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Card Heist at Gen Con
Magic: the Gathering cards worth over $300,000 were stolen from the exhibit hall at Gen Con during setup on August 2, the day before the con began. As first reported by Dicebreaker, two unidentified people simply walked up with a pallet jack and walked away with a pallet full of cards.
Pastimes Events, which runs Magic: the Gathering tournaments at major gaming conventions, announced (via its sister business, Pastimes Comics & Games) that those were its cards.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police have posted several pictures of the suspects taken from surveillance footage. The IMPD asks that tips about the suspects or the stolen cards be sent to Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317.262.8477.
It is common practice for conventions to restrict access to vendor areas during setup to only people with vendor or staff badges, enforced by either convention or venue security staff. This was either not the case at Gen Con, or else the suspects managed to evade the checks, as neither is wearing a badge in the security footage.
Gen Con did not answer an inquiry by press time about its current setup practices or what changes it might be making.
In Brief
Wild Game Roundup (Austin, Texas) has announced via e-mail that it will cease operations for lack of anyone to take it over.
G.A.M.E. Expo (Springfield, Missouri) has also announced that it will hold no more events
Bantucky Con (Bandera, Texas) is on hiatus through at least 2025.
Retro World Expo (Hartford, Connecticut, August 26-27) has added Gangrel, Travis Landry, and Headcannon as guests.
The Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball (High Wycombe, UK, September 9-10) has added William Todd-Jones and Maeve Callahan as guests.
Norwescon 46 (SeaTac, Washington, March 28-31) has added Charles Vess as its Artist Guest of Honor.
Event Calendar
Weekend of August 11-13
Geek Out at Staten Island, Staten Island, New York, USA
Wild Prairie Fur Con: Adventures in Furry Land (anthropomorphic), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Key City Steampunk Convention, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Wild Game Roundup, Austin, Texas, USA
Game On Expo, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
GameX 5.0 (video games), Mississauga, Ontario, USA
Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (video games), Garden City, New York, USA
Grand Tribunal (Ars Magica RPG), Cheltenham, UK
AniNite 23 (anime), Vienna, Austria
Otakukon (anime), Harare, Zimbabwe
Otakuthon (anime), Montréal, Québec
AniBash (anime), Rochester, New York, USA
Abunai!: Summer Magic Academia (anime), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Tokonatsu (anime), Henlow, UK
RakuCon Manchester (anime), Manchester, UK
Ani-Medford (anime), Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
Queen City Anime Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Anime-zing!, Davenport, Iowa, USA
MatsuriCon 2023 (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA
SC IdolFest 2023 (anime idols), Torrance, California, USA
Fan Expo Chicago (media), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
Station Unity 2023 (media), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
Flame Con (LGBT+ media), New York City, New York, USA
Starfleet International Conference 2023 (Star Trek), online
TFNation (Transformers), Birmingham, UK
Everfree NW (My Little Pony), Bellevue, Washington, USA
Mid-week event: SFRA 2023: Disruptive Imaginations (symposium), Dresden, Germany
Weekend of August 18-20
Epic Nerd Camp, Darlington, Maryland, USA
DenFur (anthropomorphic), Denver, Colorado, USA
Dragonflight Gamecon 43, Bellevue, Washington, USA
Game & Party Con, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Coulee Con 2023 (gaming), La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA
Field of Games, Silverstone, UK
Draconicon (gaming), Tel Aviv, Israel
HistoriKC Fest (miniatures gaming), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Nashcon 2023 (miniatures gaming), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
SDHist Con East (historical games), Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Superstar Anime, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Conjutsu (anime), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
AmeCon (anime), Coventry, UK
Anime Revolution, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Shikkaricon (anime), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Anime Town Louisiana 2023, Gonzales, Louisiana, USA
Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Kelowna ComiCon, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Hub City Comic Con, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Creation Charlotte (media), Concord, North Carolina, USA
Stars of Time (media), Weston-super-Mare, UK
4th Biennial H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Weekend of August 25-27
Bubonicon 54: Across the Multiverse, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Dni Fantastyki, Wrocław, Poland
Camp Feral!: Business Casual (anthropomorphic), Algonquin Park, Ontario
Furrydelphia (anthropomorphic), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
