binders to hold valuable trading cards. If you have to use boxes, then be really careful to follow law number 2, 3 and 4. When putting cards in binders only put one card per spot - that way you can easily scan for any missing ones. Multiples in the same spot make easy targets for theft - and you won't notice until you pull them all out. I've personally had quite a few cards go missing for this reason. 2. Whenever you want to tradem, it is common to have 3 people all looking through your cards at once - as a rule try to trade/deal with only one person at a time. That way, there is less chance that while one guy is distracting you, one of the others will pocket some of your stuff. 3. When trading always watch your cards as the other guy goes through them. If they take any that they are interested in, make sure they keep them in front of you. I know that this makes the trade take up more time, and people may get annoyed, but it will be worth it if you never have a twenty-plus dollar card walk off. Watch everyone who goes through your cards, then when they are done, put yours where they are safe and go through theirs. Don't take your eyes off your cards for a second. 4. Know your cards! If you know what you own, and its location among the rest of your cards, then it is easier to check your cards for missing ones. Also, it's easier to locate things people are interested in, and this also saves people from handling every single card you own (thus helping to prevent them from stealing it) 5. Never let anyone walk off with your stuff to "show a buddy that deck" or go off saying "hey man look at these cards you might want". People who do this often use it as a way to distract you from the cards - and then they promptly disappear. 6. When playing in a store or shop, or just with a bunch of people you don't trust or know, be sure to keep the cards you are not using close or in a safe place. That way no one can look through them while you aren't there to watch. I'm very disappointed that this article was necessary to write at all. It's a sad thing when people want to steal cards from little kids. I hope this helps and that everyone can benefit from my advice. May you never lose a card again.
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