Well many of you have heard of the magic bag. I remember a thread about it, but it seems to be lost. Anyway, I am wondering if it works. Recently, my and a few friends have been going to mall on little "raids". We can usually only get one dvd, 'cause we have to open the case and take it out in one of our pockets. Anyway, this maagic-bag would greatly increase our productivity.

I have one other question. In Best Buy, the video game cases have a little battery in them. What type of anti-theft device is this? And is there a way to defeat it?

Thanks in advance.
-Crazylegs1138

The magic bag does work.

yes, the magic bag does work. i made one and it has like 95% accuracy. I must of stolen about 100 DVS's from various places. The alarm only went off once, and i just ran away and got away safe, no probs at all. newayz make sure you make at least 15 layers of aluminum on it. If there is the slightest little hole in the bag the alarm WILL go off. And this battery device is nothing I have ever seen before. Its probably just a high tech alarm or something just to scare shoplifters. If I were you I would take one off the package and take a look at it at home, maybe your dad or a teacher from school could help you identify what it does. good luck.

by the way, since winter is coming, this is what i did. I got a huge coat and strapped a honeycomb box to the inside lined with foil. It can hold up to like 20 DVD's in one run. good luck

That's good to know. Does it work with all anti-theft devices? Because there's the one that's like a square sticker with metal rings on the inside. Then there's the rectangular white strip. Does it work for all of them?

I did some scientific testing with a "magic bag" a few months back (and got banned for life from Kmart as a result!). It does work, if constructed properly. I used it with success on a coil antenna tag (sticker with the foil spiral inside), a dual strip tag (the puffy white rectangular sticky things), and an ink tag (the ones pinned to clothing).

The basic operating principle behind each of these devices is more or less the same. I've never seen a theft tag with a battery in it, but I would imagine the battery serves only to light a little LED or somesuch to scare off the potential thieves. Using a battery to power a transmitter for the alarms to detect would be wasteful, since there are at least three other passive systems that would work just as well. Besides, the store would have to constantly replace the batteries in their stuff on a regular basis, which would cost more than the merchandise that the store would lose to shoplifters anyway.

~Zero

Hey, the magic bag weakens the alarm system when you pass by right? Well maybe that battery sends some of its energy somehow to power the alarms back up so it syays the same and isn't weakened so it would detect it. If that was it, BestBuy knows about the old magic bag trick.

I don't even know if it is a battery or not, it looks like a copper ball, cube, sort of. Hard to explain. Anyway, my friend found out how to open the video game cases. But it takes a while to open it, which is dangerous. Has anyone had success with the magic bag in Best Buy? I might try it in my local Barnes and Noble. they have a seperate dvd section with their own detector in the store. If it goes off, they can't do anything as I haven't left the store yet.

Anyway, I hope Best Buy hasen't caught on to the magic bag thing. If any one else has info, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

The bag works by blocking the magnetic fields emitted by the tag. A battery could power some sort of transmitter, but, as Zero pointed out, that wouldn't be cost-effective. It's probably not a battery.

So the Magic Bag works aye... Badass, what about the good ole sharpy marker over the bar code trick? Does that work.

[This message has been edited by A-F Army (edited 10-03-2002).]

I agree with Theta

the Bag stops the detectors from sensing the magnetic field from the tag. as they cant detect it through the aluminium.

i have heard of ppl slipping some items into paint tins aswell...same principle cant detect thru the tin/and or paint...thought u would be limited to the sort of items u could slip into the tin lol

croc

Who remembers when the old ass cell phones used to set off the detectors?

quote:

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Originally posted by A-F Army:
So the Magic Bag works aye... Badass, what about the good ole sharpy marker over the bar code trick? Does that work.

[This message has been edited by A-F Army (edited 10-03-2002).]

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The barcode on the package has absolutely nothing to do with theft detection - It's just ink on the paper. The barcode is only for the scanner at the checkout. It does nothing but tell the cash register what the product is so it can look up how much it costs. Scribbling over it with a magic marker would only piss off the cashier when she had to scan the thing again after security catches you, hands you over to the cops, and puts the merchandise back on the shelf.

~Zero

How powerful a magnet would be needed to make the sensors not work anymore? If you can find out, you can attach 2 long magnets to the inside of the bag, so as to enhance its productivity. Just a thought.

Also, whats the best methode for making/using the bag? Just create a sort of envelope out of like 20 layers of tin foil, then when in the store, you place your item inside, and fold the top down?

quote:

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Originally posted by Zero the Inestimable:
The barcode on the package has absolutely nothing to do with theft detection - It's just ink on the paper. The barcode is only for the scanner at the checkout. It does nothing but tell the cash register what the product is so it can look up how much it costs. Scribbling over it with a magic marker would only piss off the cashier when she had to scan the thing again after security catches you, hands you over to the cops, and puts the merchandise back on the shelf.

~Zero

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Shit that sucks.

Maybe you could try using a chip bag for your base, and adding the foil to that. The bags are mylar, I think. It doesn't matter, though, because they are conductive and should therefore work as a Faraday cage. Of course, you could just throw the bag in the microwave and save yourself the hassle...