IndyFurCon 2023: Mission: Impawssible (anthropomorphic), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend at the Asylum (steampunk), Lincoln, UK
Northeast Ohio Steampunk Festival, Burton, Ohio, USA
FallCon 36: Dice, People & Meeples (gaming), Calgary, Alberta, Canada
LincCon the 13th (gaming), Merrill, Wisconsin, USA
MaricopaCon X (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA
Tacticon (gaming), Aurora, Colorado, USA
Tabletop Scotland (gaming), Perth, UK
Brussels Games Festival, Brussels, Belgium
Norwich Games Con, Norwich, UK
Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Great Escape on the Lake (gaming), Bradford, New York, USA
2D Con 2023: Another World (video games), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Windblume (Genshin Impact), Frisco, Texas, USA
TennoCon (Warframe), London, Ontario, Canada
Kokorokon (anime), Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Hikari (anime), Poznań, Poland
Kin-Yoobi Con (anime), Union City, California, USA
PopCult Anime Con, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
My Hero Convention: Florida (anime), Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA
Ganbatte 2023 (anime), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Fan Expo Canada (media), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Fandom Fest 2023 (media), Schenectady, New York, USA
Fairfax Comic Con, Chantilly, Virginia, USA
My-Con (media), Orlando, Florida, USA
Fandom Fest 2023 (media), Schenectady, New York, USA
Jemcon 2023: Rockin’ Romance in Rhode Island (Jem and the Holograms), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Weekend of September 1-3
Kapitularz (Polish national sf convention), Łódź, Poland
Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CoKoCon 2023, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Bouchercon 2023: Murder at the Marina (World Mystery Convention), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Oxonmoot 2023 (Tolkien), Oxford, UK
Big River Steampunk Festival 2023, Hannibal, Missouri, USA
Eurofurence 27: Black Magic (anthropomorphic), Hamburg, Germany
Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con: Wild Wild West (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Mephit Fur Meet: Tropical Paradise (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Pacificon Game Expo 44, Santa Clara, California, USA
TCEP 28 Parties Later (gaming), Sterling, Virginia, USA
SaltCON End of Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA
Gamesfest, Pasco, Washington, USA
WGGCon (gaming), Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA
PAX West 2023 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA
Gateway 2023 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
GrandCon 2023 (gaming), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
ConsimWorld Expo 2023 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA
NOVA Open (wargaming), Washington, DC, USA
ReaperCon 2023 (miniatures gaming), Denton, Texas, USA
SCG Con (collectible card games), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Nan Desu Kan 26 (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA
San Japan 14 (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Expo Anime: Natsumatsuri, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Connichi (anime), Wiesbaden, Germany
Saboten Con 2023 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Fanboy Expo Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA
Tucson Comic Con (media), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach, California, USA
Robcon (media), Abingdon, Virginia, USA
Meta Con Minneapolis (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
No Brand Con (media), Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
East European Comic Con, Bucharest, Romania
GalaxyCon Austin (media), Austin, Texas, USA
Whooverville 14 (Doctor Who), Derby, UK
Weekend of September 8-10
OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA
Furvana Vice (anthropomorphic), Ocean Shores, Washington, USA
Furry Migration 2023: Disco Fantasy (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA
Planszówki w Spodku (gaming), Katowice, Poland
PPG Con (gaming), Manitou Springs, Colorado, USA
Conecturday (video games), San José, Costa Rica
Senshi Con (anime), Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Tracon (anime), Tampere, Finland
Animate!, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA
Anime Oklahoma, Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
Anime Town Greenville 2023, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Colossalcon East (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA
Popcorn! (media), Sheffield, UK
Ottawa Comiccon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Comic Con Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Afro Future Con 2023: Extending Reality (media), San Diego, California, USA
ThunderCon (media), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Silver Scream Con 2023 (horror media), Danvers, Massachusetts, USA
Retro Con 2023 (‘80s media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
The Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball, High Wycombe, UK
PhileFest (X-Files), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Coda
The unknome (Science News)
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