Trying to replace stolen Star Wars posters

[Undead]

Sorry first thread for me here but you have to start somewhere.

Several months ago my place robbed and apparently the thieves enjoy movie posters. Over the years I had put together for one of my favorite movies a nice collection of high grade examples for pretty much every Star Wars movie poster made pre SE that is. The thieves made off with quite a few of them, thankfully not all. The list below is what was stolen as well as the condition should anyone come across someone selling a lot/group of them. At the same time I am trying to replace the ones marked in red should anyone have one to sell. If so please send me a message with grade, price and pics please.

Thanks everyone,

Mike

Star Wars First Advance Mylar 1 sheet   1976   rolled   27x41   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Second Advance   1976   rolled   27x41   m c10, cleanest copy I have seen in over 20 years of collecting
Star Wars Advance B   1977   rolled   27x41   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Style A    1977   rolled   27x41   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars Style A    1977   rolled   40x60   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars Style A    1977   folded   27x41   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars Style A    1977   rolled   22x28   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Style A    1977   folded   41x81   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars Style C   1977   rolled   27x41   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Style C   1977   rolled   30x40   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Style D   1978   rolled   27x41   nm c9
Star Wars Japanese Advance   1977   rolled   20x29   nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Happy Birthday Anniversary Poster   1978   rolled   27x41   nm c9
Star Wars   1979 RR   folded   27x41   good
Star Wars    1981 RR   rolled   27x41   nm c9
Star Wars    1981 RR   folded   27x41   nm c9
Star Wars    1982 RR   rolled   27x41   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars    1982 RR   rolled   40x60   vf/nm c8/c9
Star Wars Smithsonian Poster,  C3PO      rolled      nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars Smithsonian Poster, Darth Vader      rolled      nm/m c9/c10
Star Wars NPR Poster      rolled   17x29   nm/m c9/c10
Empire Strikes Back Advance   1980   rolled   27x41   nm/m c9/c10
Empire Strikes Back Advance   1980   folded   27x41   vf/nm c8/c9
Empire Strikes Back Style A   1980   rolled   22x28   vg/fn c7
Empire Strikes Back Style B   1980   folded   27x41   vf c8
Empire Strikes Back Style B, British Quad   1980   Rolled   30x40   nm/m c9/c10
Empire Strikes Back   1982 RR   rolled   27x41   nm/m c9/c10
Return of the Jedi Advance   1982   rolled   40x60   vf c8
Return of the Jedi style b   1983   rolled   27x41   vf/nm
Return of the Jedi style b   1983   rolled   40x60   vg c7
Return of the Jedi 1985 RR   1985 RR   rolled   27x41   vf/vm c8/c9
Return of the Jedi 1985 RR Printers Proof   1985 RR 1/2s and ins on one sheet   rolled      nm c9
Adventures of Robin Hood    1976   folded   27x41   nm c9
Heavy Metal Den Poster   1981   rolled   40x60   vf/nm c8/c9

While I am at it I am also looking for a Jedi Star Fall poster as well

[50s]

Sorry to hear this Mike. You are sure to get some assistance from the members here. Good luck.

[Matt]

That sucks big time Mike! Welcome and best of luck to you.

[Undead]

Thank you guys, all will work out in the end.

[CSM]

That sucks big time Mike! Welcome and best of luck to you.

Exactly on both counts!

[Bruce]

If the thief tries to sell them one by one, how can you identify them as yours? Do you have excellent photos that would show very tiny defects that might help distinguish them as yours?

These are some of the very worst posters to have stolen, because there are so many of them and they are so easy to sell. Did you file a police report at the time and do you have any suspects or clues?

[brude]

Movie poster theft?  That's a bad scene.
Welcome to APF and I hope that you find good replacements.

[Silhouette]

Geeze Bruce, you missed an awesome opportunity...

*Ahem"

"The only thief here is Bruce, his auction prices are a steal..."

ba bom!

Thank-you, I'll be here all week, try the veal...

[brude]

Thank-you, I'll be here all week, try the veal...

[Ari]

hmmm Ted..? first Peta Posters, now sad baby cows.
Not coming to "the other side" are you?

[brude]

hmmm Ted..? first Peta Posters, now sad baby cows.
Not coming to "the other side" are you?

While I still eat a little bit of meat, I have always been against all forms of animal cruelty.
Veal is one of the worst.

[Undead]

Bruce,

Thanks for approving my registration on your site.

For 95% I have very detailed posters that I took when I acquired them after purchase as at one point I wrote a small book that I sold on E-Bay for identifying original v fake Star Wars posters back in the late 90's. Yes I was one of the nuts doing research into the bootlegs/repros, etc. that were all over the place. A police report was filed and these images have been forwarded to the police and they have them on file. I will also forever be checking every sales site I can looking for them. As for suspects unfortunately all we know is it was a maintenance worker, assumed based on the doors were locked before and after, for the building who was caught after robbing several other people but so far no sign of the posters in his place or any of the local collectibles shops, pawn shops, etc. None of the above have heard of or been contacted by anyone trying to sell them either according to their statements. I expect they will either be destroyed or they will appear most likely on E-Bay at some point.

I personally do not think that he knew what he took or their total value. He apparently took things that people would not notice missing readily and leaving more obvious stuff you would notice right away. For me I stored most of my posters in a few heavy 6" PVC tubes and would only take them out when I decided to change what was on the wall which was about twice a year. Sadly on my birthday this year my daughter saw that I was looking online at three sheet posters trying to fins an Alien three sheet and asked to see style A three sheet that I had to see the size. In I go to the closet and wait a minute the tube with the Star Wars posters is gone. It would have been very easy for the guy as someone walking out with a PVC tube would be assumed that they were working on something.

