Thievery of models...how common is it??

[Marovian]

Whilst running a table at Games Day last year, someone lifted a friends brand new Crassus that he had picked up that day. Most unpleasent. GW replaced it free of charge though.

[Caiphas Cain]

I've lost dice and accidentaly taken them too, I'm sure. I've also accidentaly picked up a store model thinking it was mine, but I returned it several days later once I realized it wasn't mine.

My brother though, forgot his army case in the store when we went out for lunch, and never saw it again.

[NecronBob]

As far as shoplifting goes, GW models must be major target because both of the stores in my hometown ended up putting in cameras. One of them put them all over the store, but the other just had them at the GW stuff. They were conspicuously pointed at the blister racks (I guess that shows how long ago that was). The other day I went into the store at my current location looking for some paint, and it was not in its usual location. The manager saw me and explained that he had to bring it up next to the counter because it was "walking off."

In reference to people stealing models, I haven't seen it intentionally done. I did, however, come back from a recent tournament with an extra "The Withering" spell card. It was marked up and everything. I felt bad about it. Hopefully I can get it back to its owner.

[SotF]

It's happened a few times at the local store, though I doubt it was on purpose. Mainly it seems to happen when it gets near closing time and we end up in a rush to pack up and we end up with a couple pieces of someone else's army. It's rather easy to get them back to the right people though, but at the same time I've got one piece that belongs to someone who hasn't shown up again though I've still got it packed up in case he shows up again. I've lost a few the same way though.

[6mmhero]

I have had stuff go missing from the painting table and gaming tables before. I have also caught shoplifters in the act. It is bad enough when it is some random person doing it, but when you catch a regular in the act it is a sad day.... especially when that regulars mum wants to know why he is banned and will not accept that their son has been caught stealing.

[kalon]

I've had models nicked from our house armies, our Burna Boys have disappeared and most of the Space Marines, I've personally had a Space Marine taken from my army case. I was steaming for a while until I realised that with all the time and effort that's been put into the house armies on SM is quite trivial, and I also feel quite fortunate as the culprit could easily have made off with a dread or a destroyer, or something much more unique than one badly painted marine.

[Lord Inquisitor]

Okay then.

Recently a good friend of mine lost a whole case of models which he accidentally left at a game store. Someone must have picked it up (it was more of a large storage container than a case) and walked brazenly out of the store.

In terms of painted models, I had a unit of black knights stolen from GW Hammersmith from a cabinet. Spent ages on them too.

However the best story of mine has to be the following. I was travelling back late on the last train with two bags packed with FW boxes (a just-released Chaos Warhound Titan). I didn't actually know what was in them but my GF had ordered them through the store and I was under strict instructions not to open it. I'm bumbling along the quiet lane in an English village when a bunch of yobs attacked me. Initially I simply tried to get away but when that proved impossible (and after a couple of thumps to the head) I dropped my bags and turned to fight, at which point the yobs nicked my bags and pegged it.

Yep, I got mugged and had a titan stolen.

FW were terrific about it and sent me a whole new titan to replace it. I do really wonder what those guys thought about it when they opened the bags to check out their loot... I think it was a first for the policeman taking my statement too, it was very surreal trying to explain what 40K was and exactly got taken - and how much it was worth!

[Geep]

In highschool one of the 'hangers on' to my usual friend group decided to join us in playing Fantasy. Unfortunately the guy was a serious **** most of the time (he regularly tried to break my fingers if he could grab them, and attacked me with a stappler multiple times)- so when he brought out a fully painted Empire army at our local game meetings everyone took their chance at revenge. I'm not sure exactly how much stuff he lost, but he kept replacing it, having it stolen, repeat, for around two years.
I never actively stole any of his stuff, but I still ended up with a large Empire collection as I was the group's terrain maker. Everyone gave me the stolen and broken models since they didn't actually want them.

[Ebon]

Friends who were redshirts say they had the usual shoplifters and I've known at least one guy manage to steal a fairly large portion of a store army. I've accidentally wandered off with dice many times and once accidentally stole a pot of Bleached Bone paint (picked it up, wandered over to look at new releases, absentmindedly put paint in pocket, got called over by GF, didn't realise I still had the paint until I got home).

[Rogerio]

In highschool one of the 'hangers on' to my usual friend group decided to join us in playing Fantasy. Unfortunately the guy was a serious **** most of the time (he regularly tried to break my fingers if he could grab them, and attacked me with a stappler multiple times)- so when he brought out a fully painted Empire army at our local game meetings everyone took their chance at revenge. I'm not sure exactly how much stuff he lost, but he kept replacing it, having it stolen, repeat, for around two years.
I never actively stole any of his stuff, but I still ended up with a large Empire collection as I was the group's terrain maker. Everyone gave me the stolen and broken models since they didn't actually want them.

To be honest thats worse than what the guy did to you, blatantly stealing his possesions for 2 years?? yeah nice....

[eldargal]

One of my 'friends' ran off with my first ever Falcon about six months after the kit came out in '98 or whenever it was. By running off I mean he borrowed it a few days before he moved with his family to Canada. Never told anyone he was moving. Ended up getting back a few years later in pretty poor state.

[Grimmeth]

These kind of story make me feel a little sick, and somewhat anxious about taking minis to play with out of my house.
I spend a loooong time painting my models, and while I'm not exactly world class or anything I'm proud of them and they do hold a certain sentimental value. To have something that I've poured hours into (and some of my characters really have taken hours) stolen would be horrible.
Although I mostly just paint rather than play now, luckily I can't think of anything happening to me, I've given a few stern glances to some guys who thought they could take other peoples models - it tends to discourage them somewhat.

