Heads up on stolen books

[jaeldubyoo]

Perhaps I'm being harsh, but buying slabs for $3.00 a pop is suspect. What arouse my suspicions is reading that he tried to sell the modern stuff first. Modern slabs are less likely to raise red flags. If he was trying to find the owner through eBay, he would have put up one the scarcer ones to get a hit. That's what I would do to find the rightful owner. We know he knew enough to contact Heritage, so it's not like he doesn't have a clue. Why didn't he at least contact the authorities?

 

Of course, I can't say for certain he any bad intentions. It just doesn't add up. I guess I've gotten more cynical as I get older.

[01TheDude]

Perhaps I'm being harsh, but buying slabs for $3.00 a pop is suspect. What arouse my suspicions is reading that he tried to sell the modern stuff first. Modern slabs are less likely to raise red flags. If he was trying to find the owner through eBay, he would have put up one the scarcer ones to get a hit. That's what I would do to find the rightful owner. We know he knew enough to contact Heritage, so it's not like he doesn't have a clue. Why didn't he at least contact the authorities?

 

Of course, I can't say for certain he any bad intentions. It just doesn't add up. I guess I've gotten more cynical as I get older.

 

Let's also consider the amount of time the guy physically had possession of the books. He bought them at a bulk rate-- probably thought he got a great deal. He might not have known for certain the values of the bigger stuff (might not be in his wheel house). My point is that he did try to do something but more importantly he did not start cracking out the books or doing something to harm the books-- which might have happened if methboy still had his grubby mitts on them.

 

For that reason-- I think we should cut them some slack on this.

[01TheDude]

Because that is too much of a breach of privacy. I don't want people to be able to find out what I submitted on their own terms through an official service :shrug:

 

I can see them setting it up as a simple verification process--- i.e. you enter the slab number and it tells you if this book has been reported as stolen or whatever issues it may have. It would NOT identify the owner directly but would give you a method to pass a message through an intermediary system (CGC) which could pass this information or inquiry on to the original/current owner on the registry.

 

Doing it that way would allow someone who bought a bulk set of slabbed books to do a spot verification that these books were free and clear. It would be up to the current owner to keep their records up to date via the system. Seems like all the parts/database are built-- just need an interface to do the checking and process any communications.

[cheetah]

I've been out all day burning off some anxious energy. I'll give you my feeling on this when I get back home.

[cheetah]

I am thrilled the guy started listing them on eBay. I had been searching the site repeatedly looking for them. I am especially glad he listed Thunderbolts: Swimming with Sharks as I am likely the only person who ever bought this issue, much less slabbed it. If he had posted just Ultimate Spider-man, I doubt I would have found them.

 

As far as his intentions, he had the books at the police department within 45 minutes of being called by the cops. I believe he was suspect of the seller when the first loads of moderns show up but was convinced when the GA books showed up.

 

If it was me or most anyone on the boards, I expect we could have found the original owner in very little time but I realize not everyone who collects has much familiarity with the dealers and auction houses. Whether he was trying to recoup his $3000 investment or just doing what he did with everything he bought, it doesn't really matter to me. The books were returned immediately once he was contacted and everything I saw looked exactly like it did when it was safe with me. I am happy with the guy for being straight up and returning everything.

[cheetah]

I should add that I'm a proponent of trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I really don't know how this could have turned out any better so I'm not going to knit-pick the result looking for troubles. I got $100,000+ of books returned securely in three days. If that's not kicking , I don't know what is.

[kav]

Yes he could easily have kept a box and returned the rest claiming that was all he bought

[TheLiamSturgess]

Yes he could easily have kept a box and returned the rest claiming that was all he bought

 

Err, I think someone would have caught that at some point. Depending on the box, I imagine Cheetah would have kept looking for the fishy smell. (thumbs u

[kav]

Yep

[kav]

I forwarded this thread to a buddy of mine-he had this to say:

 

Sounds like the wrong group to steal from, organized and they know their stuff.

[Sardo Numspar]

Jeff, congrats on getting the books back. Great detective work!

[Cat-Man_America]

I should add that I'm a proponent of trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I really don't know how this could have turned out any better so I'm not going to knit-pick the result looking for troubles. I got $100,000+ of books returned securely in three days. If that's not kicking , I don't know what is.

 

Great attitude! (thumbs u

[Jaylam]

I should add that I'm a proponent of trying to make the best out of a bad situation. I really don't know how this could have turned out any better so I'm not going to knit-pick the result looking for troubles. I got $100,000+ of books returned securely in three days. If that's not kicking , I don't know what is.

 

Great attitude! (thumbs u

 

Yes, this is about as good of an outcome as you could have hoped for considering all the bad things that could have happened. Still, it's almost an insult that this guy went to the trouble to steal that many slabs and then tried to sell them for $3.00 a piece. If that doesn't scream stolen property to any potential buyers I don't know what does. Just think of what this could have done to the GPA if those $3.00 sales got reported. This could have caused a market collapse all by itself.

[nearmint]

But what about the chainsaw?

[Dthr33]

There is a website that people report stolen comics on. I periodically check ebay to see if any turn up. It maybe worth posting your list to the site if you have not already. Maybe list some unique damage to some of the older books uncase someone has removed from slab.

 

Good luck, that really sucks

 

OOPS just read you got back! gratz!

[cheetah]

But what about the chainsaw?

 

The perp is being questioned today. I believe the chain saw is tops on the list. Wings Comics #1 CGC 9.4 is somewhat further down.

[mrmitchgro]

But what about the chainsaw?

 

The perp is being questioned today. I believe the chain saw is tops on the list. Wings Comics #1 CGC 9.4 is somewhat further down.

 

Just noticed your custom title

[kav]

Criminals always make the most minimum of minimum wages-$3,000 for 10 years of his life in the hardest job possible. Prison laundry and butthurt.

[Timeless icons]

Unreal..

 

Would love to meet these types of people in a dark alley somewhere..

 

Hopefully you'll be taken care of by your insurance co. Would be nice to see you reclaim some of them at least.

[Sqeggs]

Unreal..

 

Would love to meet these types of people in a dark alley somewhere..

 

Hopefully you'll be taken care of by your insurance co. Would be nice to see you reclaim some of them at least.

 

He got the books back ... read the whole thread.