Nick Cage's stolen Action Comics #1 has been recovered

[fantastic_four]

Cage just recently got paid by the insurance company, not back 10 years ago.

 

Why would it take this long to get an insurance settlement?

[fantastic_four]

Lots of Cage's books came back restored when the collection was slabbed (remember, CGC was only 2 years old at the time). Not sure whether he actually knew they were restored or not when he bought the majority of them. I believe they were purchased raw pre CGC. Some people say yes and some people say no.

 

I had heard he knew some were, but others he didn't and was pissed. Which doesn't make him different from 99.99999% of anyone else who bought vintage books prior to CGC.

[Scrooge]

Isn't there a Fishler post buried deep in the archive concerning this particular issue?

[markseifert]

Isn't there a Fishler post buried deep in the archive concerning this particular issue?

 

There is indeed. In part, I think he stated that he generated his own documentation for each book at the request of Cage's manager.

 

If I have time later and nobody else turns it up, I'll see if I can dig it up.

[MrBedrock]

Isn't there a Fishler post buried deep in the archive concerning this particular issue?

 

There is indeed. In part, I think he stated that he generated his own documentation for each book at the request of Cage's manager.

 

If I have time later and nobody else turns it up, I'll see if I can dig it up.

I believe this is the same book that was sold through Sotheby's as a vf in the very early nineties.

[Cat-Man_America]

Regardless of the insurance,this book belongs to it's rightful owner Nick Cage.

 

The rightful owner is the insurance company.

 

They 'bought' the book back in 2002.

 

Mr. Cage should have the option of buying the books back from the insurance company at the cost of payout plus annual inflation (not current fair market value).

 

I would certainly request a similar provision with my insurer. Insurance companies already make off like bandits. Not that I'm accusing anyone of being dishonest, but it is legalized robbery if they profit from Nick Cage's misfortune.

 

They paid Nick Fair market value for item at time if it was stolen.

If item was recovered and worth less now than what they paid Should Someone pay the insurance company for the change in Value

 

Your point is well taken, but insurance carriers by design have always been risk takers; it's just a form of legalized gambling . Insurance companies gamble that their services will never be needed and they charge you a premium to share in their risk. Think of your insurance company as the "House" with the odds always weighed in the insurer's favor.

 

Recovery of property long after the fact is certainly an instructive scenario for those contemplating insurance for their collectables. One should insist upon a policy stipulation that has an option to buy back original property upon recovery at the rate of payout plus inflation. If the customer doesn't wish to buy back the property then the insurer owns it and can dispose of it at their leisure irrespective of profit or loss.

 

What I'm saying is that if they want your business, make sure that the policy is modified to cover a range of eventualities. If that means paying a higher premium, then so be it, but it isn't right that an insurer should be able to take advantage of their customers misfortunes based on market fluctuations. I'm not sure how Action #1 was valued nine years ago, but it has certainly outstripped inflationary trends.

 

Insurance should be a service paid for through premiums, not a means to windfall profits. Just my

[DiceX]

If there were ever a good time to NOT have something insured, this would be it.

 

 

[mrwoogieman]

Call me jaded, but "I found it in a storage locker" sounds a lot like, "I'm not complicit in the original theft, honest." To me, at least.

 

Then again, if I were the new "owner," there is now way anyone is getting their hands on this book as a prior owner, whether it be Nic Cage or his insurance company, without a battle of experts in a court of law.

[Hawkman]

I wanna know more about the guy who bought the storage locker. What did he get out of this, if anything? Its crazy, because I've bought almost two dozen lockers over the last year, and i can just imagine finding an action comics #1.

[Hawkman]

Call me jaded, but "I found it in a storage locker" sounds a lot like, "I'm not complicit in the original theft, honest." To me, at least.

 

Then again, if I were the new "owner," there is now way anyone is getting their hands on this book as a prior owner, whether it be Nic Cage or his insurance company, without a battle of experts in a court of law.

 

 

I agree. If i found it, i wouldn't give the book up easily without getting something decent for it.

[Cat-Man_America]

I wanna know more about the guy who bought the storage locker. What did he get out of this, if anything? Its crazy, because I've bought almost two dozen lockers over the last year, and i can just imagine finding an action comics #1.

 

True, that's interesting. He probably should get a recovery fee from the insurance company or original owner (whoever ends up with the book), but even if he bought the storage locker he can't be the new "owner" of the Action #1 as that was stolen property to begin with.

[the420kid]

yep pretty sure law enforcement seizes it as stolen property. Guy who bought the locker will get zilch most likely.

[Primetime]

I believe the third book stolen was a really nice copy of a later Marvel Mystery book.

 

Wonder if this new Action #1 will be coming to market soon?

64 or 69 if I remember correctly.

Marvel Mystery #71

D copy.

[500Club]

Cage just recently got paid by the insurance company, not back 10 years ago.

 

Why would it take this long to get an insurance settlement?

[JazzMan]

Since the book has ballooned in value over the last few years, maybe they'll split the proceeds with the buyer of the storage unit.

 

 

 

Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face.

[comicwiz]

I can't help but notice how the craze of storage auctions could become a method of choice to fence high-end stolen goods. With the record breaking prices this book recently achieved, the heat on a book that belonged to a celebrity, the idea of planting a book like that in a storage locker, hoping to sneak it through a dealer that might not be able to make the connection to Cage, is a palatable gamble, and one way to strike while the iron is still hot.

 

Purely speculation on my part, and it would not surprise me one bit if there's more news to follow.

[bronze_rules]

Last I checked, the storage guys require DL, credit card, and other information nailing you to the scene of the crime. With today's technology and low cost of storage (memory), I'm doubting they throw any of it away (particularly on open storage contracts). It makes me wonder how on earth they couldn't trace the original guy that deposited it to storage in the 1st place. From there, it's just a matter of dominoes.

 

Do these people use all fake ids to open the storage unit or something? And doesn't the operator do some kind of background check?

[comicwiz]

I agree that it makes sense to have checks and balances, but I doubt many would follow any best practice. The same with the way pawn shops are supposed to follow certain protocol, but there always seems to be that exception where things aren't followed to the letter because the item was too good to pass up or its worth was too high. I have heard my fair share of stories on the way both storage units and pawn shops conduct their business to not use a wholesale acceptance that they run every facet of their business in an aboveboard manner.

[bronze_rules]

I agree that it makes sense to have checks and balances, but I doubt many would follow any best practice. The same with the way pawn shops are supposed to follow certain protocol, but there always seems to be that that situation where it isn't followed to the letter because the item was too good to pass up or its worth was too high. I have heard my fair share of stories on the way both storage units and pawn shops conduct their business to not use a wholesale acceptance that they run every facet of their business in an aboveboard manner.

 

I guess I just didn't know enough about how it operates below the table (as you compared to say a pawn-shop). All I know from experience, is that every time I opened a SL, I was grilled for all of the mandatory ID as well as personal contact information. I suppose some guy could plop down 10k for a year and say no strings attached or something, but then that would further cement him in my mind (as the owner), unless I was complicit somehow of course. A fascinating, and less sterling operation than I originally thought, however-- thanks for the comment.

 

Come to think of it, what's to stop a less than honest owner from previewing abandoned lockers prior to auctioning select ones off to 'friends', or himself for that matter?

[synch]

yep pretty sure law enforcement seizes it as stolen property. Guy who bought the locker will get zilch most likely.

can't say I feel sorry em, I've watched that show the odd time all the people on it seem sleezy & like aholes