Break in at TMTerrain (2 Viewers)

[attic_david]

We had a break in today at our unit and we have lost alot of stock. It includes Collectors Showcase - ACW, Nap and WW2- tanks and infantry
First Legion- Bavarians and French infantry and unpainted 40mm
John Jenkins- FIW, Jacobite and 1812
Patriot- napoleonic
Old North West- WW1 and ACW

I think they were opportunists rather than stealing to order so I would imagine we will see the stock appear on ebay and other auction sites. This is the only way I think we will have any chance of getting anything back.
Please, if you see anything suspicious or are approached with cheap stock please email us with a private email and we can see if we can track anything down.
On the bright side, we are insured (but is that going to be any good we will see), no one got hurt and the business is not threatened. The orders for the show in March haven't arrived yet so that will all be there. We have lost some rare stuff and stock we will not be able to re supply. If you have been promised anything from us over the last few weeks and we had put it to one side I can't guarantee we will still have it. I would think we will get back working properly once we have sorted out with the insurance company and we know what we can afford to re supply. If you find our response a little slower than usual please forgive us.
I am posting this same thread on the other manufactures categories so if you have read this one ignore the others!

 

[lenswerks]

Very sorry to hear about this David.
If anything shows up on EBay US I'm sure we'll know about it since we all seem to be aware of who's selling.

Donnie

 

[steveo]

Sorry to hear about the bad news David.I hope it doesn't affect your sales,did they take all your stock?It know its a long shot but look in your free papers,local papers adverts,carboot sales,swapmeets even cash Converters if they have one near you?
My local hobby shop used to get broke into quite often and the majority of the stock turned up from the various above sources,also when i started collecting Britains a number of sets turned up at local swapmeets at very low prices,turned out they had been stolen from the Nottingham Warehouse
Floggings too good for them
regards Steve.

 

[attic_david]

Some stock is affected worse than others.
We have lost 80 to 90% of all the Collectors showcase including all but one or two tanks.
Johns stock I am not sure about- we were low on quite a few codes and had just re ordered. Also, I think Mark (the other half of TM) has last months delivery at his house. I can't say for sure as he is not around for a day or two. If that is the case then we still have some whale boats (fully crewed and by the jetty). If they were at the unit then they have gone. This is the worst of it really- the loss of some deleted codes that will be wasted on who ever nicked them. Hopefully the insurance will pay, we can replace most of what we have lost and it is not the same as your house being broken into (emotionally) so it is just the loss of the rare stock that hurts most.
All the replacement and new stock for the London show is being shipped in the next week or so so we have all of that. Sales shouldnt be effected too much and if the insurance pays out we will end up even. We will see

David

 

[Wraith]

David,

Really sorry to hear this. If I find anyone in the area chucking the stuff out, I'll bring them to you first, before taking what's left of them in. Once you've got a detailed inventory nailed down, if you post it here, it will give us something to keep tabs on.

Simon

 

[RAMC]

Dave & Mark

Sorry to hear your news. I've just come on-line after rotating my display figures, finally put away the christmas sets etc.I was just thinking of picking up some of the early stuff to fill in the gaps and then heard this! I hope this does not have an impact on your livelyhood.

We joke about intercepting a shipment of new releases sometimes (general Rob) but when some mindless ***T goes and does something like this to guys you know, well that takes the biscuit.

They should do to them what legend says they did to the Jacobite they caught near where I grew up, skin the little blighters.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Dave & Mark,

We will keep our eyes peeled for your items on the secondary market. The collectors community is a family . . . when an outsider tries to move your products, we will help you track him down.

 

[attic_david]

Thanks everyone.
It shouldn't effect things and certainly not our livelihoods- I make my living from the terrain and Mark has other income so we have been able to invest profits into more stock and widening our supplier base. It will just knock us back a bit.

David

 

[1879fanatic]

Dave & Mark,

We will keep our eyes peeled for your items on the secondary market. The collectors community is a family . . . when an outsider tries to move your products, we will help you track him down.

Louis,
Do you know anybody in Import/Export? We can deliver the culprits to the middle of the Atlantic (halfway between US & UK) and... bypass national law,
even get them picked up by a Russian sub! It'll be great.
Mike

 

[Louis Badolato]

All we have to do is pass along an ebay i.d. and I'm pretty sure the British authorities will do the rest . . . although dropping the culprits in the middle of the Atlantic does sound attractive.

 

[jazzeum]

It may be harder than you think. The inventory doesn't sound like it consists of unique items so who is to tell the difference between one item and the other. Now, if you see all of the affected merchandise from one seller on ebay at the same time, that's a different story. However, since somebody has gone to the trouble of stealing toy soldiers, they probably knew what they were doing, may be selling it through non ebay routes and are smart enough not to dump it on ebay. It's similar to bank thieves; they're not going to flash their money everywhere or where it may be easy to trace.

 

[VIRIATO]

It may be harder than you think. The inventory doesn't sound like it consists of unique items so who is to tell the difference between one item and the other. Now, if you see all of the affected merchandise from one seller on ebay at the same time, that's a different story. However, since somebody has gone to the trouble of stealing toy soldiers, they probably knew what they were doing, may be selling it through non ebay routes and are smart enough not to dump it on ebay. It's similar to bank thieves; they're not going to flash their money everywhere or where it may be easy to trace.

Sounds like you know your business Brad.


Paulo

 

[jazzeum]

Darn, I've been outed

 

[Capitolron]

Hey, Brad - I forgot to ask .... how was your recent trip to the UK we were talking about ? You said something about a stealing away for a few days...hey - wait a minute !

 

[Spitfrnd]

It may be harder than you think. The inventory doesn't sound like it consists of unique items so who is to tell the difference between one item and the other. Now, if you see all of the affected merchandise from one seller on ebay at the same time, that's a different story. However, since somebody has gone to the trouble of stealing toy soldiers, they probably knew what they were doing, may be selling it through non ebay routes and are smart enough not to dump it on ebay. It's similar to bank thieves; they're not going to flash their money everywhere or where it may be easy to trace.

Sadly I agree. Even on Ebay, if they just sell a few items here and there, how would anyone know? In theory everyone could start asking for proof of purchase but even that can be relatively easily fabricated and certainly many legitimate sellers don't have their receipts. Besides, even if everyone here did that, this is a small part of the total ebay market. I am afraid they will be hard to track unless they make a stupid mistake.