Quote from: ggroy;414601Public beheadings.  Bringing back the guillotine as a form of capital punishment. :rolleyes:

People here have no imagination. Tie up their limbs and throw them in a shallow pool of leeches.

Quote from: ggroy;414601Public beheadings.  Bringing back the guillotine as a form of capital punishment. :rolleyes:

Just to point out it's not called guillotine. That bastard Frenchman plaigerised it. It's properly called a Halifax Gibbet.

Just while we're on the topic of theives.

That totally blows.  You have my sympathy.

I hate to think about what was lost from your thumb drive.  Thieves once stole a laptop that did have all of my gaming files and campaign material at the time.  Consequently, I started backing up all of that stuff on Google Docs or Dropbox.

Sorry man.

Quote from: Werekoala;414586Not asking for anything but lots of Black Bug Room sympathy and a few curses thrown the way of those fucking morons. Seriously, if you are running a game this weekend, have a couple of petty thieves turned inside out by some vile Dark Elder God for me.

Those FUCKERS! :rant:

Oh, yeah, I can relate. I can relate. :banghead:

Quote from: Hairfoot;414629Probably. I mentioned it because during my bookshop days I once filled an insurance order for a guy whose entire library was stolen by burglars.  Obviously they thought they could offload the loot, and this was before the internet was everywhere.

Did this guy's library have lots of rare books?

Sounds like the thieves possibly canvassed a private book collection (or bookshop) previously, and knew exactly what to take.  They probably already had a "buyer" in advanced to fence or sell the stolen merchandise.  Better organized than the typical street thief.

Sorry to hear about getting robbed, Werekoala.

Quote from: ggroy;414691Did this guy's library have lots of rare books?

Sounds like the thieves possibly canvassed a private book collection (or bookshop) previously, and knew exactly what to take.  They probably already had a "buyer" in advanced to fence or sell the stolen merchandise.  Better organized than the typical street thief.

Possibly some rare books, but the shop I was at didn't supply those anyway.  It was mostly non-fiction and a huge load of sci-fi and fantasy.  Strangely, they left a large number of textbooks, which have a far better resale value.  So, yeah, probably had a buyer lined up already.

Still, if a street thief can sell a laptop for profit, how much more effort does it take to find a buyer for D&D books?

Quote from: Hairfoot;414979Strangely, they left a large number of textbooks, which have a far better resale value.

I would have thought old textbooks would be almost next to worthless.  From friends who worked previous at a college campus bookstore, I was told that only the latest editions in good condition still have some resale value.  Previous editions and stuff older than 10 years old that isn't used anymore in classes, have very little to no resale value.

Quote from: Hairfoot;414979Still, if a street thief can sell a laptop for profit, how much more effort does it take to find a buyer for D&D books?

I would guess laptops are more of a "commodity" than D&D books.  Probably a bigger pool of buyers for stolen laptops than for D&D books in a particular area.

If they're familiar with the value of D&D or rpg books in general, they can make something from it.  If they're organized, they can probably try selling it to a place like noble knight.  Thieves looking for easy fast cash, probably aren't going to be doing this.

Quote from: ggroy;414987I would have thought old textbooks would be almost next to worthless.  From friends who worked previous at a college campus bookstore, I was told that only the latest editions in good condition still have some resale value.  Previous editions and stuff older than 10 years old that isn't used anymore in classes, have very little to no resale value.

As you say, it's only recent editions that fetch good prices, but those prices are better than second-hand fiction.  I didn't go into that much detail with the guy.

Maybe I'm crediting smash-n-grab thieves with too much initiative.

Talk with local stores that buy used books. Give them a list (maybe with pictures of the covers) of the stolen items. With some luck, you might be able to recover all the books when the thief tries to sell one of them.

Quote from: Hairfoot;415056As you say, it's only recent editions that fetch good prices, but those prices are better than second-hand fiction.  I didn't go into that much detail with the guy.

Over the years I've noticed a lot of second-hand fiction is around 6 bucks or less per paperback book, at nearby second hand bookstores.  For second handed copies of recent editions of popular textbooks, I've seen them for as high as $75 to $100 for something like a 1000+ pages latest edition of a calculus or engineering textbook.  Brand new, these same textbooks would be more than $150 on amazon.

Quote from: Hairfoot;415056Maybe I'm crediting smash-n-grab thieves with too much initiative.

They're probably too stoned and/or too dumb, to have that much initiative.  :pundit: