"LG QUANTITY OF FIGS & MODEL BOATS STOLEN IN TOPEKA, KS" Topic

Sad news. Driving back home from the great Hurricon convention in Orlando, FL to Colorado my friend DAN GURULE stopped to stay overnight in Topeka, KS and discovered the next morning his car was broken into and the only thing they took were his precious miniatures.

Below please see a list of what was taken which were in two Battlefoam Pack cases. To all fellow gamers and gamer-adjacent decent folks, PLEASE keep your eyes out on eBay, and/or off you're in or near Topeka, maybe at the local pawn shops, flea-markets, swap-meets, yard-sales, etc. Sad there are people out there that would do this, but not too surprising. On the plus side, I'm happy to report Dan got home safe & sound in Colorado and had his rear windshield replaced. More good news, the very generous and big-hearted Mike Tunez from Firelock Games saw news of what happened to Dan posted on social media & reached out and offered to replace his stolen model launches free-of-charge! I am sharing this info on Dan's behalf and hoping maybe it can somehow result in him getting some of his stuff back. I know he is a little heart broken and sent this IMOJI: 😥 … On the bright side, now he can look forward to hours of fun adding his custom steam-engines and gorgeous paint-jobs to those new Launches, which is something at least.

Dan Gurule Stolen Troop List (28mm miniatures and boats)

USMC 12 figures (Old Glory)
US Marines 12 figures (Old Glory)
Bersaglieri 12 figures (Old Glory)
German Seebattalion 12 figures (Pulp Figures)
Highlanders 12 figures (Perry)
Spanish Sailors 24 figures (Old Glory)
Dervish Ansar 72 figures (Old Glory)
Dervish Handendoah 28 figures (Old Glory)
Steam Launches 8 (customized from Firelock games long boats)
Gunboat Rapiere LSD made gunboat (basswood model)
Chinese Boxers 128 figures (Old Glory)
Chinese Regulars 12 figures (Old Glory)
Chinese irregular rifle 48 figures
Two guns with Chinese gun crews (Old Glory)
French Foreign Legion 24 figures (can't remember)
French Sailors 24 figures (Old Glory)
French Marines 24 figures (Old Glory)

Everything stored in these two bags.
Large battlefoam PACK 720 case (Black)
Medium battlefoam PACK 432 case (black)

Figures painted are average $3 USD each. Boat models $30 USD, Gunboat model $100 USD
Pack 720 bags $140 USD
Pack 432 bag $100 USD

12 x 5 = 60
24 x 4 = 96
72 + 48 + 128 = 248

Total figures = 404 x $5 USD = $2,020 USD

Boats 8 x $30 USD = $240 USD
Gunboat model = $100 USD
Bags = $240 USD

Total loss = $2,560 USD

CONTACT INFO for Dan if you happen to cross paths with or get a lead on any of his stuff:

Dan Gurule – Dagurule@gmail.com – (720) 660-6520

That is horrible news. I met Dan down at Hurricon over the weekend. I would imagine the thieves have no idea what they stole.

It has to be very sad to lose one's collection to thieves.
I hope you can recover it somehow.

I would imagine the thieves have no idea what they stole.

I would hope they end up someplace like ebay where there is a chance they could be recovered but if these are some meth heads looking for a score I'm afraid there's a chance they just end up in the trash.

This is so, so sad. I've had odds and ends stolen off convention tables but nothing as terrible as this. So sorry and I hope some can be recovered.

I hope he turned in a insurance claim. They would be covered under his auto insurance.

I'm sorry he had this happen and now the hassle involved. It also sucks that he has to paint them all over again.

This is sad to read, and hope someone catches the schmucks.

Looks like he's using units of 12 figures. If he doesn't get them back, I'd be willing to paint a unit for him. Let us know.

This is so sad.All the years he spent collecting and painting his collection,it's more than just the monetary value.
Mark

OH man what a bummer.

Just when you think we can't go any lower with all the disgusting social unrest going on right now something like this happens to one of us.

Check out nearby dumpsters. The thieves prolly thought they were stealing guns based on the look of the carrying cases.