[gutsmaka]

once, atmy local GW, a kid (5 or 6) walked in with his mum of the street (in normal customer fashion) and got very intrested in a game between my nids and a freind grey knights (I lost that one painfully), so intrested he started grabing at models, even breaking a power armoured GK by squeezing too hard (couldent do anything as his mum was standing very close) when they walked out, I found he had taken one of my converted mycetic spores out of my dead pile! luckely, his mum came back and returned it after having found it in her purse (he had slipped it in while no one was looking!).
this was the only time I have ever experienced this personly, but I know this store has had blisters shoplifted before.

[Overlord Krycis]

I must live in a particularly high crime-rate area for GW related models...

While working for GW I used to keep some of my armies in the store for graduation games/store gaming/apocalypse battles.
At least I DID until some thieving little git decided to make off with about 2000pts of my Chaos Marines after one of those apoc games. Worst part was he CAME BACK with the minis resprayed horribly 2 weeks later and tried to claim they were his...despite the fact that I had actually sculpted and cast custom parts for most of the marines.
Manager then proceeded to side with the customer as he had just dropped £200 on MORE CSM stuff...

One of the local clubs I used to attend I used to regularly allow other gamers (who were all brilliant) to use my armies if they wanted something different to try...until I had 1 large case walk out of said club while I was talking to a club member's parent.

I refuse to leave my cases in any FLGS, allow anyone to borrow my minis, or even letting my minis out of my sight now...I don't get much hobby time tbh and would rather paint the stuff I have than replace stuff that's been pinched...

EDIT:

once, atmy local GW, a kid (5 or 6) walked in with his mum of the street (in normal customer fashion) and got very intrested in a game between my nids and a freind grey knights (I lost that one painfully), so intrested he started grabing at models, even breaking a power armoured GK by squeezing too hard (couldent do anything as his mum was standing very close) when they walked out, I found he had taken one of my converted mycetic spores out of my dead pile! luckely, his mum came back and returned it after having found it in her purse (he had slipped it in while no one was looking!).
this was the only time I have ever experienced this personly, but I know this store has had blisters shoplifted before.

I've had that happen a couple of times...except replace "mycetic spore" with "Forgeworld Ven. Dreads"...apparently kids think they are "pretty robots"

[Sheena Easton]

I had some of my (original metal) Savage Orc Boar Boyz stolen within days of painting them and over the space of a few years had the Dwarf from Heroquest, a few random models that I forgot I had until I went looking for them (such as a classic 3rd Ed Wood Elf Champion, some Stormvermin, a couple of Undead and Empire models from abandoned projects) and some of the more useful parts from my extensive Bitz Box - part of which appeared opposite me on my gaming table on one occasion in the form of a half finished conversion.

The suspected culprit of most of these came back from Games Day one year with a box full of models taken from display and gaming tables, including a beautifully painted River Troll that he tried to sell to me on the bus back, most of which were useless for his WE army.

[SilentCivilian]

I had a bit of the opposite at one point. A friend of mine was commissioned to paint some models for a guy, but after doing the first 5 decided he could not be bothered. Sent the guy his stuff back recorded delivery with a return address just to be sure. The "customer" claimed he never got his models back and went on the forum for our local game group at the time and told everyone he was a thief and to watch our stuff around him. A while later we get a knock at the door of the house we shared it was the guys parcel which had been sent back. They guy had never went to pick it up so was returned to us. As i played the army in question he just gave me the models instead.

[Freakiq]

Our local club had a younger member steal some tru-scale Alpha Legion models from a member and repaint them as Ultramarines.

Me and another senior member noticed this and when the rest of the club when out to lunch we approached him.
He claimed that he hadn't stolen them his father had bought them for him during a trip to Warhammer World.

After 15 minutes of bad cop/worse cop questioning he admitted to stealing them and showed us where he'd hid them.
Once his parents came to pick him up we informed them of what he had done but made it clear that he was still welcome if he apologised to the owner of the models.

[Bassik]

We used to have a really big store where I live, and on some days it was rather busy. I remember a fantasy tournament I attended, I had put my Skaven Assassin on the space reserved for piles of dead rats, and when it was time to reveal the assassin, he was gone. People helped me look, but it became aparant someone had stolen it. I was a young lad, must have been 14, 15 years old, and I was devastated, all the hours of hard work were gone, because some kid (we established it was some kid that had mysteriously dissapeared) feld entitled to it.

Two years later, a new Skaven Assassin, the exact same model no less, got stolen again. I leave my assassins in my army case now, but I find it hard to remember them if I don't see them.

Also the store owner complained to me about stuff that got stolen all the time, so we compiled a list of everything, and it turned out most stolen stuff were from the high elf range. Sadly, we never caught the culprit, for the only high elf players we had were honest and trustworthy.

[Graeme]

When I was a young ‘un (this must be at least 15 years ago now...) I took my Eldar army to a local games club held in a scout hall or somesuch and some thieving git helped himself to a handful of my RT harlequins. They were my favourite models and by far my best-painted and I was genuinely distraught for about a month. It was the first time I’d ever played outside of school and people’s houses and so for years afterwards I’d only play with friends.

Heh, it’s making me a bit sad just thinking about it again!

[Geep]

To be honest thats worse than what the guy did to you, blatantly stealing his possesions for 2 years?? yeah nice....

I never said what happened to the other guy was right- I didn't think it was, which is why I never stole any of his stuff myself. By the time it reached me it was in no condition to be of use to anyone. I do think it's important to point out why others felt justified in treating this guy the way they did.

I'm pretty paranoid over my models, and any model I've borrowed, etc.- I don't game in the local GW store due to the multiple thefts I know have ocurred there (full figure cases, single army models and things still in packaging).

For a while there was a Termagaunt in a local body-piercing shop used to display a ring- the model being pretty clearly from an Assault on Macragge display the local GW had made. No one seemed to care when informed.