Stolen Superman collection
09-14-11, 08:16 PM
#1
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Thread Starter
Stolen Superman collection
Mike Meyer, a 48-year-old resident of Granite City, Illinois, was robbed last month of more than 1,800 Superman comic books and collectibles worth approximately $4,000 to $5,000. Meyer, who receives Social Security for mental disability and supplements his income with part time work at McDonald's, was the victim of an unscrupulous former co-worker who created a ruse to distract the handicapped man while he absconded with the comics, action figures and other collectibles. Granite City police are presently investigating the robbery.
Writing for St. Louis' STLToday.com, Jennifer Mann tells a story that would make even the worst comic book villain seethe with rage. A man called Gary with whom Meyer used to work at another fast food restaurant ingratiated himself to Meyer during a recent encounter at a comic book store. Meyer invited Gary into his home to inspect the collection, and Gary specifically asked to see the "most precious" comics. The man returned the next night with a woman he identified as his girlfriend, asking if they could watch Superman movies with Meyer. While Meyer and the girlfriend watched films, Gary "disappeared for a while." Meyer later discovered the theft and informed the police, providing them with what little information he had about Gary, who remains at large.
Meyer, whose father died when he was 20 and who lost his mother just three years later, estimates that he owned "pretty much every issue of Superman from number 99 to the present." Also missing are nearly 100 Superman action figures, a collectible Superman radio, Superman television set and Superman Monopoly game. Mann also wrote that Meyer owns a a hand-sewn Superman costume, which he hangs with a brown trench coat, just like Clark Kent.
Meyer said of the astonishingly cruel incident, "A lot of that was sentimental, and he stole that from me. He invaded my privacy, and he took away my peace of mind."
Gary is described as being about 35-years-old with dark hair and a goatee, and driving a silver or grey car. Needless to say, anyone who discovers any Superman collections like this for sale, particularly in the St. Louis area, is advised to contact the police immediately.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/0...-disabled-fan/
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-sup...,5068312.story
What gets me is how much of an asshole you have to be to steal from a disabled person.
Writing for St. Louis' STLToday.com, Jennifer Mann tells a story that would make even the worst comic book villain seethe with rage. A man called Gary with whom Meyer used to work at another fast food restaurant ingratiated himself to Meyer during a recent encounter at a comic book store. Meyer invited Gary into his home to inspect the collection, and Gary specifically asked to see the "most precious" comics. The man returned the next night with a woman he identified as his girlfriend, asking if they could watch Superman movies with Meyer. While Meyer and the girlfriend watched films, Gary "disappeared for a while." Meyer later discovered the theft and informed the police, providing them with what little information he had about Gary, who remains at large.
Meyer, whose father died when he was 20 and who lost his mother just three years later, estimates that he owned "pretty much every issue of Superman from number 99 to the present." Also missing are nearly 100 Superman action figures, a collectible Superman radio, Superman television set and Superman Monopoly game. Mann also wrote that Meyer owns a a hand-sewn Superman costume, which he hangs with a brown trench coat, just like Clark Kent.
Meyer said of the astonishingly cruel incident, "A lot of that was sentimental, and he stole that from me. He invaded my privacy, and he took away my peace of mind."
Gary is described as being about 35-years-old with dark hair and a goatee, and driving a silver or grey car. Needless to say, anyone who discovers any Superman collections like this for sale, particularly in the St. Louis area, is advised to contact the police immediately.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/0...-disabled-fan/
http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-sup...,5068312.story
What gets me is how much of an asshole you have to be to steal from a disabled person.
09-14-11, 10:07 PM
#2
Suspended
Re: Stolen Superman collection
The nice thing is that for every asshole like Gary, there's a ton of people who are kind and generous:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,7413862.story
EXCHANGE: Comic fans help Granite City man
By ELIZABETH DONALD Belleville News-Democrat
9:15 a.m. CDT, September 12, 2011
GRANITE CITY, Ill.—
Paging the Superfriends: Comic fans are flying to help a Granite City man who was robbed of his lifelong Superman collection a few weeks ago.
Mike Meyer is a restaurant worker who has a mental disability, but he lives independently in his Granite City house surrounded by images of his personal hero: DC Comics' Superman, friends said.
