The Nick Cage comic theft

[metropoliscomics]

In 2000, Nicolas Cage called me, slightly frantic and quite upset that 3 comic books had been stolen from his house in Los Angeles. I asked him if the police had been contacted and he informed me that they had not. I immediately placed a call to the L.A. police who arrived on the scene within 20 minutes.

 

Here are the facts:

3 books- A VF Action Comics #1 (unrestored), a VF Detective #27 (unrestored except for a tiny sealed tear on the back cover/sold in the 1992 Sotheby's auction) and a 3rd book that I will not disclose for the time being, were missing. These books had been placed in high security frames on a wall. Those frames were now empty. However, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint exactly when the potential theft occurred. Mr. Cage had a party at his house the week before. It could have happened then. It is also possible that it had could have happened prior to the party. There was no way to know for sure.

 

A number of household employees were interviewed about the theft. Unfortunately, nothing of substance had come from those interviews.

 

Several weeks later, I spent a number of hours combing through the house in the hope that the books were somehow still in the house. Misplaced? Hidden by a thief in an out of the way location with the notion of retrieving them at a later date. I came up empty. The books had fallen off the face of the earth.

 

In, 2000, I had spent considerable time quietly contacting comic book stores in the L.A. area in the hope that the books would be sold for some quick cash. Several days after the initial report of the theft, a store owner in the L.A. area informed me that he had recently received a phone call requesting pricing information for Action #1 and Detective #27. I was very hopeful that this tip would lead to a potential recovery of the stolen books but unfortunately, the store owner received no further phone calls. However, I was not discouraged in that I knew that the books were out there – somewhere.

 

Several months later, there was a another break. On ebay, I spotted an auction for the D copy of Marvel Mystery #71 in a CGC holder. The same Marvel #71 that I had sold to Cage two years earlier. I contacted Nick abouthe book but unfortunately he was out of the country at the time. I emailed the ebay seller with questions regarding the book but received no response. One week later, I found out that a good friend of mine had purchased the Marvel #71 from the seller on ebay. That transaction had been done in person and was completed in cash. Thankfully, I was able to secure the name and address of the ebay seller. Left a phone message for the seller and again,did not receive a response.

 

And indeed, it turned out that Nick's Marvel #71 was missing. With the Action #1 and Detective #27 in the spotlight, the fact that the Marvel #71 was missing had just been overlooked. Why someone would also take the #71 is anybody's guess.

 

I handed over the information to Nick's people who assured me that they would take it from there. To be honest, I feel they dropped the ball. For some reason, they did not want to get the police involved. They contacted the seller of the Marvel #71, a person living in CT, and received a legal letter in return claiming harassment. Because they could not connect the person in CT to a person who had access to Nick's house, they just seemed to let the matter drop. It was infuriating for me to watch all this transpire, but at the end of the day it was not my book and it was not my investigation.

 

The loss of the books was upsetting to Nicolas Cage. Extremely upsetting. And it was something that he has never gotten over.

 

It was my opinion that the person who sold the Marvel #71 had information about the Action #1 and Detective #27. If I had any doubt about this, that doubt ended when I found out the following: The seller of the Marvel #71, the same person who submitted the book to CGC, the same person whom I had contacted with "questions", apparently franticly contacted CGC, asking questions about their confidentiality policies. Fearful that they would release his name to "outside parties". This occurred shortly after I had had left my first message with CT ebay seller.

 

I had not released the information earlier in the hope that these books would "somehow" find their way back on to the comic book market. A thief, unaware that the books had been reported stolen might try to sell them looking for a quick payday. I am now taking a different tactic in the hopes that someone out there "knows something."

 

If someone reading this thread feels that they have information regarding these stolen books, I ask you that you PM me. Do not post that information. All tips will be kept completely

confidential.

 

Stephen

[ronm3-migration]

Being that the guy with the Marvel 71 lives in Connecticut and considering the people Nic Cage deal with are not common street thugs I would take a closer look at dealers around the country rather than local. If they have any intelligence selling high end books local would get them caught immediately. They would probably try the East coast or overseas.

[metropoliscomics]

Being that the guy with the Marvel 71 lives in Connecticut and considering the people Nic Cage are not common street thugs I would take a closer look at delaers around the country rather than local. If they have any intelligence selling high end books local would get them caught immediately. They would probably try the East coast or overseas.

 

Agreed. The original focus was the L.A. area. Right now, the books could be anywhere.

 

S

[ronm3-migration]

Being that the guy with the Marvel 71 lives in Connecticut and considering the people Nic Cage are not common street thugs I would take a closer look at delaers around the country rather than local. If they have any intelligence selling high end books local would get them caught immediately. They would probably try the East coast or overseas.

