Der Alte Fritz | 04 Apr 2014 7:10 a.m. PST |
I am sad to report that a plastic box full of 28mm SYW in India figures were stolen at the recent SYW Association Convention. The game judge was setting up his game, set the plastic box on the table, and left the room for only a few minutes. when he returned, the box was missing. Some pix from last year's game to give you an idea of how the collection looks:
We looked all over the convention hall, but to no avail. A police report was filed and it turns out that the hotel had a video security camera in the room, so efforts are being made to find the culprit and identify him from the tape. The figures were mostly London War Room figures, but nearly all of them were conversions, so they are a one of a kind set of figures. There were 100+ figures and a value of $1,000 USD is estimated on the whole lot. To make matters worse, the owner of the figures, Juergen, suffered a severe knee injury a week prior to the convention, so he could not attend. Juergen graciously allowed friends to bring his figures and terrain to the convention so that they could host the game on his behalf. This is a real kick in the teeth to one of the gentlemen of the hobby and the act defies comprehension. The game was awarded the Best In Show award, the Mitchell Cup, not out of sympathy, but on merit as it has been one of the most colorful and popular games at the convention for the last several years. I would also note that in 28 years of running this convention, we have NEVER had a single thing stolen, until now. How can you help? By keeping your eyes and ears open for any sale of 28mm India figures on e-Bay or any similar forum. If you hear of anything, then please contact me either via personal message on TMP or send me an email at Altefritz1740@yahoo.com On the off chance that the thief is reading this message and wants to do the right thing and return the figures, then contact me and your name will be kept confidential and no charges will be files. In fact, I will pay you the $1,000 USD value out of my own pocket if you will only return Jeurgen's figures. I hope that somehow this turns out well for a gentleman gamer who doesn't deserve this to happen to him. Fritz |
marco56 | 04 Apr 2014 7:15 a.m. PST |
That's a very sad state of things today.Hope you find them. Mark |
PiersBrand | 04 Apr 2014 7:34 a.m. PST |
Will keep an eye open as Im often aearching Ebay for SYW. |
morrigan | 04 Apr 2014 8:33 a.m. PST |
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Murphy | 04 Apr 2014 9:34 a.m. PST |
Will keep an eye out good sir
. Here's hoping they can be found. |
jurgenation | 04 Apr 2014 9:35 a.m. PST |
Dear Alte Fritz,I appreciate your offer on the reward and all,the figures were two units of Eureka figures ,one old London Waroom,and one Indus. They are one of kind units,especially since you can not find London Warrroom anymore. The units were1) purple w/ white polka dot Mysorian sepoys w/pink turbans,2)blue tunic red tuban Bengali sepoys(both Eureka) 3)a unit of Indus miniatures Mahratta inf.,w/ muskets sky blue w/ orange and 4)French sepoy w/ flat hat Blue tunic white pants old London Warroom.Again thanx to everyone for their concern and for Jim Purkeys reward offer.Life goes on. |
79thPA | 04 Apr 2014 10:12 a.m. PST |
People like that need to be publicly beaten. What a shame. |
vtsaogames | 04 Apr 2014 10:19 a.m. PST |
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Olaf 03 | 04 Apr 2014 10:34 a.m. PST |
Jurgen I am sorry this happened. I hope they find your figures. Alte Fritz thanks for this notification and for offering a reward. Jurgen is a great guy so I hope this turns out well in the end. |
Ashokmarine | 04 Apr 2014 11:32 a.m. PST |
Wow, thats terrible. Who would do such a thing? Jurgen I will replace the Indus figures free of charge. Just shoot me an email on what was stolen. I am afraid I can't help with the other figures or painting them. Ashok Indus Miniatures |
jurgenation | 04 Apr 2014 11:47 a.m. PST |
Thankyou Ashok ,very kind ,but not necessary. |
Porkmann | 04 Apr 2014 4:05 p.m. PST |
Pretty crappy. The last show I went to had thieves, chases and cops arriving. All pretty low. I hope you get them back Jürgen as I know just how soul destroying theft can be. A thief stealing to sell on would have an hard job considering the niche of a niche interest and the fact they are so distinctive and well documented. Is it possible they were stolen "to order"? |
Frankss | 04 Apr 2014 7:36 p.m. PST |
Didn't make it to the convention this year but I remember those beautiful units of years from the previous years conventions. Loved playing your games. Wonder we both weren't there and you win the Mitchel Cup LOL. The on;ly thing I like about sharia law is cutting off a thief's hand. |
JonFreitag | 04 Apr 2014 8:17 p.m. PST |
