Switch Theme:

A Vain hope: In 1999, I had 10,000 miniatures stolen. Looking for any clues as to their whereabouts  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in no
Tail-spinning Tomb Blade Pilot






 KaptinBadrukk wrote:
Hey,
Your chance of retreiving your minis is near zero, if not at zero. You said your wife sold them to some random guy so she could buy crack. Those minis are long gone. I estimate that the chance of ever retreiving them is 0.00000000000000000000000047%.


I disagree. If they were not destroyed or thrown away; then they exist in some gamers collection today.

In fact, he says he managed to track down a genie-model from ebay, and that shows that these models were not thrown away, but broken up and is in ownership and not landfills.


As long as it is in the possession of some hobbyist, then it can also be found. Getting pictures from catalogues/magazine and whatever else exists should be the first step to create a "wanted" poster.

16 years is not THAT long in a miniature gamers shelf life. And I mean that.

Make a proper picture based wanted poster and keep posting it once every second month. You might get lucky.

Let the galaxy burn. 
   
Made in us
Twisted Trueborn with Blaster





BeAfraid wrote:
[quote=niv-mizzet 631790 7517196 null. Also in the collection was a library worth about $150,000. It included one of eight copies of Daniel Webster's 16th or 17th Century Manuscript on Hunting Witches. That hasn't turned up either)


I actually feel like this is your best avenue to start searching. I've known many people over the years who dealt in rare books or worked in preservation of rare books. If there's a missing copy of such a rare manuscript floating around, chances are there'd be some interest or rumors buzzing around the rare book market. There are rare book dealers who specialize in tracking down missing books. Finding somebody like that to help track down the book might help you establish the book's trail from your ex-wife to its current owner. From there you could try to branch off the trail to find out when, and how, the models were separated from it.

And yeah, it is a daunting prospect finding them after 16 years, and yeah, it's possible they're gone forever, but the historian in me also has to point out that King Tut's tomb was buried in the sand for over 3000 years before Howard Carter discovered it. After 16 years, there's definitely still some hope.

"But If the Earth isn't flat, then how did Jabba chakka wookiee no Solo ho ho ho hoooooooo?" 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





AnFéasógMór wrote:
BeAfraid wrote:
[quote=niv-mizzet 631790 7517196 null. Also in the collection was a library worth about $150,000. It included one of eight copies of Daniel Webster's 16th or 17th Century Manuscript on Hunting Witches. That hasn't turned up either)


I actually feel like this is your best avenue to start searching. I've known many people over the years who dealt in rare books or worked in preservation of rare books. If there's a missing copy of such a rare manuscript floating around, chances are there'd be some interest or rumors buzzing around the rare book market. There are rare book dealers who specialize in tracking down missing books. Finding somebody like that to help track down the book might help you establish the book's trail from your ex-wife to its current owner. From there you could try to branch off the trail to find out when, and how, the models were separated from it.

And yeah, it is a daunting prospect finding them after 16 years, and yeah, it's possible they're gone forever, but the historian in me also has to point out that King Tut's tomb was buried in the sand for over 3000 years before Howard Carter discovered it. After 16 years, there's definitely still some hope.


The work turns out to be John Webster.... It had been a while since I looked through my notes about the cataloging of the various items that would stand out.

It was a draft manuscript for On the Displaying of a Witch, but contained copies from the pages of More's and Glanville's Saducismus Triumphantus, and a smattering of the Malleus Mallificarum, and it was dated around 1630 (various portions were dated prior and post that date).

And every auction house in the USA that would accept it has it on file as being a work to look out for.

My losing the book cost me a lot more than just the book. It also cost me the connections I had which allowed me to purchase the book to begin with, as well as dealers refusing to sell other works to me.... Not that I can afford many now, but one refused to sell me a signed copy of a first printing of Edward Gorey's The Vinegar Works (his most famous faux children's books)...

Now.... I have not been able to track down and contact every rare book dealer in the USA, but that might not be such a bad idea, given that Webster's book was not the only thing of significant value to be lost (Signed copies of all of HR Giger's portfolios, and original, one of a kind, artwork of Giger's in one of them - it was just a quick sketch he did for me when I had him sign the books).... So....