He had thousands of comic books, figurines and memorabilia, at least until he was robbed a few weeks ago by someone he thought was his friend. He told media outlets that he showed his collection to the friend, who distracted him with a movie and quietly cleaned out his collection behind his back. Unfortunately, he could not remember the man's last name.
But that isn't stopping the Superfriends of Metropolis. Their TroublAlert went off when a member posted on Facebook about Meyer's misfortune, and they're assembling to help.
The Superfriends are a Superman fan club drawn together from across the country, friends who meet at the Metropolis, Ill., Superman Festival every year. Now the Superfriends are arranging a massive international effort to replace as much of the lost collection as possible.
Coordinated by Keith Howard, of Belleville, the packages have already started to arrive.
"People could have just thrown some old T-shirt or hat in a box, but people are really personalizing this," Howard said. "I'd never heard of this group in Indiana or in Cleveland. ... People in Canada are sending me packages."
Artists are drawing sketches and autographing them for Meyer. Original Superman artwork from Paraguay is on its way. Fans are buying Superman items and shipping them directly to Belleville.
A California fan group has contacted actress Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves in the original TV series, for an autograph. Neill in fact met Meyer once, Howard said. When Meyer attended the Metropolis Festival several years ago, he got to meet her and stand in Superman's place beside her for a few minutes. Other celebrities, including Tracy Lewis of the "Superboy" series and Mark Tyler Nobleman, author of "Boys of Steel," are sending autographed items.
A comic-shop owner in Cincinnati -- hometown of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster -- is arranging a memorial brick from one of the creators' houses with a plaque for Meyer. They have offered to fly Meyer and a close friend out for a day's tour of the Superman museums and tourist sites there.
Local comic shops have been approached about donating merchandise. Other fan groups have joined with the Superfriends -- the cross-denominational Justice League Avengers of Indiana are coordinating their own drive to get Superman memorabilia.
"I was not surprised by the initial response from our group members because they're my friends," said Kristina Johnson, who began a Superfriends Facebook page for the effort that numbered 570 "friends" by Friday afternoon. It has been cross-posted in high-traffic sites like Blogarama, Tumblr, the Spiderman Crawlspace and The Nerdy Bird.
"Superman fans are truly a special kind of people," Johnson said.
And all this is still a secret from Meyer. In two weeks, Howard and several Superfriends will deliver the new collection to Meyer, in costume. Howard is a surgical nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and volunteers at Children's Hospital dressed in his Reeves-era Superman costume. He'll be in that costume to deliver the presents, along with his daughter in her Supergirl outfit and other fans.
"You see the kind of heart (Meyer's) got," Howard said. "He made a mistake, he allowed this guy in his house, and it really hurt Mike quit a bit."
But a close friend of Meyer's, Bill Smith, talked him into going public with the theft, at the very least to warn local comic dealers to be wary of memorabilia suddenly on the market.
"(Meyer) knows he's getting a visit from a handful of people associated with the Superfriends, but he doesn't know about the gifts," Howard said.
Meanwhile, Granite City police are investigating the theft. No update on the investigation was available.
Anyone interested in donating Superman items to the effort is asked to send them to Keith Howard, 920 Express Drive, Belleville, Ill., 62223. Superman items only are being accepted; no monetary donations.
By ELIZABETH DONALD Belleville News-Democrat
9:15 a.m. CDT, September 12, 2011
GRANITE CITY, Ill.—
Paging the Superfriends: Comic fans are flying to help a Granite City man who was robbed of his lifelong Superman collection a few weeks ago.
Mike Meyer is a restaurant worker who has a mental disability, but he lives independently in his Granite City house surrounded by images of his personal hero: DC Comics' Superman, friends said.
He had thousands of comic books, figurines and memorabilia, at least until he was robbed a few weeks ago by someone he thought was his friend. He told media outlets that he showed his collection to the friend, who distracted him with a movie and quietly cleaned out his collection behind his back. Unfortunately, he could not remember the man's last name.
But that isn't stopping the Superfriends of Metropolis. Their TroublAlert went off when a member posted on Facebook about Meyer's misfortune, and they're assembling to help.
The Superfriends are a Superman fan club drawn together from across the country, friends who meet at the Metropolis, Ill., Superman Festival every year. Now the Superfriends are arranging a massive international effort to replace as much of the lost collection as possible.
Coordinated by Keith Howard, of Belleville, the packages have already started to arrive.
