When two men came in to OMG Games in Barrie, Ontario (Canada), with some Magic cards to sell, one of the store employees noticed they matched the description of cards stolen from another store, Enter the Battlefield, a few weeks earlier.  "We came in and saw that the showcases for the 'Magic: The Gathering' and 'Pokémon' singles were ravaged, and our cards were taken," Enter the Battlefield owner Kris Fekete told CTV News.  Security footage showed a masked, black-clad burglar kicking in the door on the night of September 18 and loading up a backpack with trading cards, about $150,000 worth by Fekete’s reckoning.

When OMG owner Rick Bates realized that the men in his store were trying to sell him the stolen cards, he alerted Fekete and the regional police, then stalled the men with small talk until the police arrived and arrested them.  Both were charged with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.  The cards recovered in the store were worth about $30,000 to $40,000, and triggered a nostalgic reaction in one of the officers involved, Constable James Dickson from York Regional Police, who commented "'Magic: The Gathering', fantastic way to get through grade school.  'Pokémon' I played for far too long.”

Meanwhile, Dexterto reports that Ontario police investigating a series of thefts at golf courses uncovered a cache of Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards worth about $100,000, along with golf carts, construction tools, and drugs.  Police say that drug dealers use the rare trading cards as currency.

“Broken glass everywhere, an empty showcase, a wall full of emptiness, and some peculiar items stolen” is how House of Secrets owner Paul Grimshaw described the aftermath of a smash-and-grab robbery to KNX News.  Burglars broke into the Burbank, California, store early on the morning of Sunday, October 27, and stole an estimated $80,000 worth of merchandise, including a Spider-Man comic worth upwards of $10,000. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to enable the store to upgrade its security.

Mile High Comics celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and Colorado Community Media took the opportunity to profile owner Chuck Rozanski, who started selling comics when he was 14 (see “Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics”) and has managed to stay in business for over half a century by being willing to adapt to the ever-changing market and working with a stellar team of employees.

The Greenpoint, Brooklyn (New York) comics shop Hey Kids Comics! will close its doors at the end of December, owner Jason Mojica announced on Instagram.  The store started three years ago with Mojica’s son selling comics outdoors on the sidewalk, then moved into a 250 square foot retail space.  While the retail space is closing, Mojica said that he will continue to run an online store and a newsletter and hopes to participate in conventions and pop-up events.

The Nerd Store, a comics, cards, and collectibles store in West Valley City, Utah, has had to move outdoors after its store in the Valley Fair Mall was flooded by a water line break in October.  "It flooded through our walls and covered almost the entirety of our 9000 square foot store," co-owner Charles Prows told Fox 13 News.  "We have to throw everything away that the water touched, including all of the floors and the walls and any product that was on the floor in the back room and any of that stuff... it's been a nightmare."  The losses include 45 longboxes of comics.  Although he is concerned about the store’s losses and the impact of the move outdoors on holiday shopping, Prows was also heartened by the response of his customers, some of whom showed up the day after the flood to help with cleaning, packing, and moving the store items.  "It's the reason I love the [comics and gaming] industry," he said.  "It is so much of building our own community and creating a safe place where people can just be themselves and kind of hang out without any judgment.”

The Seattle Times profiles Arcane Comics, a comic shop that puts customer service first, with a wide selection of comics and graphic novels and a staff who works with shoppers to discern their tastes before making recommendations.