Huge wargaming collection stolen in Northern California

[Black Cavalier]

A long time wargamer, Rod Thompson from Chico, California , had his storage unit broken into & most of his wargaming collection stolen.  I know the stuff probably wouldn't end up being moved very far, but he's asked that the info be disseminated to the widest audience in hopes of getting some of it back.

Below is his contact info & an initial list of what was stolen.  Please contact him directly if you see any large collections being sold.

Thanks



List of Goods Stolen from Unit 68 at 7th Street Storage, Chico, CA, the Weekend of 5/29/2015

(List Date: 6/4/15)

Sometime on or around the weekend of May 29, 2015, someone broke into my storage unit and stole most of my collection of wargaming materials and other odds and ends representing decades in the hobby, above and beyond its monetary value. Also taken was a large part of my scholarly library, mostly books on various historical subjects.

I am offering a reward for any information that leads to the recovery of these items: $1,000 for the gaming-related items, an additional $1,000 for the books, and $500 for the personal items, particularly those relating to my daughter.

The majority of stolen items were housed in grey plastic storage tubs purchased in large quantity from Wal-Mart. Many had a brief description of their contents written on a label or on the tub itself in Magic Marker.

This is a preliminary list for the purposes of spreading the word ASAP, and is not all-inclusive. I am still trying to determine the full extent of loss, and will update this later when that painful process is complete.

If found, please contact

Rod Thomson
(530) 518-8375
RODNEY.L.THOMSON@GMAIL.COM

Gaming-Items:

Collectible Star Wars Figures (Wizards of the Coast): approximately 3,000, including vehicles and beasts, and two AT-AT walkers that were still mint-in-box. Most were in white cardboard boxes or Ziploc bags in grey plastic tubs, but some (mostly the vehicles) were in long-low clear plastic tubs with white lids. Also taken were all the cards that went with the figures, stored in two cardboard boxes.

Collectible D&D and Pathfinder Figures (Wizards of the Coast): approximately 1,000 of all varieties, in smaller clear plastic storage boxes.

Collectible MechWarrior figures (Wizards of the Coast): one cardboard box full of mostly infantry and mechs (i.e. not many tanks, etc.).

Dwarven Forge dungeon scenery: Eight to ten sets worth, mostly still in their original boxes, but some stored in a separate plastic tub.

Dwarven Forge sci-fi scenery: Two of their original sets in a smaller plastic box.\

Flagship Games Pirates! Collection: Several painted 25mm ships, ironclads, galleys, etc., in a rolling black tool chest with telescoping handle. I believe that other Pirates! materials were in the box too – ordnance, templates, splash markers, etc.

Painted 15mm metal sci-fi: by a variety of manufacturers, most were still in the packaging they came in after being painted by Fernando Enterprises. Many different races, mostly infantry (as opposed to vehicles). A large, clear-plastic tub full.

Painted 1/72 plastic armies: hundreds if not thousands of figures spanning a variety of time periods – ancient, renaissance, WWII mostly. All still in the packaging they came in after being painted by Fernando Enterprises.

Painted 28mm gladiators: mostly Foundry with a few others mixed in, including a few lions. All based on individual washers with texturing and/or flocking mix. Stored in a grey Chessex figure box; one box full.

Painted 28mm Wild West: several grey Chessex figures boxes full, including cowboys, gunfighters, Mexicans, civilians, Chinese, and Indians; most on foot but some mounted US cavalry. All individually based on flocked and/or textured bases. Mostly Foundry figures. Three (?) boxes worth.

Painted 28mm Dark Ages: several grey Chessex figure boxes full (7?) full. Hundreds of figures including cavalry and foot. Vikings, Saxons, Normans. From a collection I purchased on eBay a little over a year ago. Mostly Foundry figures.

Painted 28mm figures for Rorke’s Drift – British and Zulus: approximately 500 figures total, most still in the packaging they came in after being painted by Fernando Enterprises.

Painted 20mm vehicles: mostly metal, by a variety of manufactures. Those with turrets for the most part have loose turrets (so they can turn). The vast majority are for WWII, with some WWI mixed in. I’m guessing around 150 total, including tanks, tank-destroyers, artillery, armored cars, trucks, jeeps, etc. Some were in clear plastic tubs, some in long black plastic tool boxes with cut-foam inserts inside.

Painted 20mm infantry: metal by a variety of manufacturers. Painted British, German, American, and Russian infantry. Some were stored in The Armory black figure cases, some in GW cases. Most based individually on flocked bases. Several hundred figures total.

Painted 25mm moderns: metal by Foundry, Britannia, and others. Most painted by Fernando Enterprises. Includes modern US for Mogadishu, hundreds of Somalians, almost the entire range of Foundry’s “Street Violence,” and various zombie-fighting civilians. House in black GW figure cases. Over 200 figures total.

Painted 25mm zombies: metal by various manufactures. Most painted by Fernando Enterprises. All singly based, in black GW figure cases. I’m not sure how many of these they got yet, but around 100 at a minimum.

Painted 25mm renaissance figures: Another large collection, primarily Redoubt and Foundry figures. Includes infantry, cavalry, artillery, and civilians. All are individually based on flocked bases. Redoubt are from across their Renaissance range, and the Foundry figures are from their Conquistadores and Elizabethan Sea Dogs ranges. Some figures stored in a clear plastic tub, but many were in black GW figure cases. Approximately 300 figures total.

1/72 diecast modern tanks and APCs: One clear plastic tub full. I believe they left me the Russian/Iraqi vehicles, but took all the American ones – M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley APCs.