"People could have just thrown some old T-shirt or hat in a box, but people are really personalizing this," Howard said. "I'd never heard of this group in Indiana or in Cleveland. ... People in Canada are sending me packages."
Artists are drawing sketches and autographing them for Meyer. Original Superman artwork from Paraguay is on its way. Fans are buying Superman items and shipping them directly to Belleville.
A California fan group has contacted actress Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves in the original TV series, for an autograph. Neill in fact met Meyer once, Howard said. When Meyer attended the Metropolis Festival several years ago, he got to meet her and stand in Superman's place beside her for a few minutes. Other celebrities, including Tracy Lewis of the "Superboy" series and Mark Tyler Nobleman, author of "Boys of Steel," are sending autographed items.
A comic-shop owner in Cincinnati -- hometown of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster -- is arranging a memorial brick from one of the creators' houses with a plaque for Meyer. They have offered to fly Meyer and a close friend out for a day's tour of the Superman museums and tourist sites there.
Local comic shops have been approached about donating merchandise. Other fan groups have joined with the Superfriends -- the cross-denominational Justice League Avengers of Indiana are coordinating their own drive to get Superman memorabilia.
"I was not surprised by the initial response from our group members because they're my friends," said Kristina Johnson, who began a Superfriends Facebook page for the effort that numbered 570 "friends" by Friday afternoon. It has been cross-posted in high-traffic sites like Blogarama, Tumblr, the Spiderman Crawlspace and The Nerdy Bird.
"Superman fans are truly a special kind of people," Johnson said.
And all this is still a secret from Meyer. In two weeks, Howard and several Superfriends will deliver the new collection to Meyer, in costume. Howard is a surgical nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and volunteers at Children's Hospital dressed in his Reeves-era Superman costume. He'll be in that costume to deliver the presents, along with his daughter in her Supergirl outfit and other fans.
"You see the kind of heart (Meyer's) got," Howard said. "He made a mistake, he allowed this guy in his house, and it really hurt Mike quit a bit."
But a close friend of Meyer's, Bill Smith, talked him into going public with the theft, at the very least to warn local comic dealers to be wary of memorabilia suddenly on the market.
"(Meyer) knows he's getting a visit from a handful of people associated with the Superfriends, but he doesn't know about the gifts," Howard said.
Meanwhile, Granite City police are investigating the theft. No update on the investigation was available.
Anyone interested in donating Superman items to the effort is asked to send them to Keith Howard, 920 Express Drive, Belleville, Ill., 62223. Superman items only are being accepted; no monetary donations.
09-14-11, 10:34 PM
#3
Banned by request
Re: Stolen Superman collection
I'd love to see the moment when they present him with all that stuff. That's so wonderful that people are coming together in support.
09-15-11, 04:56 PM
#6
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Stolen Superman collection
I'm the guy going, if you get your income from SS and McDonalds, you probably live in a small place. Other than the article stating he's mentally disabled, how do you not notice this guy taking all these things. The image in my mind is the guy and the girl sitting on the couch and the thief keeps making trips behind the couch with stacks of books, tv, toys. Each time the guy walks by with a heavy stack of stuff, Mike is like, "what's that noise" and the girlfriend is like "Mike, look over here. What's that dot on the wall?" as she shines a laser pointer on the wall. The second article even says it was done behind his back which just reinforces that image.
Why no last name for Gary? The internet would probably be able to track him down pretty easy.
Why no last name for Gary? The internet would probably be able to track him down pretty easy.
09-15-11, 07:16 PM
#7
Suspended
Re: Stolen Superman collection
09-16-11, 07:24 PM
#9
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Stolen Superman collection
Awesome! And good on Mike for being as generous as those who sought to help him in his hour of need.
And I was assuming that the victim probably was living with his parent(s) or in a group home. From the pictures and articles, he didn't strike me as someone who was able to live on his own (especially on a McWage).
And I was assuming that the victim probably was living with his parent(s) or in a group home. From the pictures and articles, he didn't strike me as someone who was able to live on his own (especially on a McWage).
09-16-11, 10:11 PM
#10
DVD Talk Gold Edition
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Re: Stolen Superman collection
Damn...I live about 15 miles from there and hadn't heard anything about this until now. Glad he got his stuff back and the thief has been caught.
09-17-11, 10:51 AM
#12
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Stolen Superman collection
Either way what's done is done and things seem to be better now.