Maybe tracking down the rare book dealers in each state might not be such a bad idea, because there are probably no more than a dozen in each state.

And they might be more willing to work with me to contact the source of any of the books than was the storage company in providing any leads (I doubt they would just hand over contact information, but I would bet they would at least contact the source, or seller, and let them know that I was offering a reward for information).

Thanks.... Helpful tips.

MB
   
Made in fr
Frightnening Fiend of Slaanesh





Maybe the Oldhammer community could help? The items you listed are typically the kind of things they're always on the lookout for, and some of them have connections with people who were working in the industry back then.

People like the owners of the "Realms of Chaos 80s" and "Eldritch Epistle" blogs.

Don't know if that helps. In any case, best of luck in your search.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I did not even know that a thing called "Oldhammer" existed.

MB
   
Made in us
Airborne Infiltrating Tomcat






good luck finding man

'There is no spoon " 
   
Made in th
Regular Dakkanaut





Can you tell us you and your ex age in 1999?

This way, sombody might remember that ....oh a 25 year oldish lady walked into a hobby shop will 10,000 minis for sale cheap back in1999. You would be surprise that a small description can spark a 40 year old man memory.

Her description of 1999 uniqueness might help a lot.

Ignore the negative comment here guy, it cost you 5 mins to type and you have a lottery chance vs. no chance at all.

I hope you get lucky and people in similarly situation have been lucky. Why not you!

KMFDM 
   
Made in se
Executing Exarch






Definitely try the Oldhammer community, they seem like a pretty tight-knit, insular group with the connections and interest to help you. Start with it's "founder" Orlygg of Realms of Chaos 80s. If he writes a blog post about it, it'll get attention in the community.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/28 10:54:19


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Let's see... I was about 36 in 1999 (but still looked like I was in my 20's), and my wife was in her late 20's.

Something that occurred to me was that I might be able to reproduce the paint jobs on a few of them, either IRL, or using a Photoshop composite, to give people an idea of what to look out for.

Some of the minis I had (the old Ral Partha stuff, particularly) is easy to come by on eBay, or from Ral Partha Europe.

The Citadel stuff, though, would need to be composited from images of the older products. But I do have the software with which to do it.

And, thanks for the tip about the Oldhammer group.

I'll try there.
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut





Germany

Good Luck with that, mate. I hope you can rediscover at least some of the loot.

Waaagh an' a 'alf
1500 Pts WIP 
   
Made in gb
Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps





Warwickscire

BeAfraid wrote:
I did not even know that a thing called "Oldhammer" existed.

MB


Here we are bud: http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/

Chances are that if they have been put up for sale, the lads over here may have come across a piece of two
   
Made in us
Ancient Ultramarine Venerable Dreadnought






Illinois

david choe wrote:
Can you tell us you and your ex age in 1999?

This way, sombody might remember that ....oh a 25 year oldish lady walked into a hobby shop will 10,000 minis for sale cheap back in1999. You would be surprise that a small description can spark a 40 year old man memory.

Her description of 1999 uniqueness might help a lot.

Ignore the negative comment here guy, it cost you 5 mins to type and you have a lottery chance vs. no chance at all.

I hope you get lucky and people in similarly situation have been lucky. Why not you!

hey, that's a great idea. Do it!!!!

INSANE army lists still available!!!! Now being written in 8th edition format! I have Index Imperium 1, Index Imperium 2, Index Xenos 2, Codex Orks Codex Tyranids, Codex Blood Angels and Codex Space Marines!
PM me for an INSANE (100K+ points) if you desire.
 
   
Made in th
Regular Dakkanaut





Just to add....
When a criminal steel something....the police look for the goods and the criminal. They get both description.

You keep telling us about athe missing items, but not the ex wife. I understand this might be a bad subject to talk about, but If you can give us her name and last name, her description, etc... It would be much eaiser to solve this case.

Tracking your ex is much easier to find than the minis. You find the ex, you get the leads to find the minis.

This is your best path.