Plastic Trojan Horse, manufactured by/for FAO Schwarz. Has a cartoony look to it, but it was central to my Troy! Game. They also took a cardboard box of prepainted 54mm plastic Greek warriors that came in “blue” and “red” versions.

Board and Card Games: lots and lots of games! Many were stored in grey plastic or clear tubs. A few that I remember off the top of my head include: The War Game (like Risk on steroids); the World of Warcraft Game; DUST Tactics; Nuns on the Run; Condottiere; Troy; A La Cart; Battlestar Galactica; Galaxy Trucker; Shadows Over Camelot; all my Memoir ’44 collection (in the satchel they made to carry everything); and scores of others. Some were still in their shrink-wrap. A diverse collection covering lots of levels of player skill, age, genre, etc.

Wargame Rules: At least two grey plastic tubs full. Mostly in book form, but some in boxes (like “Sword and the Flame”). Cover the gamut of wargaming genres and scales.\

Non-Game Items:

Books: lots and lots of books! Almost all were related to history in some manner, including: Japanese, samurai, Chinese, Asia, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation and post-Reformation England, Classical Antiquity, and on and on. My collection of Osprey’s were taken – two tubs full. My collection of Loeb’s (small hard-backs with Greek or Latin text on the left-hand page and an English translation on the right-hand – the former have a green cover, the latter red) – at least 100. Hundreds of scholarly monographs and important research works (Oxford and Cambridge encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.) were taken. Since I purchased the vast majority through Amazon or eBay, I can create a specific list, but that will take a lot more time. Many are long out of print and will be very hard or impossible to replace. By my best estimate, they took at least 24 grey plastic tubs full of books.

A large clear plastic tub of my daughter’s toys, mostly stuffed animals.

A grey plastic tub filled with my daughter’s elementary-school art projects.

An older video camera (used the smaller video cassettes). I am not interested in the camera, so much as the videos included in the case that contain movies of my daughter when she was a toddler.

A clear plastic tub filled with small art objects and knick-knacks, including a large bronze bowl from India cast sometime in the nineteenth century, candlesticks, etc.

Martial Arts Training Weapons: A variety of training and live blades (samurai, knives, tai chi sword, etc.), escrima weapons, and a snake-head spear.

Very nice deck chaise lounger with tan cloth and metal frame.

Various arts and crafts goods, including spray paints, craft paints, flocking,

 

[Ninja]

Check Craigslist daily and also local pawn shops.

I am truly sorry to hear that.

[rebelyell2006]

Ouch, that really sucks.  Did any of the miniatures, books, etc., have makers' marks or other markings to denote that they are unique to his collection, to help with identification?  And I second Ninja's post, definitely check Craigslist and the pawn shops.  If the thief has actual knowledge of what he or she stole and its typical resale value, then the next place to watch is Ebay over the next year or so.

[janner]

That's a breaker 

Hope they find the dirty toe-rag soonest.

[The Dozing Dragon]

So much hatred for these scum. Wish you all the best of luck in getting your belongings back.

[FramFramson]

Every single vehicle entering and leaving should have been recorded by cctv. Every storage facility I have used has a pin code to gain entry to the facility on the gate. The value should be enough to bump it to a serious theft? (not a lawyer not even on TV)

This tells me either it was a crappy storage facility run on the stupidly cheap not to have these things OR its someone this guy knows. He should just check if his pin was entered into the system on the suspect days and then cross index the time that happened with the cctv footage of vehicles entering the facility. I doubt the thieves took out a storage area of their own just to get access to this guys one. If it was a job like that then they would have knocked as many storage areas as possible for the highest value items before leaving in a stolen car.

Viola thief caught mystery solved, where is my reward money.

Most storage facilities I've seen in North America are the cheaper sort. Often just a gaggle of padlocked garages with a fence around 'em.

[Calimero]

Most storage facilities I've seen in North America are the cheaper sort. Often just a gaggle of padlocked garages with a fence around 'em.

True... some of them have 24/7 "security guard"… which spend all his time in a gate house at the main entrance and left the actual storage units unguarded…

Hope he'll get his stuff back

[FramFramson]

On paper a lot of our places are similar (though individually alarmed units with pin pads would be considered very very hoity-toity expensive). My buddy who's a handyman has a workshop set up in a particularly large storage unit in one which is actually a large building with all internal indoor units.

I think the outdoors sort is more common generally, but the indoors sort where it's all one big building is a bit more common in the city.

[Johnno]

The ones I've seen in the city usually have a taste with individual pin code and some stationary cameras around the perimeter. Very low tech. Its not cost effective to have 24/7 security.

The key is to check ebay, kijiji, Craigslist etc plus pawnshops and local conventions regularly. I'd also check nearby dumpsters. Probably too late now though...

Having photos and items marked with distinguishing features is an asset. Is. Putting your initials on the underside of the base. Saying an item is painted by Fernando Enterprises is well and good but means nothing to an investigator who doesn't know the hobby.

I'm in no way making light of the situation but given the number of " storage wars" type TV shows, any chance he was a) behind on payment or b) wrong locker opened?

I'd check with management about a) any other break ins or b) storage wars mix up.
If no to a & b, then who knew (former friend, jilted lover, child removed from will) what he had and where it was stored?

[zizi666]

Tar and feathers for the perpetrators !!! 

Seriously though. I hope he/she/they get caught and at least some of the victim's stuff finds its way back home.