 

Agreed. The original focus was the L.A. area. Right now, the books could be anywhere.

 

S

 

I think greed is a huge problem as well. There are some people that will find a way to keep these books and will just sit on them.

[KingOfRulers]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

[metropoliscomics]

Being that the guy with the Marvel 71 lives in Connecticut and considering the people Nic Cage are not common street thugs I would take a closer look at delaers around the country rather than local. If they have any intelligence selling high end books local would get them caught immediately. They would probably try the East coast or overseas.

 

Agreed. The original focus was the L.A. area. Right now, the books could be anywhere.

 

S

 

I think greed is a huge problem as well. There are some people that will find a way to keep these books and will just sit on them.

 

I should add that the books will be taken back on a no questions asked basis and a reward will be offered to parties not involved in the original theft. Otherwise, the guilty party might as well keep the books buried until the end of time (which at the end of the day may be possible.)

 

Stephen

[qualitycomix]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

It's the same with any major painting theft. It can never be sold publicly unless the seller is anonymous somehow.

[DeeDee-migration]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

That would seem to suggest that either a) the theif didn't know enough about comics to forsee the difficulty of the sale; or b) the theif was hired to steal the books for a particular collector. But of course, thats all pure speculation on my part.

[Silver Surfer]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

Unfortunantely if the books have since resold they probably would have been slightly altered before hittting the market again so as to avoid detection. Sad, but most likely the case.

[metropoliscomics]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

Unfortunantely if the books have since resold they probably would have been slightly altered before hittting the market again so as to avoid detection. Sad, but most likely the case.

 

That is something I have thought of.

 

S

[Silver Surfer]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

Unfortunantely if the books have since resold they probably would have been slightly altered before hittting the market again so as to avoid detection. Sad, but most likely the case.

 

That is something I have thought of.

 

S

 

Are there any writing or marks on the inner pages that would identify this book?

[KingOfRulers]

It seems to me like the Action #1 and Tec' #27 would be the worst books to steal, because they will never be sold on any public venue without catching the attention of the entire hobby.

 

Unfortunantely if the books have since resold they probably would have been slightly altered before hittting the market again so as to avoid detection. Sad, but most likely the case.

 

Even if altered slightly, it is high profile enough and in low enough quantities that it could most likely be identified by the original owner. I think the book would have to be altered significantly to not be recognized.

[Silver Surfer]

Not really if it was done a few years after it was stolen. Bring the book down from a VF to a Fine and the guy still makes out like a bandit. Sure it would get a lot of attention but it would be hard to say that this was Cage's VF copy if it was free of any distinctive marks prior to being pinched.

[carcrawfordfan]

I am sure in the last 6 years the books have been sold. I would also assume Cage didn't want the police involved because he didn't want to have it all over the news. You would think a guy like that could have some one go to CT and "rough-up" this guy with the Marvel 71 and get to the bottom of things a long time ago. Maybe this whole saga will be on CSI next year.

[topofthetotem]

Not really if it was done a few years after it was stolen. Bring the book down from a VF to a Fine and the guy still makes out like a bandit. Sure it would get a lot of attention but it would be hard to say that this was Cage's VF copy if it was free of any distinctive marks prior to being pinched.

Greed would would make this unthinkable. What the price diffrence between a VF Action # 1 or Tec #27 and fine copies a few hundred thousand?

[metropoliscomics]

I am sure in the last 6 years the books have been sold. I would also assume Cage didn't want the police involved because he didn't want to have it all over the news. You would think a guy like that could have some one go to CT and "rough-up" this guy with the Marvel 71 and get to the bottom of things a long time ago. Maybe this whole saga will be on CSI next year.

 

It is my belief that the books have not been sold.

 

S

[ArAich]

I would also assume Cage didn't want the police involved because he didn't want to have it all over the news. You would think a guy like that could have some one go to CT and "rough-up" this guy

 

 

So that's why Lisa Marie kicked me in the nuts a few years ago....

[Monstro]

are ther any high quality scans of the cage books prior to the theft so there would be something to compare to if they showed up?

[skybolt]

A very sad story to hear.

 

So Stephen do you believe that this is one of the main reasons why Nic Cage left the hobby? I know if my best books were stolen, I'd probably feel the same way.

[metropoliscomics]

A very sad story to hear.

 

So Stephen do you believe that this is one of the main reasons why Nic Cage left the hobby? I know if my best books were stolen, I'd probably feel the same way.

 

This very much deflated his balloon. And these were his 2 best books.

 

S