2 Stolen books. Fantastic Four #5 CGC 8.0/ Avengers #4 CGC 9.2

[blazingbob]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

[Foolkiller]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

[gregreece]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

[blazingbob]

My other concern is were there open aisles behind the wall books? I know that this type of setup caused problems at Reed NY because they were reaching through the curtains at Worldwide.

 

 

[october]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

 

While everything you say is certainly true, and frustrating, I console myself by thinking of how wretched my life would be if I was risking arrest/incarceration/a severe beatdown to steal a few grand worth of comics. It helps a little.

[VintageComics]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

 

Un. Be. Lievable.

[sckao]

My other concern is were there open aisles behind the wall books? I know that this type of setup caused problems at Reed NY because they were reaching through the curtains at Worldwide.

 

 

Looking at the Exhibitor map, I think a company called "Comics, Cards, and Collectibles (207)" was directly behind Greg's booth (306).

 

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/wizardworld/ohiofloormap.pdf

 

It's tough to man a 2-booth layout with three exposed sides.

 

 

 

 

[revat]

This is of extremely little consequence now, but I deal with this from time to time at my job.

 

You can put up a few signs that say "Shoplifters will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law" (whether they can be or not, you can have the sign). You can also have signs saying "this area is under video surveillance" You can even have put up a video camera that may or may not be real. I know that determined, intelligent thieves may not care, but if this minimal effort even deters one thief at any point, its worth it.

 

Some people I have worked with have had success with these low budget tactics.

[dupont2005]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

That's funny because if he had shoplifted a ten dollar flash drive from Office Depot they would have at least put him on probation.

[thehumantorch]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

 

It's a sad reflection on society when the police don't consider major theft worthy of their attention.

[Gotham Kid]

While everything you say is certainly true, and frustrating, I console myself by thinking of how wretched my life would be if I was risking arrest/incarceration/a severe beatdown to steal a few grand worth of comics. It helps a little.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't people charged an entry fee for Comic Conventions ?

 

If this guy is down on his luck, I find it curious he can still manage to pay an entry fee.

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

Sorry to hear this Greg.

 

Were you at the booth by yourself or had somebody helping you?

 

 

 

 

Greg was solo

 

Obviously that was a huge part of the problem although somewhat surprisingly, I wasn't overwhelmed at the time the theft occurred. To Doc Joe's point, I caught a guy red handed in NY ($2500 book) a few years ago. Got the book back but NYC declined to prosecute. When I asked on what grounds the response was " he has no ability to repay the debt". I said "what about some jail time ?". No luck. I know the system is overrun with rapists, murderers, drug dealers and the like but it's no wonder society continues to decay when we can't be bothered to prosecute dirtbags that would steal $3000+ items. Really no downside for them. Sickening.

 

But if you roughed the guy up you can bet they would probably push forward with some kind of charge. I would have a hard time not telling the cop to F-OFF and slam the phone in his ear.

[Silver Surfer]

While everything you say is certainly true, and frustrating, I console myself by thinking of how wretched my life would be if I was risking arrest/incarceration/a severe beatdown to steal a few grand worth of comics. It helps a little.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't people charged an entry fee for Comic Conventions ?

 

If this guy is down on his luck, I find it curious he can still manage to pay an entry fee.

 

Probably stole that too!

[nocutename]

That sucks and I hope you recover the books.

 

Has anyone ever displayed only high resolution scans of the slabs / wall books and storing the actual comics inside the booth. If a customer wants to see the actual slab you can pull the comic out. I personally like looking at wall books but maybe that would help with the shrinkage.

[brendanb438]

While everything you say is certainly true, and frustrating, I console myself by thinking of how wretched my life would be if I was risking arrest/incarceration/a severe beatdown to steal a few grand worth of comics. It helps a little.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't people charged an entry fee for Comic Conventions ?

 

If this guy is down on his luck, I find it curious he can still manage to pay an entry fee.

 

 

What makes you think the person is down on their luck? There are a lot of bastards out there who do this type of BS as a job. I dealt with it for 5 years while working security in retail. You will find organized rings of people who just travel around robbing stores blind as their source of income.

 

Sorry to hear that this is happening now at Comic Conventions, with what is being targeted and stolen it is probably a group of people doing it who steal for a living. If busted doing this in Ohio for what these books are worth most areas would look forwards to prosecuting anyone caught unlike NY.

[DJM77-migration]

 

 

Dealers who travel around the country selling expensive books really need to

insure their inventory.

 

 

[gregreece]

 

Dealers who travel around the country selling expensive books really need to

insure their inventory.

 

 

We do. Still want to catch the son of a person_without_enough_empathy!

[comicdonna]

 

Dealers who travel around the country selling expensive books really need to

insure their inventory.

 

 

We do. Still want to catch the son of a person_without_enough_empathy!

Here's hoping you do, Greg.

[dupont2005]

While everything you say is certainly true, and frustrating, I console myself by thinking of how wretched my life would be if I was risking arrest/incarceration/a severe beatdown to steal a few grand worth of comics. It helps a little.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't people charged an entry fee for Comic Conventions ?

 

If this guy is down on his luck, I find it curious he can still manage to pay an entry fee.

 

 

What makes you think the person is down on their luck? There are a lot of bastards out there who do this type of BS as a job. I dealt with it for 5 years while working security in retail. You will find organized rings of people who just travel around robbing stores blind as their source of income.

 

Sorry to hear that this is happening now at Comic Conventions, with what is being targeted and stolen it is probably a group of people doing it who steal for a living. If busted doing this in Ohio for what these books are worth most areas would look forwards to prosecuting anyone caught unlike NY.

Yeah I think it's pros. I think it's the same group at every con too. I bet it's the guys who got caught and released in New York. They probably aren't making amateur mistakes like asking suspicious questions to retailers, they are sent in knowing what they want to get. They probably have a fence who cracks and sells them offline. They'll have to be caught red handed at a con in order to bust them.

[TvComics]

Greg - sorry to hear this! We were setup back to back a few years ago at NYCC and it was a pleasure meeting you and your wife. While I do only a few shows a year, I do have a few suggestions for the community at large:

 

1) TARP - to help protect against reach ins from behind my wall (either directly behind or from the side aisle) I typically use the heavy blue tarps and zip tie them to the back side of my wall setups. This provides a deterrent to anyone who would seek to remove book(s) from my back displays by going behind the display or reaching in from the side aisle. A word of caution - always setup the Tarp before putting any books on the wall as accidents can happen........

 

2) ACCESS - I only let a select few people "into" my booth. While this limits my selling sq ft somewhat, I do not want folks getting too close to the wall. Like many dealers, a very large % of my overall comic value sits proudly on the wall - I feel that I need to protect access to it.

 

Nothing earth shattering above but sometimes the little things matter and can help...

 

Again, best of luck getting your books back