Thief steals more than 1,600 Magic: The Gathering cards from Indiana hobby shop

BROWNSBURG, Ind. — A thief broke into a hobby shop early Friday, stealing more than 1,600 cards from the Magic: The Gathering game, authorities said.

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According to the Brownsburg Police Department, the thief broke into Valkyrie’s Vault at about 3:52 a.m. EDT on Friday, WXIN-TV reported. The thief, whose actions were caught on the store’s surveillance camera, used tools to dismantle the locking mechanism in a side door in order to enter the business, according to the television station.

The video, posted to the store’s Facebook page, shows a man rushing behind a counter with a large red bag.

The thief fills the bag and grabs some items, but some of them fell to the floor as the man bumps two counters while exiting the store, according to the video.

Police said the estimated value of the stolen cards is $15,000, WXIN reported.

“Everyone is safe, but the loss is tremendous,” Valkyrie’s Vault wrote on Facebook.

There are several different types of cards in the strategy game, including artifact, conspiracy, creature, dungeon, enchantment, instant, land, phenomenon, plane, planeswalker, scheme, sorcery, tribal, and vanguard.

The owners of the store believe the theft was targeted since the man went straight to the counter with the most valuable cards, WRTV reported.

“It was very clear that they probably had visited the store and probably scoped out exactly what they were going to come in for,” co-owner Jessi Kahlo told the television station. “I’ve never had to deal with anything like this. The impact of this is absolutely detrimental to my husband and I and all of the progress we’ve built over the last three years.”

Magic: The Gathering was created by Richard Garfield in 1993 and is considered to be the first collectible card game, according to Star City Games.

Kahlo said her husband began collecting gaming cards in 1994.

“They’re valuable because they’re old,” Kahlo told WRTV. “Because they’re rare because they’re hard to get a hold of.”

A GoFundMe page has been created for the shop.

Brownsburg is located about 17 miles northwest of downtown Indianapolis.