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SMOF News, volume 3, issue 1

More details of the Gen Con heist, and news in brief.

Petréa Mitchell
Sep 7, 2023
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SMOF News, volume 3, issue 1

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Gen Con Suspects Charged, Affadavit Fills in Story

Thomas Dunbar and Pearson Giaume have been formally charged with felony theft of the pallet of Magic: the Gathering cards taking from Gen Con during pre-con setup. A pre-trial conference will be held on November 9, and the trial itself will be November 29.

A probable cause affadavit has filled in and corrected many details about the investigation. The theft actually took place on August 1, not August 2 as previously reported. The stolen merchandise, originally said to be worth $300,000, is described as being worth $195,652.

The affadavit is not available online, but several reports allow a full timeline to be pieced together.

Polygon reports that Dunbar and Giaume were not exactly subtle about their attempts to find something removable:

Somewhere before Dunbar and Giaume left Indiana for New York, the two allegedly attempted to enter the area at Gen Con shared by Asmodee and Atomic Mass Games, which make Marvel and Star Wars tabletop games, among others. A person contracted to work that booth believed the pair was trying to break in, and snapped a photo before they left. When police went public with the photo, that contractor recognized Dunbar.

WIBC has the full details of the heist:

When viewing security camera footage, detectives saw two men acquire a pallet jack, steal a pallet of “Magic: The Gathering” cards, and move them to an area behind a black curtain. The theft happened before the convention started, while vendors were setting up displays.

Further video footage shows the men pulling the loaded pallet into the State Parking Garage around 4 p.m. on Aug. 1.

The men are seen six minutes later leaving the parking garage with an empty cart. Later, they are shown carrying empty cardboard boxes near the skywalk entrance of the garage.

Officers later saw footage of the men entering and leaving the parking garage in a red 2023 Nissan Murano rental car with a New York license plate.

Stills taken from security cameras show the red Nissan driving through Plainfield, Indiana, with what appeared to be cardboard boxes in the back seat.

The police were called in on August 2. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Star reports that Dunbar and Giaume did make one attempt to cover their tracks:

Gen Con officials told police that Dunbar and Giaume altered their registration information online, changing their names to "Scott Fischer" and "Ashriel Lockheart" after their convention badges were issued.

By August 7, the police had their first tip that Dunbar and Giaume were the people in the surveillance footage. On August 8, per the Star:

[D]etectives received an unsolicited call from an attorney in New York saying they were representing "an unnamed client in possession of the stolen gaming cards belonging to Pastimes, Inc."

The attorney said his client was coerced into purchasing a pallet of merchandise by someone calling themselves "Jeff" at a price of $4,000, the affidavit states. They were unaware of the merchandise's value or origin until after seeing a story about the theft online.

With help from New York State Police, troopers arrived at the attorney's office and collected 115 boxes and packages containing "Magic: the Gathering" and "Dungeon & Dragons" gaming cards and books investigators said were taken from the Indiana Convention Center.

Detectives were also able to link Dunbar and Giaume with their rental car, their hotel room in Indianapolis, and, after learning about their role in making the game Castle Assault, with their addresses in New York.

In Brief

  • Chambanacon 52 (Normal, Illinois, November 24-26) will be the last Chambanacon, titled “The Final Fannish Family Reunion”.

  • Hampton Comicon (Hampton, Virginia), originally scheduled for October 7, has been postponed to 2024 due to a scheduling conflict.

  • Corflu 41 (Las Vegas, February 29-March 3) is looking for bids for Corflu 42. There is currently one known bid, for an unspecified location in the UK.

  • DerpyCon 2023 (New Brunswick, New Jersey, October 27-29) has added Kyle McCarley and Adam Gaffen as guests.

  • Trek Long Island (Hauppage, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Yetide Badaki and Orville Cummings as guests.

Event Calendar

Weekend of September 8-10

  • OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA

  • Albacon 2023, Clifton Park, New York, USA and online

  • 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

Weekend of September 15-17

  • Copernicon, Toruń, Poland

  • P-Con, Irving, Texas, USA

  • Albacon 2023, Clifton Park, New York, USA

  • Fantasycon, Birmingham, UK

  • 33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, online

  • SWFL SteamCon (steampunk), Cape Coral, Florida, USA

  • Megaplex: Be Anything, Do Anything! (anthropomorphic), Orlando, Florida, USA

  • West Aussie Fur Frenzy: Under the Big Top (anthropomorphic), Freemantle, Australia

  • Furever West (anthropomorphic), Laramie, Wyoming, USA

  • FursonaCon 2023: Dino Safari (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

  • ShireCon 5 (gaming), Canaan, Connecticut, USA

  • Strong Tower Gaming Convention, Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA

  • Tabletop Central (gaming), Savoy, Illinois, USA

  • B-Con 2023 (gaming), Northglenn, Colorado, USA

  • ReUnity Games 2023, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA

  • Tennessee Game Days Fall 2023, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

  • Hold the Line (miniatures gaming), Port Clinton, Ohio, USA

  • Southern Front 2023 (miniatures gaming), Morrisville, North Carolina, USA

  • Retro Palooza (retro video games), Arlington, Texas, USA

  • J-Con (anime), Derby, UK

  • Anime Fargo 2023: Enter the Ninja, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

