"Peter Jackson Bilked by Rick Berry of Michigan Toy Soldier" Topic

Yow, what is it these past weeks on TMP? This, Battle Flag, Wargames Factory. What's next? This is better than reality TV.

Glad I never ordered from him. All his sales told me he was in deep financial trouble. Sad for his family. A ruined rep as well.

This is a federal crime. How lenient are the feds? House arrest? Really?

I guess this explains the huge amount of inventory they always had. At the OTSN show it was not unusual for them to rent multiple rooms to show everything.

I just bought something from them recently but it looked like a monkey packaged it. One figure arrived severely damaged. I guess they can't afford good help now.

Another shocked customer…

Berry has repaid about $100,000, putting him halfway to paying the credit card charges in full. Berry is paying about $2,500 a month, Steingold said.

Made charges since 2007 and has been paying it back and the story comes out in 2011????

What are we missing??

Made charges since 2007 and has been paying it back and the story comes out in 2011????

No, got caught in 2007. Apparently paid half of it back over the next three years or so. Story comes out now because he plead guilty to federal charges and is about to be sentenced.

2011, the year our hobby went bat poop crazy!!!

I'm just shocked.

Wow, toy soldiers against the might of Peter Jackson. How could anyone think they'd get away with it? It's not like he balances his check book.

CPA's handle his vast wealth.

It comes in three's, they say…

If you watched the news story, it is bigger then Peter Jackson, since it is Amex that took the financial hit…

Did he think Peter Jackson would not notice?

I think the issue is far deeper, he must be damaged in some way…metal/emotional illness must be a factor.

That's some sad news indeed. I feel bad for his family.

"If you watched the news story, it is bigger then Peter Jackson, since it is Amex that took the financial hit…"

Yes, one cannot help but feel pity for the poor starving children of American Express who could not afford new shoes because of this.

link

No, the fraud isn't right, but neither is usury.

Allen

Another surprised customer.

Feel for him, his family, and peter Jackson.

Sad situation all around.

"Wow," all he could say was, "Wow."

Do we need to check the ventilation in the painting rooms? The water?! Most of my stuff has been with Old Glory, Reaper, and Ebay lately but Michigan Toy Soldier is a piece of war gamer history. He must pay for his crimes but between his family's pain and all the paranoia that this will cause in our hobby – what was he thinking?

What Next, Charles Grant plagiarized??!!

Gracias,

Glenn

I think the issue is far deeper, he must be damaged in some way…metal/emotional illness must be a factor

Why? Evil exists. He chose to steal. He didn't go to a wealthy satisfied customer and ask for financial help, he abused a relationship of trust and misused confidential information. Occam's Razor instructs us that the simplest explanation is more often than not the correct explanation. Without evidence of mitigating emotional/mental conditions there is no reason to suspect any motive other than greed.

It is a rare day in court when a thief doesn't offer up rationalizations to justify his actions. The mantra of "I am not a bad man I just made a bad choice" rings a little hollow. He didn't steal a loaf of bread to feed his family he stole close to 200,000 dollars. What's that about four times the average yearly wage in the US?

Heh. Evil? Nah. Sounds like plain old fashioned greed and the need to keep up with the Joneses got the best of him.

Well, if he is making that kind of restitution payment, he'll probably get probation. Nobody wins if this sort goes to prison. He loses what's left of his business and the CC company gets no more restitution. Probation and continued, monitored restitution payments most likely.

Just terrible. Not only for the parties involved, but the whole hobby.

Hope Mr Jackson can get his money back.

"this sort" … he deserves to go to jail just like anyone else. Besides, we might be able to get some discounts at the sheriff's auction!

@ Allen

Usury in the ancient sense (interest on a loan at any rate) or usury in the modern sense (interest on a loan at a particularly high rate)?

Well… repaying 100K over three years shows at least a sustained effort at making amends. That can't have been easy.

"Yes, one cannot help but feel pity for the poor starving children of American Express who could not afford new shoes because of this."

It is bigger than Peter Jackson because Amex passes this sort of thing onto its other customers as any credit card company does.

"No, the fraud isn't right, but neither is usury."

People that get credit cards know what they will be paying in interest. If they don't like the terms they should not use the card. I don't use credit cards on a regular basis and pay them back every month when I do.

I see Sir Peter has a stomach ulcer now:

link

Obviously not related to this, though.

Ouch!

Man, I had ordered from in the past and had the link marked with three stars in my bookmarks folder. Needless to say it is deleted now (although my link was no good any more).

Usury in the modern sense. Credit card companies are (the only ones?) exempt from usury laws.

