Thieves burglarized Iconographs, a Las Vegas autograph dealer that sells signed movie memorabilia and specializes in Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars autographs, on Saturday, May 20. The perpetrators took nearly the company's entire inventory, valued at more than $300,000, according to Brian Eick, the company's president.
Iconographs has suspended all ecommerce operations following the incident and is appealing to online auction buyers for help in recovering the stolen merchandise.
"The loss is staggering and almost incomprehensible," reads a statement posted on the company's Website, Iconographs.com. "At best guess 90 percent of our total inventory has been stolen."
Eick says the stolen merchandise is valued "somewhere between $300,000 and $400,000."
According to a police report, burglars broke into Iconographs' offices at 5045 Rogers Road during the night and disabled the company's security alarm. The offices were unoccupied at the time - members of the staff were in San Francisco, California, preparing to open a new store for the company's sister business, Antiquities of California, LLC., according to Iconographs' JulieAnne Sparks. No one was hurt during the incident.
"They were able to cut the wires to the alarm," says Eick. "We didn't find out until the next night, when the cleaning lady showed up. They basically had 24 hours to go through everything."
Eick believes the perpetrators were familiar with the autograph business. "Whoever did this knew what to look for," he says. "They didn't take anything that was personalized, anything unsigned. If this was just a smash and grab job, just somebody coming in to rob the place, they would have taken everything."
Iconographs lost thousands of pieces in the burglary. "As far as quantity, we haven't really determined that yet," says Eick. "We're talking about thousands of 8x10s. And, it goes on from there.
"We had a number of signed guitars. We had framed pieces, autographed, limited edition pieces that were hanging up on the wall. We had signed movie posters. Signed magazines. Signed 11x14s. It goes on and on. Everyday we realize something else is missing."
A Harry Potter calendar signed sideways by J.K. Rowling on the cover and a framed guitar owned, played and signed by Aerosmith's Joe Perry are among the notable pieces Eick says were stolen.
In addition to Iconographs' merchandise, Eick says thieves also took signed pieces sent in by private collectors for some of the company's previously scheduled, upcoming signings.
Iconographs has halted its online sales and auctions as a result of the burglary. "The inventory currently posted on the website is no longer correct," reads a statement on the company's Website. "Please bear with us while we figure out exactly where we go from here."
Eick says he does not believe the break in involves any of his employees.
"I've, really, for the most part, ruled out the possibility of this being an inside job," says Eick. "We're exploring the possibility that it was a former employee, or somebody else who knows what we do and how we do it."
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigators are working to solve the crime. Presently, however, says Eick, they do not have any leads.
Eick is appealing to members of the online auction community for help in tracking down the stolen merchandise.
"It's important," he says, "that we get the word out there on as wide as scale as we possibly can."
According to Eick, Iconographs has posted information on the company's website and emailed its customer database about the burglary. The company has notified all Universal Autograph Collectors Club registered dealers of the incident. Eick says he is also attempting to work with eBay security authorities to prevent the thieves from fencing Inconographs' stolen merchandise through the online auctioneer.
All of Iconographs' signed photos carry a white label on the back that includes item numbers and signing details, Eick says. The labels do not, however, bear a company logo or a security hologram.
Eick is asking collectors who come across suspicious items to call Iconographs at 702-796-5677, or email the company at info (at) iconographs (dot) com.
Sgt. Chris Jones, a public information office with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, suggests concerned collectors also call his department's Crime Stoppers hot line at 702-385-5555.
The recent burglary is not the only challenge Eick has had to deal with this year. In March, a fire damaged Iconographs' offices. While Eick says he lost little inventory in that incident, the company was "basically out of business for a month" and was forced to relocate to new offices.
As for the theft, Eick says Iconographs is insured, but the company's policy is "rather undervalued."
Despite the recent string of bad luck, Eick says he is confident Iconographs will survive and thrive, as it has for more than ten years.
"We're going to continue moving forward," says Eick. "We're trying to get back up and running."
Joshua Platt is a freelance writer who lives in Westerville, Ohio. A contributing editor for Autograph Collector magazine, he has authored "Auction Action," a monthly column covering autograph auctions, for more than three years. Email him at jrplatt2000 (at) yahoo (dot) com.