What a shame. I hope the figures surface soon and find their way back to the owner. DAF that is a very generous and chivalrous offer you made. |
Old Contemptibles | 04 Apr 2014 10:10 p.m. PST |
Monitor eBay and any place that sells second hand figures. |
YogiBearMinis | 05 Apr 2014 5:51 a.m. PST |
Look out on foreign sites, like Hinds, that sell second hand figures. |
Lancer58 | 05 Apr 2014 7:10 a.m. PST |
Had some napoleonics stolen from me at a show many years ago, haven't done a display game since. Thieves are the lowest of the low, in what is a small community, hope you find them and I hope you find the culprit. Will keep an eye out from my end. |
Andy ONeill | 05 Apr 2014 11:55 a.m. PST |
Very sorry to hear this. I've had figures stolen myself and it's bad. Good luck getting your figures back. |
ridgeback123 | 05 Apr 2014 12:19 p.m. PST |
I am sure they would not knowingly sell stolen goods but as I attend many U/K shows & a few in Europe as a trader I will keep an eye on both the official "re-sellers" & the bring & buy's for you. Ian ( Shell Hole & 20mmZone) |
jpipes | 05 Apr 2014 3:19 p.m. PST |
Last I understood there were about 65 people that attended the event. That is not a massive pool. I would think the organizers could do some detective work with the registered attendees and narrow down the possible individuals that might have done this, what part of the country they were from etc. |
Tricorne1971 | 05 Apr 2014 6:50 p.m. PST |
I and Bill put the game on this year. There is an excellent chance that a non-wargamer passed by from the elevator, walked by the table while we were at lunch and grabbed a box of pretty figures and continued out the fire-door to the garage. The hotel has finally been able to put the security "tape" on a flash drive. After the South Bend police view it, I will have a look as well. Ken Bunger |
darclegion | 05 Apr 2014 11:15 p.m. PST |
Sorry to hear about this, that is just awful. I hope the guy shows up on the video and somehow track him down. Maybe someone will recognize the thief. I wish you the best of luck on this. Tom |
Porkmann | 05 Apr 2014 11:43 p.m. PST |
I agree with others here -- in my experience, they're provided excellent service and fine products. If they were cheaper, I'd own more. They do run sales and specials from time to time -- sign up for their mailing list to take advantage of special deals only made available via these outlets. I like that some buildings have interior expansion sets and I appreciate the floorings and details. I sometimes do repainting or add-on embellishments to gussy-up some buildings, but the benefit is that they will take that quite easily. I figure the expense is worth the time I save in building, converting, or painting from scratch. I wish I had more room to store my collection but I also wish I had more! |
Blake Walker | 06 Apr 2014 2:50 a.m. PST |
Hi, this is awful. I hope the figures are returned. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the SYW Convention this year. However, I've sent out emails to friends about the 28mm SYW "Clive in India" Indian cavalry figures that are missing. Hopefully, they'll turn up in one piece eventually. Blake |
Mad Guru | 07 Apr 2014 10:13 p.m. PST |
Damn, that really sucks. A noble offer from Der Alte Fritz, as is to be expected from such a gentleman of the hobby, and well done to Ashok for offering to replace the Indus figures free of charge. I don't know you, Juergen, but you have my very sincere sympathy. I've set up very big games at conventions, using lots of my own painstakingly converted figures, so what happened to you is always the worst nightmare in the back of my mind. I search for 28mm "India" and "Afghan" figures pretty regularly on eBay, etc., so I'll keep my eyes peeled just in case someone is dumb enough to try to sell them that way. As others have said, I hope you get your figures back, and that the thief is Identified, found, and punished
but mostly that you get your figures back. |
jpipes | 08 Apr 2014 2:21 p.m. PST |
If the police actually have a recording taken from the room that day they should be able to spot the thief, in which case their face should be seen to some degree. This should allow folks who attended or who ran the convention at least to try and zero in. |
Henry Martini | 09 Apr 2014 9:40 p.m. PST |
This must be very dispiriting, I'm sure, Jurgen. We don't have many shows in this part of the world (one coming up in a few months though), and they're small-scale affairs, but even so, I once had a box of dice 'lifted' whilst running a participation game. In this day and age, unfortunately it seems we need to pay serious attention to security in such situations; probably best to always have someone on 'guard duty'. That's not easy when, as is so often the case here, show games are one-man efforts. |
marco56 | 11 Apr 2014 10:04 a.m. PST |
It's pretty bad when people start stealing little toy soldiers. Mark |