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The Nick Cage comic theft

Started by metropoliscomics,

139 posts in this topic

chromium

chromium

Posted
Posted
A very sad story to hear. frown.gif

 

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

 

I seem to remember a while back that they suspected a bodyguard or someone from his staff was involved confused-smiley-013.gif

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sckao

sckao

Posted
Posted
A very sad story to hear. frown.gif

 

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

 

I seem to remember a while back that they suspected a bodyguard or someone from his staff was involved confused-smiley-013.gif

 

That person was arraigned actually, I think. (They found other personal possessions with that person... but not the comics.)

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joker-fish

joker-fish

Posted
Posted
A very sad story to hear. frown.gif

 

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

 

uhhhhhh,how can these NOT be his best books?

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Ze-man

Ze-man

Posted
Posted
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

 

 

 

Wow, what a awful story to read about. That must have been one bad day when he walked into that room and did a double take... OMG.. my books!

 

Sorry Nick.. flowerred.gif

 

Stephen, you should have him offer a $50- $100,000 reward and amnesty to anyone who can lead him to the person(s) responsible and or the actual books themselves. Make a big media campaign about it and fore go privacy in an attempt to out the thief.

 

Money has a funny way of making people turn on each other. I cannot imagine the person responsible has not shown them to at least a few people. Perhaps not.

 

I think you were right in posting what you did. Best of luck in finding them. Now that you have the board's karma on your side(sorry for the Jim Rome reference).. who knows what will happen.

 

Ze-

 

 

Edit- I did not see the post you made where you are already offering money to those who could lead you in the right direction.

 

Doh

 

foreheadslap.gif

 

 

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metropoliscomics

metropoliscomics

Posted
  • Author
Posted
A very sad story to hear. frown.gif

 

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

 

I seem to remember a while back that they suspected a bodyguard or someone from his staff was involved confused-smiley-013.gif

 

That person was arraigned actually, I think. (They found other personal possessions with that person... but not the comics.)

 

You may be thinking of the person who was arrested for stealing his car that was found in a lake.

 

S

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sckao

sckao

Posted
Posted
A very sad story to hear. frown.gif

 

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

 

I seem to remember a while back that they suspected a bodyguard or someone from his staff was involved confused-smiley-013.gif

 

That person was arraigned actually, I think. (They found other personal possessions with that person... but not the comics.)

 

You may be thinking of the person who was arrested for stealing his car that was found in a lake.

 

S

 

This is public knowledge so I hope it doesn't hamper the return of the books.

 

From the NY Daily News in 2002:

 

NY DAILY NEWS...RUSH AND MOLLOY

 

Nicolas Cage is having a tough time keeping his hands on his property. First, his $100,000 Porsche gets stolen on Christmas Day (it was eventually found at the bottom of a lake in the Ozarks), and now Ralph Kelley, a former security

guard for Cage, stands accused of stealing $232,000 worth of items from the actor.

 

Kelley, who was arrested last month and is due back in court on May 24, allegedly made off with vintage comic books, several watches and bottles of expensive liquor.

 

Of the property stolen, only one watch and some liquor has been recovered, according to a spokesman for the LAPD.

 

"It's valued at about $60,000," he says. "The rest of the stuff is still out there."

 

Meanwhile, Cage keeps gobbling up real estate. The actor just bought a $2.7 million beachfront house in Marina del Rey. That's down the coast from Malibu, where he owns 400 acres. He's also picked up a 200-year-old house in New Orleans.

 

On the movie front, "Blackhawk Down" director Ridley Scott just cast Cage in "Matchstick Men." He'll play a con man with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose neatly arranged life unravels when he meets a daughter he never knew existed.

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comicdonna

comicdonna

Posted
Posted
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

Wow! My deepest condolences go out to Mr. Cage. I take it, that the third book is not the Marvel #71 To steal anything is very bad, but, to steal someone's most prized belongings is just plain evil of the worst kind. I can now understand, why he lost interest in comics. He should have involved the authorities, but, that's not an option now. I have seen these boards create miracles. I feel confident, that these books will show up in 2007 Being 6 years, since the theft, I'm sure that others must have seen the books. Who could keep these books, without telling or sharing with others? I think the anwser to finding them is in these boards. Thanks for sharing this information Steve.

 

Mike

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Aman619

Aman619

Posted
Posted

what a great story!. Thanx for sharing Steve. Guess Ill rush home and take MY prized comics off the walls of my house.

 

seriously. Im sure he has guards and alarms and all manner of security in the house, in a tightly guarded private residential community (Belair?). But, yaknow, who puts their Action 1 and Tec 27s ON THE FREAKIN WALLS?? I mean, really... Only an actor. sheeesh.

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action1kid

action1kid

Posted
Posted

Quote//,,,, They contacted the seller of the Marvel #71, a person living in CT,....

 

 

Does anyone here have a really good post memory?

Maybe a year ago I was in a friendly debate with a poster[i cannot remember who?]

Who thought that there were as many as 300 Action 1s in exsistence.He said that he personally knew of 6 copies in C.T alone to support his case.Maybe theres a lead in that statement ? It is on the boards somewhere if you look.

I am not saying the poster is involved ! But maybe he has a lead that can help in that he knows of 6 copies in CT. If you guys can find the post you will see thats what it says.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
Quote//,,,, They contacted the seller of the Marvel #71, a person living in CT,....

 

 

Does anyone here have a really good post memory?

Maybe a year ago I was in a friendly debate with a poster[i cannot remember who?]

Who thought that there were as many as 300 Action 1s in exsistence.He said that he personally knew of 6 copies in C.T alone to support his case.Maybe theres a lead in that statement ? It is on the boards somewhere if you look.

I am not saying the poster is involved ! But maybe he has a lead that can help in that he knows of 6 copies in CT. If you guys can find the post you will see thats what it says.

 

You could be right AK1 and i don't want to diminish your contribution in any way, but if I remember correctly (and I'm looking at it from an automotive point of view) I think there is a lot of money in CT. I'm sure that most copies of hi end books can be wittled down to a few geographical locations where the population is wealthy. How many copies would exist in California for example. Or New York? Heck we've seen about 12 FF #1's in hi grade come out of NYC alone in the past year.

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VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
Fantastic 4 #1s are not Action 1s.....There are not that many Action 1s.

6 Action 1s in CT? Its worth a shot.

 

I know. I was a bit tongue in cheek there, but you got my meaning. It is definately worth a serious shot. thumbsup2.gif

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