So someone stole from my little brother...

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Sorry in advance for posting this, but I really need to vent.

Today me and my brother were playing magic. I don't really like the game all that much but I enjoy hanging out with him, especially since he's had a problem with his ankle lately and hasn't been feeling that great. Anyway, as we're playing I notice a rare card is missing from my deck. I figure, no big deal, I probably just misplaced it. Well as it turns out, it wasn't the only card to go 'missing'. Someone has stolen 4 cards that are worth about 50 bucks altogether from my Brothers decks, not counting the one from my deck that I don't really care about. The worst part is it was had to be one of his friends that did it since the decks never leave the house.

It really ticks me off, especially since I know my brother has to be upset but he's not one to share his feelings. It's only a week from his Birthday too, just horrible situation all around. I hate not being able to do much of anything about it.

The only thing I could do is replace the cards, but I don't really have the money to spend on that right now. It wouldn't be quite the same anyway, he didn't buy any of those cards, he manged to get them by luck of the draw from blind packs. Replacements wouldn't have the same meaning to them, still I guess buying him some would at least show one of his friends really cares about him. I feel like a total failure of a sibling right now...

[Ninja Status]

I had a friend who once played magic. Turns out his whole deck got stolen from him, a bunch of rare cards too. I hope things work out for your brother.

[Unhinged Manchild]

Never played magic, but I played yugioh with a few friends, one of whom stole 2 secret rare cards (worth probably around $50 each) out of my deck when I went to the bathroom. I knew it was him because the next day at school, he suddenly had those two cards in his deck and mine were missing. One card that he stole had a bent corner, I could tell it was mine. He lied to me and said he just got them. Bologna.

Haven't talked to him since. It's a shame that "friends" would do this to one another, but I guess you know when to cross them off of your friend list, then.

[JC McMinis]

Were they older cards SW or from more recent sets? Just curious, that is a bummer. I had a "friend" steal from me as well. We had an apartment together when I got sick, my mom took care of me in her apt. Before I recovered he defaulted on the lease, and on top of it stole a tomahawk & peace pipe someone had brought me from Arizona.

[Tornado]

Bummer SG-1. Do not feel too bad about being a bad sibling. I doubt there was anything you could have done. People will be people unfortunately. I wish your brother all the best. I am recovering from a broken ankle so I feel his pain in that regard.

A couple years ago some pros rolled through Gen Con and swiped thousands of dollars of Magic cards. Apparently greed will push folks to the most devious acts.
I hope your brother has a great birthday regardless of the current situations. He is lucky to have such a caring brother.

[Crixus33]

I understand the feeling, no one messes with my little brother.

If you want to try and get the card back I would suggest asking others he has recently played with if they've noticed they are missing any cards, thieves generally don't have one target. At least you could try to rule some people out.

[Dad_Scaper]

I've had to deal with that as the dad. It's not your responsibility to replace the cards.

KidScaper does not want to get into Magic, partly because that brand of stress is unique to that type of game. I'm sorry for the stress your brother is going through, but it's not your fault, and it's not his fault. It's just that one or more of his "friends" is in fact a "di ck," and that's too bad. Learn from it, move on.

And if you can figure out which one it was - it sounds like that may not happen - that's another matter. Let us (or me, privately, if you'd prefer) know if that happens.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

Thanks for the kind words guys

Originally Posted by JC McMinis

Were they older cards SW or from more recent sets?

Newer stuff, including a foil mythic rare.

Originally Posted by Crixus33

If you want to try and get the card back I would suggest asking others he has recently played with if they've noticed they are missing any cards, thieves generally don't have one target. At least you could try to rule some people out.

Unfortunately that won't work here, we're the only ones that really have cards, everyone else just uses one of our decks when they come over.

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

And if you can figure out which one it was - it sounds like that may not happen - that's another matter. Let us (or me, privately, if you'd prefer) know if that happens.

There's really only four 'suspects' that make much sense, but I doubt we'll ever figure out who it is, especially since we don't really know when the cards were taken. If I do find out who did it, I'll let y'all know, it's probably a wiser move than my original plain of 'chuck the @#@@$ off our cliff'.

[Darth Vader]

If I were in your situation, I'd definitely do my best to figure out who the thief is, and do what is possible to get the cards back. Obviously, anyone who would steal from your brother is not a friend at all, and it's definitely best to cut ties with someone like this as soon as possible. And I absolutely hate the idea of a thief getting away with it, but that's more of a personal issue with me.

If it were me personally, I would run down the list of everyone who has had access to the cards since they went missing, inquire personally about the missing cards with each of them, and try to deduce from here who the possible suspects would be. From here, especially if I'm confident in one person, I'd go into a super confrontational mode, where I bring the pressure and hope to break the suspect. Again, this is just what I'd do.

I've always been overprotective of my brother, despite the fact that he's only two years younger than me, and if something like this were to happen to him, I'd obsess over it. (Well, something along the lines did happen a couple years ago, but it was a different situation in a few ways and I had absolutely zero power in investigating the theft, and it ended up getting fixed anyway.)

Seriously though, if a situation like yours arose with my brother, and we had a solid suspect, I would be trying to set up an confrontation/intervention, and hope to bring enough guilt upon the individual and compel them to do the right thing. But as a rough and tumble individual, and, generally speaking, a pretty good judge of character, I don't have much of a problem doing something like this.

There really isn't a good reason to be stealing magic cards, and a person who does so has some serious issues that need to be addressed. I hate the fact that we can't trust people as easily as we should be able to, but at the end of the day, we just have to be careful about who we give access to our stuff.

I seriously hope you get a resolution to your situation, or at least, can figure out who the thief is. As I said earlier, your brother would definitely be best off ending a relationship with someone who would steal his magic cards.

[Dad_Scaper]

I do not recommend going DV's route of obsessing. Introduce your brother to Star Realms. Totally scratch the MtG itch for $15, and no collecting. Show him Ascension and Love Letter, which I would also highly recommend to a Magic player. Be done with MtG for a while and show him the world outside. Then, one day, he can sell his old cards for store credit at CoolStuffInc.

Obsessing over it is ridiculous. And there is a reason to steal Magic cards. The reason is being a di ck.

[Darth Vader]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I do not recommend going DV's route of obsessing.

Neither do I, necessarily. It depends on the person and the situation. I stated what I'd do in the situation, but not knowing the people involved or the details of the situation, I cannot, nor did I, recommend what he should do. I just hate the idea of the kid either continually getting burned by his so called friends, or be unable to trust the friends who are honest.

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Show him Ascension and Love Letter, which I would also highly recommend to a Magic player. Be done with MtG for a while and show him the world outside. Then, one day, he can sell his old cards for store credit at CoolStuffInc.

I cannot second this motion enough!

These two games, along with Mage Wars, are the reason I don't play Magic any longer. Ascension and Love Letter are both a blast, and can both be acquired for about what you'd pay for a Magic Fat Pack.

[JC McMinis]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

Thanks for the kind words guys

Newer stuff, including a foil mythic rare.

Ok was just curious, I have alot of older stuff and was thinking if I had extras I could help you replace. All of what I have is 6th edition and older, to that point I actually have what I call my Sacrafice deck that has Thallids, Breeding Pits etc in it.