KMFDM 
   
Made in us
Innocent SDF-1 Bridge Bunny






The moral of this story is that even rich people shouldn't get involved with crack whores!

There has got to be more to this story. With the dollar amounts tied to this whole mess we're talking felonies and police involvement.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





david choe wrote:
Just to add....
When a criminal steel something....the police look for the goods and the criminal. They get both description.

You keep telling us about athe missing items, but not the ex wife. I understand this might be a bad subject to talk about, but If you can give us her name and last name, her description, etc... It would be much eaiser to solve this case.

Tracking your ex is much easier to find than the minis. You find the ex, you get the leads to find the minis.

This is your best path.


She is dead.

Her name was Candice Carrie (Bailey)

But she was 5'3", and about 110#


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Swabby wrote:
The moral of this story is that even rich people shouldn't get involved with crack whores!

There has got to be more to this story. With the dollar amounts tied to this whole mess we're talking felonies and police involvement.


There was a LOT of police involvement, and they were less than helpful due to my wife disappearing shortly after this happened, when they were more enthusiastic about trying to claim that I killed her (not that the thought didn't cross my mind, but due to the fact I could barely walk, they had a hard time making any sort of case).

It sucks to be in a netherworld where the police don't care.

MB

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/30 04:04:57


 
   
Made in th
Regular Dakkanaut





Ok...
So she stole your stuff.
Then she die soon after your minis went missing.

How long of a time fram from the time she took your minis and her death?

What city she die in?

What city were the minis at before they were stolen?

these are important clues that you need to give us.

Example: July 1999 your minis went missing in Dallas, TX
Your wife die in October 1999 in Houston , Tx.

Chances are your minis were sold around texas area in 1999. Most likely in Dallas or Houston hobby shop might have bought them in 1999

You know what I mean.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/30 07:34:50


KMFDM 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





david choe wrote:
Ok...
So she stole your stuff.
Then she die soon after your minis went missing.

How long of a time fram from the time she took your minis and her death?

What city she die in?

What city were the minis at before they were stolen?

This are importantly clues that you need to give us.

Example: July 1999 your minis went missing in Dallas, TX
Your wife die in October 1999 in Houston , Tx.

Chances are your minis were sold around texas area in 1999. Most likely in Dallas or Houston hobby shop might have bought them in 1999

You know what I mean.


The original post contains some of that information.

They went missing in May of 1999, when she sold the contents of a storage room that had pretty much the sum total of my existence. This was in San Francisco, as I mentioned in the original post.

She was declared dead in 2005, but had been missing since early/mid-2000 (no body has ever been found, at least not to my knowledge, but I doubt her family would tell me if she was found - alive or dead).

I was in the Hospital for most of that period, so I was not even aware that anything was amiss until around Sept./Oct. or 1999, only a few months before she went missing (which was also the last time. I had contact with her, when her "boyfriend/crack dealer" was arrested, and the police dumped her in the streets). I am simultaneously happy that she suffered and sad that she did, and that she died (but relieved at the same time - she was not a happy person).

I have gotten a few leads that could provide some information (in terms of what to track down, or who to contact).

But so far, only one miniature has turned up.

MB
   
Made in th
Regular Dakkanaut





BeAfraid wrote:
david choe wrote:
Ok...
So she stole your stuff.
Then she die soon after your minis went missing.

How long of a time fram from the time she took your minis and her death?

What city she die in?

What city were the minis at before they were stolen?

This are importantly clues that you need to give us.

Example: July 1999 your minis went missing in Dallas, TX
Your wife die in October 1999 in Houston , Tx.

Chances are your minis were sold around texas area in 1999. Most likely in Dallas or Houston hobby shop might have bought them in 1999

You know what I mean.


The original post contains some of that information.

They went missing in May of 1999, when she sold the contents of a storage room that had pretty much the sum total of my existence. This was in San Francisco, as I mentioned in the original post.

She was declared dead in 2005, but had been missing since early/mid-2000 (no body has ever been found, at least not to my knowledge, but I doubt her family would tell me if she was found - alive or dead).