Sorry this happened. I'll keep an eye out.

guns or fishing lures.

Very sad news indeed.

That's sad.

I doubt that the thieves knew what they were stealing. Nobody steals miniatures to sell them to a fence.

Sorry to hear that. As soon as the thieves found out what they had they tossed it.

If you want to help out by looking for them on eBay, search for them under a very generic heading like "toy soldiers" rather than something more specific like 28mm "Old Glory" or "Perry."

One assumes Dan reported the crime to the Topeka Police Department and filed a claim with his auto insurance carrier?

Hey, TMP, I'm back with better news this time. First off, many thanks for the expressions of sympathy & well-wishes for Dan. Also a huge thank you to the multiple fellow wargamers -- including GamesPoet above -- who have done like the generous Mike Tunez of Firelock Games and offered to help Dan replace his stolen goods. It means a lot to him!

To answer the questions above: YES, Dan filed a Police Report that morning, checked nearby trashcans and dumpsters (no luck), and later filed an Insurance Claim. He got lucky on the insurance side when the Agent on the phone turned out to be a Warhammer 40K player who instantly understood what he was talking about and is helping him get some of the value back.

Kudos to Firelock and GamePoet for their help. Firelock is a first class company and it's support in this incident, here, of Little Wars, and the hobby is truly appreciated.

Dan's a great guy, we've been friends for many years. We collaborate on many projects and meet up cons as well as are personal friends. We just had an awesome time playing in each other's games with other friends at HurriCon and then this debacle! Dan ran 2 separate scenarios about 5 times from Thursday night through Saturday night for all of us, and it was tremendous fun. Not only did he run his two scheduled games but he stepped up and filled all the slots of the cancelled TSATF games on our table from the gamers who had to cancel due to the plague. That's the kind of awesome guy Dan is. Unfortunately Dan left his figs in the vehicle overnight. They were in a cool black multilevel wheeled bag that looked like a camera or computer equipment bag. That's why these &@!?/! probably broke in and stole it. There must've been about 500 painted figs in that bag. I should know as I'm the one who packed most of them up while the other guys packed up the terrain. I said the same thing as 79th, once they opened the bag they probably tossed them. What a shame!

Upon hearing of this many gamers, not just the ones our buddy MG stated above, have pitched in to send figures for just the cost of postage and many more have offered to paint figs for him for free. Yes, Mike of Firelock Games is a stand up guy, he literally offered to replace all the stolen launches. This only goes to show what an awesome community of people we have in this hobby. Dan's close friends from Cali, to Colorado, to Florida are all planning to pitch in and help him out too. Thanks to all of you awesome gamers and hobbyists.

A good warning to keep items in car under wraps. I spread out a large blanket over game items in the rear end. Throw some junk and papers on top. I wonder if covering up windows would help. Keep us posted on how the insurance works out.

Sorry everybody. I had some problems getting back on to TMP. They took care of me thanks.

So THANKS so much for everyone reaching out the way you have. It definitely took the sting out of something like this. It's always somebody else, until it's you. Very frustrating. My insurance has sent me a check for a third of it which was great. Couldn't have gotten luckier when I my USAA agent was a gamer. Made it so much easier and he really helped me out. The window of course was replaced the very next day. That helped. But I have been having people donate figures, great prices on painted figs, offering to paint units, etc. I was very touched.

Anyway, I am shelving my Tonkin campaign for a little while and will focus on Darkest Africa, East Africa and plan to finish my Sand Pebbles, Boom Battle. So I have already made a lot of new troop purchases.

Thanks again my Brothers and Sisters in Arms. I couldn't be prouder of how our great hobby members stick together and have reached out.

I'll just blame this to that terrible 2020 like I have been doing. lol.

I will blog my games at Hurricon. Had a lot of fun.

Last Stand Dan

The only worse thing I can imagine is that somebody followed you just to steal the minis, but that's an awfully long drive to do that…

This is awful. I hope insurance covers the loss. I am going to start bringing my figures into the hotel room overnight.