To the IM Thief

[Madd Doodler]

To the person who stole the die cast 1950 R series semi truck off my table while I was vending at the International Meet,

I hope you enjoy the item you stole, however in your haste you forgot to take the box for the toy which contained the mirrors and an extra part. You apparently wanted this so badly that you had to steal it so I would hate it to be incomplete for you. Send me your name and address and I would be glad to send the extra parts to you.

By the way I was not the only target. I understand there were a few people who had things stolen. The thief also knew exactly what they were after as this piece was behind others and sitting beside a toy that was a lot more rare and expensive.

Aside from this one bad experience I really enjoyed the week in South Bend. The host chapter did a fine job, and my sales were good. The best part was to see all the wonderful cars and visit with friends old and new.

[2R5]

Steve , sorry to hear about this , as you mentioned it wasn't the only theft , I was talking to a vender not far from you who lost an expensive pocket watch. This is very unfortunate , it puts a bad light on all of us at the meet.
It was good to visit with you and Richard , always looking forward to the next meet.

[52-fan]

My brother commented on noticing another vendor putting his extra cash in a bag under the table. He tried to watch it because it would have been easy for a thief to take the whole bag while the vendor was distracted. Most of the people at the meet are just good folks there for a fun time, but there are who are out for a quick buck. I bet many of these things end up for sale somewhere very quickly.

[hausdok]

Hi,

That's too bad. Perhaps an investment in a surveillance system to cover your table from all angles would be worth the investment. Then if something disappears you'd have him on tape. You might never catch him but you could then post a U-tube video here showing his face so everyone would know him at upcoming meets. Sooner or later, someone will catch him. Thieves always get caught.

Harbor Freight has a pretty gpriceoice on a 4 channel surveillance system with DVR and 4 cameras. He'd have a hard time avoiding getting his picture taken from that many angles.

http://www.harborfreight.com/general-merch/security/4-channel-surveillance-dvr-with-4-cameras-and-mobile-monitoring-capabilities-68332.html

P.S.

Just edited my post for spelling. Don't know if it's an age thing but latedly I've been catching myself misspelling homophones and screwing up the spellings of verb conjugations whereas in nearly 40 years of writing for a living I never had that problem before. Bugger!

[Bob Henning]

Steve,

I apologize that this unfortunate experience happened in South Bend. I still cannot understand why people do such things at our events. I am glad that overall you had a good experience in South Bend. People coming and vending at these meets is, in my opinion, a very important part of any Meet. Please don't let this incident sway your opinion about coming to sell items. A few years ago I had a garage sale and caught someone stealing a pair of shorts off of a table of clothing that I had for sale. I am still shaking my head at that one. If they needed them, I would have given them to the person.

Bob Henning
Co-Chair

[JBOYLE]

Were the swap meets attended by many locals or casual visitors or is it primairly club members?

[Gunslinger]

A couple of years ago at a large community event I had a camera stolen from my car during the awards presentation. At least in this case, I don't believe it was car people who committed the act. There were lots of others walking through and meandering, so I've always assumed it was someone not of the hobby. I've never had, nor have I heard of a problem with the car guys at shows doing something like that. Argue about the judging...yes...but theft? Nope.

[JBOYLE]

...nor have I heard of a problem with the car guys at shows doing something like that. Argue about the judging...yes...but theft? Nope.

They'll argue for hours about winning a $2 trophy (and hold a long grudge about it)..but never steal a $2000 camera.

[stupak]

Steve: Sorry to hear about your problem. We were vending in the Singer Bldg and heard about your situation. I checked our table and everything 'seemed' in order. I told my Wife to be especially vigilant from then on. stupak

[LarkTruck]

Sad news indeed Steve. Excuse my french, but the person who did it must have pretty large ba..s,
seeing how you were vending in such a high profile spot. It's not like you were in a dark corner somewhere.
I always enjoy looking at all the neat stuff you come up with! Glad you still had a good meet.
Jim

[Bob Andrews]

CRAP! Steve, I can't believe you and I were just talking about this EXACT thing what was it, Thursday? And I thought I was just being a cynic.

Personally, I like the camera idea. Those systems aren't very expensive these days.

[Lou Van Anne]

Some 30+ years ago at the IM in Long Beach someone stole the windshield washer knob off the dash board of my '51 Champion during the car show.

[swvalcon]

Gunslinger. Your post is right on. I've heard of car guys sealing but not from each other at car events. It's kind of like when my son and I where doing the bracket drag race thing when he was younger. I tryed to get state farm to insure the car and they said no{because it went to the race track}. I told my agent how about you insure it when it's not at the track and I"ll insure it when its at the track. Told him I could let it run at the track and go watch the races for a couple hours and when I came back it would either be still running or out of gas but still there. Try that at a walmart parking lot.

[Skip Lackie]

I have been selling some leftover, relatively low-value stuff at the big Carlisle old car flea market, but don't want to sit there all day. So I've been marking prices and posting a sign that it's honor system and to throw the money through the half-open window of my truck. Most of my stuff sells for $1 - $10, and it seems like most (all?) people pay up for what they take. This spring I put out a complete set of 66 Toronado seat belts with a price of $100. Wasn't sure what I'd find, but when I came back at the end of the day, the money on my truck seat included a $100 bill.

[speycaster]

If and when they catch this scum do what they do in moroco cut his arms off my friend left his breif case on a bench there in morroco and came back a week later it was still there i know if i go to a show and catch some one stealing they better run faster than mr bolt