I was in the Hospital for most of that period, so I was not even aware that anything was amiss until around Sept./Oct. or 1999, only a few months before she went missing (which was also the last time. I had contact with her, when her "boyfriend/crack dealer" was arrested, and the police dumped her in the streets). I am simultaneously happy that she suffered and sad that she did, and that she died (but relieved at the same time - she was not a happy person).

I have gotten a few leads that could provide some information (in terms of what to track down, or who to contact).

But so far, only one miniature has turned up.

MB


Have you contact the storage and the buyer of the auction?
Have you cold call all the hobby shop in SF area and talk about 1999 incident?

Chances were your minis were sold to hobby shop areound 1999 in SF area.

I doubt your ex would sell by eBay because it would take too much effort and time. Same goes for the guy who bought the auctioned storage.

KMFDM 
   
Made in no
Choirboy



Oslo, Norway

Sorry about the whole ordeal.

Some ideas for pursuing this with the caveat that I'm from Norway, and my experience with storage lockers are a few episodes of Storage Wars on Discovery Channel...

The storage facility might have records of the buyer if the sale of the locker went through them, or even if she sold it privately.
Police report might contain information about buyer. Have no clue if you in California have any right to see that though.
Buyer is most likely someone who does this as a business, and then resell the various parts of the lot to make a profit. There might be ways to find out who does this. Possibly storage facility might have some list of potential buyers when they are selling out contents of forfeited lockers.
These buyers might take the trouble of sell of miniatures on ebay or such, but a good chance given how niche our hobby is they might have sold it off to someone who knows the market better. This might be game stores and others that sell second hand miniatures.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





david choe wrote:
BeAfraid wrote:
david choe wrote:
Ok...
So she stole your stuff.
Then she die soon after your minis went missing.

How long of a time fram from the time she took your minis and her death?

What city she die in?

What city were the minis at before they were stolen?

This are importantly clues that you need to give us.

Example: July 1999 your minis went missing in Dallas, TX
Your wife die in October 1999 in Houston , Tx.

Chances are your minis were sold around texas area in 1999. Most likely in Dallas or Houston hobby shop might have bought them in 1999

You know what I mean.


The original post contains some of that information.

They went missing in May of 1999, when she sold the contents of a storage room that had pretty much the sum total of my existence. This was in San Francisco, as I mentioned in the original post.

She was declared dead in 2005, but had been missing since early/mid-2000 (no body has ever been found, at least not to my knowledge, but I doubt her family would tell me if she was found - alive or dead).

I was in the Hospital for most of that period, so I was not even aware that anything was amiss until around Sept./Oct. or 1999, only a few months before she went missing (which was also the last time. I had contact with her, when her "boyfriend/crack dealer" was arrested, and the police dumped her in the streets). I am simultaneously happy that she suffered and sad that she did, and that she died (but relieved at the same time - she was not a happy person).

I have gotten a few leads that could provide some information (in terms of what to track down, or who to contact).

But so far, only one miniature has turned up.

MB


Have you contact the storage and the buyer of the auction?
Have you cold call all the hobby shop in SF area and talk about 1999 incident?

Chances were your minis were sold to hobby shop areound 1999 in SF area.

I doubt your ex would sell by eBay because it would take too much effort and time. Same goes for the guy who bought the auctioned storage.


As was mentioned earlier in the thread, the storage company will not reveal the names of any buyers that work with them without a warrant, and the police were less than helpful with that at the time (they were busy trying to prove that I killed her).

But there is a chance that I might be able to get one at this point, if I can get the SFPD to reopen the case.

And... I am friends with the manager of pretty much the only Hobby Shop in the Bay Area at the time... He said nothing came through them.

There were other items that would be vastly easier to track, which it might stand a better chance of looking for private buyers who could afford such things (I had some 17th century manuscripts from Anglican and Puritan Witch Hunters in the Americas and Britain). The various auction houses that trade in such things would have notified me if one of the items came up for sale.

But someone earlier recommended that I might be able to track down all of the rare book sellers in the Western USA, or many even the entire USA, since there would be at most a few dozen per state who would deal in things like that.