  • Chizu Con 2023 (anime), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

  • AncientCityCon (media), St. Augustine, Florida, USA

  • Granite State Comicon (media), Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

  • Edmonton Expo (media), Edmonton, Alberta, USA

  • Fandom Kissimmee (media), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

  • Extremicon (media), St. Robert, Missouri, USA

  • CaperCon (media), Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

  • Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA

  • Flower City Comic Con, Rochester, New York, USA

  • Cartoon-A-Paloozah, Temecula, California, USA

  • Comic Con Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

  • London Comic Con, London, UK

  • Midgard 2023 (media), Reykjavik, Iceland

  • Alpha Omega Con (Christian-themed sf media), Whittier, California, USA

  • The Uncanny Experience (X-Men), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Weekend of September 22-24

  • Necronomicon 42: Life, the Convention, and Everything, Tampa, Florida, USA

  • 2nd Annual Sturgeon Symposium, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

  • Dum-Dum 2023 (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA

  • Furnavia (anthropomorphic), Kristiansand, Norway

  • PhilliFur 2023: Tails and Fables (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Philippines

  • 9th Annual Steampunk Fair, Kennebunk, Maine, USA

  • Anno 1900 (steampunk), Lasauvage, Luxembourg

  • Council Ganing Con 42, Schenectady, New York, USA

  • SIBCON XXVII (gaming), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA

  • Nuke-Con (gaming), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

  • Game On Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

  • Big Geek Con (gaming), Saginaw, Michigan, USA

  • MegaMooseCon (gaming), Richburg, South Carolina, USA

  • CuseCon 2023 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA

  • Barrage 2023 (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA

  • Hurricon 2023: Lost Causes (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

  • Recruits (wargaming), Lee’s Summit, Missouri, USA

  • CEOtaku (anime fighting games), Orlando, Florida, USA

  • Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

  • Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

  • Anime USA, Arlington, Virginia, USA

  • MidessAnime, Odessa, Texas, USA

  • Anime Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

  • Microcon II (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

  • Thessaloniki Comic Convention vol. 8, Thessaloniki, Greece

  • NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK

  • Lagos Comic Convention, Lagos, Nigeria

  • Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

  • Comic Con Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Fountain City Fandemonium (media), Bryan, Ohio, USA

  • Cincinnati Comic Expo, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

  • Rose City Comic Con, Portland, Oregon, USA

  • Alabama Comic Con, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

  • Superstar Comic Con, Savannah, Georgia, USA

  • FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

  • Mobicon 2023 (media), Mobile, Alabama, USA

Weekend of September 29-October 1

  • Archon 46, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

  • Conflux 17: Passages and Portals, Canberra, Australia

  • Capclave 2023 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA

  • Intermezzo (music), Wernigerode, Germany

  • Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary

  • Furry Takeover: Safari Takeover (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA

  • OctoGônes 13 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France

  • Adirondacon 6 (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA

  • GooseCon (gaming), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

  • Shake, Battle & Roll (gaming), Southampton, UK

  • Spellenfestival Genk (gaming), Genk, Belgium

  • QuestCon Orlando / Crucible (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

  • Big Bad Con 2023 (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

  • Game Devs of Color Expo, online

  • Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

  • SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

  • Terra MystiCon (Terra Mystica boardgame), Montréal, Québec, Canada

  • Tiger Con (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA

  • Ramencon (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA

  • Miryokucon (anime), Baltimore, Maryland, USA

  • Anime St. Pete, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

  • Shocker Con (anime), Wichita, Kansas, USA

  • Just added: Tiger Con 2023 (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA

  • Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA

  • Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA

  • La Mole (media), Mexico City, Mexico

  • Zurich Pop Con, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Kadabra Con (media), Portland, Texas, USA

  • Beer City Comic Con, Asheville, North Carolina, USA

  • Creation Washington D.C. (media), Arlington, Virginia, USA

  • Z-Con (media), Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA

  • SiouxperCon 2023: To Sioux Falls and Beyond! (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

  • King-Con 2023 (media), Kingman, Arizona, USA

  • Giganticon 2023 (media), Killeen, Texas, USA

  • MagicCon 6 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany

  • Giganticon (superhero media), Killeen, Texas, USA

  • UK PonyCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK

Midweek convention: Icon Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel

Weekend of October 6-8

  • CONFelicity (relaxacon), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

  • GeekGirlCon (female geekdom), Seattle, Washington, USA

  • H-Con the Nineteenth (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany

  • WPAFW 2023 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

  • TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK

  • Dragon Fall (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA

  • PAX Australia (gaming), Melbourne, Australia

  • Con on the Cob 2023: Showdown at the Neon Barnyard (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA

  • Southwest Con (miniatures gaming), Tolleson, Arizona, USA

  • Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA

  • Spieltage Essen (boardgames), Essen, Germany

  • Furnace Games Convention XVIII (RPGs), Sheffield, UK

  • Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA

  • Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France

  • MoTownCon (anime), Mooresville, South Carolina, USA

  • Anime Senpai: Class of '23!, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

  • 56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain

  • 28th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA

  • Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada

  • Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

  • Boone Comic-Con, Boone, North Carolina, USA

Coda

  • Madeleine L’Engle cover mystery solved! (WBUR)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.

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