The rest is what it is, the insurance will cover some of the loss, about half, and I will have to eat the rest. Thankfully the bulk were bought int he 90's when they were cheaper so the cash loss is not so bad but the time and effort loss is considerable as well as the investment loss. As an example at one time I had in my possession at the same 6 advance mylar's and 4 second advances alone while trying to get the absolute best quality copy I could find. The second advance is with out doubt the finest example out there it is literally perfect I never believe in giving a poster a mint label but it truly is flawless.

Again everyone thank you for the well wished and I am sure it will all work out in the end.

[Undead]

Also as a shameless plug, mods feel free to delete if inappropriate.

I am a web developer by trade creating large database driven sites for the most part. On the side I am the owner of Undead Inc. and the domain name Undead.net which I am building out to be a fun site that will have lots of great things that people will hopefully enjoy with a planned launch date of October 31st, 2012. I won't say exactly what the site will have as of yet but if anyone would like to forward any suggestions (it is not a poster site although their will be a horror related gallery you can post images to) for what they would like to see please feel free to forward them to me.

Have a great day,

Mike

[Undead]

Have replaced the style A three sheet and the Empire Strikes Back advance, still looking for others though.

Have a great day,

Mike

[enki]

Wow, very sorry to hear that. You put together a very impressive collection there. I hope it all works out for you.

As Bruce mentioned, the only way to identify them would really be with high quality pictures. If you put them online somewhere, then people could cross reference the list when something comes up for sale. Outside of that, I don't think there is much anyone here can do with just a list.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but since the insurance company already paid you for your loss, assuming you found one online for sale and was able to get the seller to hand it over to you or the police, wouldn't the poster then get returned to the insurance company since they are technically the owners of the poster now? I've never dealt with filing a stolen property insurance claim, but that was my understanding of how it works. But I also think that it would be very difficult to go after a seller. You might get lucky and find it being sold on eBay or CL by a local guy, where you could get the police involved. But unless it's local, or you get lucky and someone sends it to a guy like Bruce who is honest, I think most sellers wouldn't cooperate unless they were forced to - and how likely are the non-local-to-you police to get involved?

[Bruce]

Good points, Enki. And I think there is next-to-no chance they will get sent to me, precisely because I AM honest.

They will surely send them elsewhere, to someone who has no problem selling stolen goods.

[Undead]

Thank you,

As I understand it if they do turn up then they are technically the property of the insurance company as you mentioned. Not sure on this type of loss but I know with other many stolen items like cars most companies will allow you to buy back the lost property before disposing or sending to an auction of their own. At the same time since the insurance amount I had covering the loss was far less, 1/2, than the actual value I am not sure what would happen and it is worth asking them about as unless the whole or a substantial part of the collection was recovered the amount recovered would likely be less than the balance of the agreed upon actual value. I have as of yet not found any for sale online although there were a couple that I thought may have been that came up locally and did pass the info to the police. If I did find ones that I suspected were mine I also agree it would be difficult to get someone to tun them over voluntarily and even then technically they do need to go to the police as evidence and then ultimately the insurance company. As far as going after someone I really do not know the ins and outs of that and that would be the detectives job. In any case as the detective has said "It is an ongoing investigation".

I have thought about posting the images at least for those that are identifiable but need to speak to the detectives first to make sure that is an ok thing to do, I doubt there would be any issues but better to ask than not. If they are good with it I will post here and if Bruce wants send him copies as well.

Bruce - made my first purchases from you guys in your last rolled poster auction and all I can say is HOLY COW SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO SHIP POSTERS!!! Couldn't be happier and I guarantee many more sales as time goes on.

[enki]

On a related note, was this just covered under your standard renters/homeowners insurance policy, or did you get a special add-on rider for the posters?

We currently just have our HO policy, but I was thinking about getting a rider for my posters, some jewelry, other collectibles, etc. Wasn't sure how much it was worth to go that route.

[Undead]

I think it depends on the total value being insured as well as the insurance company.

In our case the policy that covered the theft was part of renters insurance (we rent our condo) but not all insurers will cover collectables or what they consider to be non priority items/goods. They will cover a tv, dvd player, couch, fridge, etc. but not an action figure, poster, etc. so you definitely need to check with your insurer to make sure it is covered. Most will also require proof of ownership through receipts or other proof like pictures for ownership. I thankfully am meticulous with records and have proof of each purchase dating back to the early 90's when I opened my first comic/poster store. In our case our insurer covers all with proof of ownership but whereas they will cover the important items quickly, collectibles take months while they "Investigate" the claim and calculate the current value. If you want a high dollar amount for your policy (not sure of the cut off) but lets just say $1,000,000 they will usually send someone out to you to document what you own and then when you add you need to notify them of additions.

Personally if you have a high dollar amount I would double check with your insurer and then add the rider if needed just to feel safe.

For me I am not to worried as I went from a collection in the 10's of thousands (retail value) to a collection of less than $10k in one day. OK, the last part is just some minor venting but the theft really irks me some days when I think of the years putting it together.

Keep an eye out as soon as I get some time I plan on doing a thread to point out the proper way to photograph for insurance and theft identification from a forensic point of view as soon as work slows and I start re-photographing whats left.

[erik1925]

Hey Mike..

Over these last several years, was there ever any inkling or hint that any of your posters had been attempted to be sold elsewhere?

Or has it all remained very much quiet?

Hopefully, there have been even some baby clues?