But thanks for the suggestions.

MB
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





TN/AL/MS state line.

A lot of these questions being asked could be answered by reading earlier posts. This thread is only 3 pages.
We're people selling a lot of minis on eBay in 1999?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/30 13:18:53


Black Bases and Grey Plastic Forever:My quaint little hobby blog.

40k- The Kumunga Swarm (more)
Count Mortimer’s Private Security Force/Excavation Team (building)
Kabal of the Grieving Widow (less)

Plus other games- miniature and cardboard both. 
   
Made in us
Innocent SDF-1 Bridge Bunny






Ebay was still really young at that point. I doubt ebay was the point of sale.

What else was in the storage shed? What was the most obvious valuable item in it? She sold the whole shed right? Maybe the person who bought it did not even care about the miniatures.

You said it sold for a certain amount, where did that info come from?
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka



Chicago, Illinois

If you weren't divorced when the Auction sale happened then you've probably got some sort of rights to know the information of it's sale.

You should contact a lawyer they'll explain it better but that whole " You need a warrant to get those records"

That's complete bs.

So yeah, contact a lawyer.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/01/30 14:41:42


If I lose it is because I had bad luck, if you win it is because you cheated. 
   
Made in us
Innocent SDF-1 Bridge Bunny






Who was paying for the storage shed?
   
Made in us
Furious Fire Dragon





Chicago

Sorry about the whole ordeal MB.

One thing that occurred to me and hasn't been mentioned is that if you do create some 2D reproductions in photoshop or IRL, you could try to see what Google Image Search comes up with. I haven't had much luck with that technology, but if someone posted an image on the web and it's a super rare model... anyway, you never know.

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





 Swabby wrote:
Ebay was still really young at that point. I doubt ebay was the point of sale.

What else was in the storage shed? What was the most obvious valuable item in it? She sold the whole shed right? Maybe the person who bought it did not even care about the miniatures.

You said it sold for a certain amount, where did that info come from?


The last time I talked to her, when she confessed to everything, she told me what she got for it.

I do worry that the miniatures were casualties, but at least one turned up on eBay.

But it was one that was among some particularly well-done works that were in a carrying case, and thus would automatically have "seemed" more valuable just because of that.... At least given the perceptions I have seen with people reacting to them.

MB


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hollismason wrote:
If you weren't divorced when the Auction sale happened then you've probably got some sort of rights to know the information of it's sale.

You should contact a lawyer they'll explain it better but that whole " You need a warrant to get those records"

That's complete bs.

So yeah, contact a lawyer.


My own suspicion is that their refusal to give out any information unless I obtain a warrant is BS. But without a Lawyer... Or the cops pushing for a warrant, what am I supposed to do.

I tried to get a lawyer in the 01 - 03, but the Statute of Limitations expired on any criminal or civil charges since then.... And I don't exactly have the money to pay a Lawyer who works for fee (as they usually charge about $500 - $2,000 per hour, and want ten hours up front).

This is one of those situations where having money allows a person access to Justice, while those without it are just kind of screwed.

It is so frustrating that sometimes I wake up grinding me teeth with my fists clenched yelling about her, and the stupid morons where the storage unit was who allowed this to occur.

And I feel stupid as hell for not doing more to protect myself the SECOND I discovered she was smoking crack. Having seen what it does to people in the 80's/90's, I was a fool for not just throwing her out into the streets the second I found out... At least in hindsight. When you care about someone, your thinking becomes compromised.

MB


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Swabby wrote:
Who was paying for the storage shed?


Technically we both were.

She did have a few things in there as well.

This is a lesson for marrying outside of one's social-economic-status.

The whole relationship was messed-up to begin with, and she was so very obviously a Gold-Digger. Yet I was in a place where I had just had my best friend drop dead in front of me, and a girlfriend commit suicide when I met her.... And she certainly took advantage of my vulnerability...

I still feel like a complete moron for being so taken in.