Yes, one cannot help but feel pity for the poor starving children of American Express who could not afford new shoes because of this.

One can instead pity the poor starving children of the 500 employees let go to help Amex reap their profit.

StarfuryXL5

"No, the fraud isn't right, but neither is usury."

I used to work on the Amex account before they stopped making and spending money about 2 years back. Their profits may be up this year, but that is coming off the back of 2 – 3 of the worst years ever for them.

To differentiate themselves form Visa and Amex, they position themselves as the card for luxury purchases. Well two years ago a lot of people stopped buying luxuries (for while). This happened at the same time as Amex's provision for bad debt was necessarily skyrocketing.

Add to this their perennial problem of fewer retailers taking the card, and even those who do often encourage shoppers to use other cards instead (Amex charge a higher fee than Visa or Master) and they took some big hits.

There have been a lot of lay offs over the last two years. So the children of Amex land can afford shoes, but there are fewer children in the land than there used to be.

Given that, the marketing departments were massively overstaffed with absolute plonkers anyway. Personally I only carry an Amex because my company makes me. IMO it is an inferior, higher priced product than Visa or Master, and tries to justify the extra inconvenience and cost with an illusory image of 'status', which means toss-all to me.

Carrying an Amex means my company grudgingly accept I must spend money on their behalf at some stage, but they sure as heck aren't going to make it easy for me.

This year is shaping up to be a weird one, no kidding.

It doesn't sound like greed… more like desperation. Still stealing, though.

Under the federal sentencing guidelines he will get 14 months; there is no parole in the federal system. With credits he will do about 12 months plus about 24 months of supervised release and court-ordered restitution.

Of course it sounds like greed. He wanted to stock items for his customers that it didn't make economic sense to stock. He got around this and satiated his desire to run a particular type of store by stealing from someone else. His desires trumped anothers property rights. What he wanted was what counted. Spin it anyway you want he chose himself and his desires over respecting other peoples rights. I shopped at Mich Toy Soldier. When I found it a few years ago on the web I thought it was too good to be true. Turns out it was.

And now we wait as vultures ready to feast on the carcass that is the liquidation sale… :)

Sad to read, but get used to bad news, this is only the tip of the Wargaming Iceberg.

What do war gamers do in hard time's ?

We look at the mountain of lead we all have before we order anything new.

If he didn't like the LOTR films, surely there were better ways…

:)

Hey the important thing is Amex will survive; they are rated #1 in customer satisfaction. They are such a nice company who seek to bring only hearts and rainbows to all.

Amazing story. Bought from them a number of times. Guess they are gone now too.

"Well… repaying 100K over three years shows at least a sustained effort at making amends. That can't have been easy."

Depends on how much stolen cash he had on hand.

I only use an Amex, but I pay in full every month. We use it for just about everything and the kickbacks have flown us all over the.world.

bad news and shocking. I have bought from them many times and have always had great service

!

Sad

I have to question this man's mental faculties. Business is hurting so what does he do: tighten his belt? Apply for federal bailout funds? Go to a bank for a loan? NO! He decides to try and rip off one of the highest-profile people in our hobby! He was desperate, crazy, or stupid…possibly a combination of all three!

Sad to read what desperation can make some people do.

Absolutely unrelated, but Sir Peter has just been hospitalised with a perforated stomach ulcer.

link

"Usury in the ancient sense (interest on a loan at any rate) or usury in the modern sense (interest on a loan at a particularly high rate)?"

I dunno, Jay. I'm thinking maybe the kind for which the prescribed penalty involves removal of parts of the anatomy. That would be… biblical, I suppose?

I have a little beef with Amex. And they were crappy to deal with on the merchant services front.

Allen

To use a saying I haven't used for over 3 decades – "trippy"

I have been a customer of this store and always had good service. I am shocked that someone could be so foolish as to do something this DUMB. He is likely going to pay a very heavy price for his lack of judgement. I also know now why my emails have been bombarded with sales from them. Trying to raise money for legal fees I bet. I hope they can recover from this, but this is a serious charge, involving a serious amount of cash. This whole affair is beyond sad.

Hmmm… maybe he should have considered bankrupcy over stealing…

Amazing. Saddened and stunned. What the heck is going on making this year start off so flippin weird for the hobby?

What a lowlife. I'll definitely order my Andrea paints from elsewhere now, even at a stiffer price.

What was he thinking? That Mr Jackson wouldn't notice because he's dirty rich? Ok, maybe Mr. Jackson wouldn't, but sure as hell that his accountants would! He's not just a thieve. He's a dumb thieve! I am sorry for his family though.