MB

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/30 21:31:30


 
   
Made in us
Rogue Daemonhunter fueled by Chaos






Toledo, OH

BeAfraid wrote:


I tried to get a lawyer in the 01 - 03, but the Statute of Limitations expired on any criminal or civil charges since then.... And I don't exactly have the money to pay a Lawyer who works for fee (as they usually charge about $500 - $2,000 per hour, and want ten hours up front).

This is one of those situations where having money allows a person access to Justice, while those without it are just kind of screwed.



No, this isn't one of those situations. You had a really lousy thing happen to you, in one of the worst ways, but how much money you have isn't why you aren't getting "access to justice."

First off, I'm a licensed attorney, but I do not practice law. I am not your lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice, on this, or any other matter. My comments are speculative and meant to apply in general.

Second off: there are several reasons nobody is in any hurry to help you. One is that while in your mind, your property was stolen, the reality is that your wife sold property, at least some of it likely marital property, legally. To even show that theft occurred, you'd have to show that the property in question was yours prior to the marriage, and never intended to become marital property. Two: for such a large and valuable collection, you really seem to have no evidence that you owned it. No pictures, no insurance filings, not even a comprehensive inventory posted online from the time. Three: even if you could show that you owned the property, and that it was not marital property, and that it was in fact stolen... I woudl imaging that the statues of limitations have long since run. What that means is that even if you find out that a hobby store down the block has the entire collection in their basement, and they knew they were buying stolen goods... you can't recover. There is no recourse.

Third: $500-2000 an hour? You can hire a patent attorney for about $250/hr, and general lawyers bill way less than that. I'm guessing you got the crank case pricing, which is where a lawyer knows there isn't a case, but the client wont' really accept that, and so the lawyer tosses out a really high number.

   
Made in us
Innocent SDF-1 Bridge Bunny






Beafraid, my own story doesn't even compare, but I had a similar situation, with far less financial involvement, where I lost everything.

I used to be a professional artist myself, working on quite a few commercial products. I was away and my portfolio and about 15 years of work all went up in smoke because my wife at the time decided that she was done with the relationship and wanted out.

That event stunted me so badly that to this day I have not actually drawn a single sketch of anything. The desire just up and died in me.

While the financial value of a loss like yours is staggering, I understand that the emotional destruction caused by an event like this is the real damage. I feel for you dude, probably more than I could possible explain here.

I wish we could make it right man. I'm not sure that we can in the way that you need.
   
Made in in
[MOD]
Otiose in a Niche






Hyderabad, India

Um just a reminder to everyone as we get into true confessions mode do keep in mind this is the internet, and you might want to be a bit more coy about sharing so much personal information.

Cheers.

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





 Polonius wrote:
BeAfraid wrote:


I tried to get a lawyer in the 01 - 03, but the Statute of Limitations expired on any criminal or civil charges since then.... And I don't exactly have the money to pay a Lawyer who works for fee (as they usually charge about $500 - $2,000 per hour, and want ten hours up front).

This is one of those situations where having money allows a person access to Justice, while those without it are just kind of screwed.



No, this isn't one of those situations. You had a really lousy thing happen to you, in one of the worst ways, but how much money you have isn't why you aren't getting "access to justice."

First off, I'm a licensed attorney, but I do not practice law. I am not your lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice, on this, or any other matter. My comments are speculative and meant to apply in general.

Second off: there are several reasons nobody is in any hurry to help you. One is that while in your mind, your property was stolen, the reality is that your wife sold property, at least some of it likely marital property, legally. To even show that theft occurred, you'd have to show that the property in question was yours prior to the marriage, and never intended to become marital property. Two: for such a large and valuable collection, you really seem to have no evidence that you owned it. No pictures, no insurance filings, not even a comprehensive inventory posted online from the time. Three: even if you could show that you owned the property, and that it was not marital property, and that it was in fact stolen... I woudl imaging that the statues of limitations have long since run. What that means is that even if you find out that a hobby store down the block has the entire collection in their basement, and they knew they were buying stolen goods... you can't recover. There is no recourse.

Third: $500-2000 an hour? You can hire a patent attorney for about $250/hr, and general lawyers bill way less than that. I'm guessing you got the crank case pricing, which is where a lawyer knows there isn't a case, but the client wont' really accept that, and so the lawyer tosses out a really high number.



If you read the entire thread (and my last post - re:statues of limitations) you would know that I am no trying to recover the collection, just determine what happened to it, and then MAYBE negotiate for the return (buy back) the few pieces to which I was most attached.

Nearly my entire family are lawyers, so I am very well acquainted with the law surrounding what happened, and how I am pretty screwed by the situation.

But, to even discover what happened to the miniatures requires resources that are beyond me at the moment.

As for pricing, I have had Lawyers on retainer before, and their prices tended to be roughly equivalent to the stated prices.

Plus, searching in California, all of the websites list that price range for pretty much everything, except in cases where they are working on a percentage of a settlement, which this isn't.

I do have some documentation showing ownership of some of the miniatures from the companies from which I purchased the rights.

But that does little good for anything except possibly producing those miniatures again in the future if I could somehow create new molds.

As for their being no photos... Most people don't seem to realize that prior to the advent of the cheap digital camera, people who collected miniatures didn't compulsively take photos of their miniatures.

For one, they were not that valuable until the 00's.

Pretty much everything you have mentioned, I had already mentioned earlier in the thread, so it isn't new information.

As I said.... I am just trying to find out if they wound up in a good home, or if they wound up being destroyed at this point.

MB




Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Swabby wrote:
Beafraid, my own story doesn't even compare, but I had a similar situation, with far less financial involvement, where I lost everything.

I used to be a professional artist myself, working on quite a few commercial products. I was away and my portfolio and about 15 years of work all went up in smoke because my wife at the time decided that she was done with the relationship and wanted out.

That event stunted me so badly that to this day I have not actually drawn a single sketch of anything. The desire just up and died in me.

While the financial value of a loss like yours is staggering, I understand that the emotional destruction caused by an event like this is the real damage. I feel for you dude, probably more than I could possible explain here.

I wish we could make it right man. I'm not sure that we can in the way that you need.


I know what you mean.

I will get some photos of the surviving artwork I did in the 1980's/90's that my sister and brother still own.

The head of the design dept. of the school I went to when I was younger compared me to Raphael in my style and ability.

Yet the events with my wife left me devastated, and feeling incomplete (I have been diagnosed with PTSD, partially as a result of that marriage).

The miniatures were just a portion of the portfolio.

In addition to the visual art (miniatures, drawings, paintings, sculpture) was a good deal of audio work from the bands I was in (I was Goth #5 or #6 in Texas in the 1980's, and eventually become the most well known in the state of Texas by 1990, and had a band in London and LA). The production/engineering recordings of the band were in that storage unit, and the rest of the members of the band died of various things between 1990 and 1995 (so I am the only surviving member,and that music is likely forever lost).

But until last year, I had been unable to bring myself to draw or paint anything.

I had painted a few miniatures (some Epic 40K stuff, some generic 6mm Sci-Fi stuff, a 15mm Carthaginian, Roman, and Gallic Army, and some LotR minis) in the period from 2003 to 2006. But it became harder and harder for me to focus, as I kept obsessing over the lost items.

Finally, in the middle of last year, I finally started drawing again when I got the urge to produce some miniatures to complete a line that Tom Meier won't (see the thread "New Goblins (.....)" for some images of the 3D models I have produced, which should be ready to be printed in another few months).

But it takes a monumental effort to even draw a freaking line on a piece of paper.

It feels like the sky is going to fall on me if I draw something.

And as for music.... I no longer have the looks I used to have, which would not fit the style of music I (or "We") played and composed.

She very literally stole my life from me, as everything that proved who I was, and what I had done was in that storage unit.

MB


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Um just a reminder to everyone as we get into true confessions mode do keep in mind this is the internet, and you might want to be a bit more coy about sharing so much personal information.

Cheers.


Good point, but so far... Everything that has been written here has been mentioned in much more exhaustive and explicit detail elsewhere.

Plus.... In this case, there is no getting around some of what happened...

MB

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/01/31 05:04:01


 
   
 
Forum Index » Dakka Discussions
Go to: