Greg Zumwalt Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 I'm sure some of you have been wondering why I have been scarce lately... well, my move did not go at all well. But rather then get into it here, you may follow this link which explains why I no longer have anything Atari... http://snailsoft.cjb.net:20080/Wagner/Wagner.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 That sucks dude I would be furious and do whatever it takes to get it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chairmonkey4406 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 OOOOH DUDE! that makes my stomach churn! I've heard about your collection. But, I don't get what happened. Could you please explain the whole story if it doesnt bother you too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman_x_2002 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Hmm... verily this doth sucketh. Not sure what else I can say, except that I hate to hear of this. Still, I do hope you find all your stuff... and soon! I wish you much success and luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Zumwalt Posted January 4, 2004 Author Share Posted January 4, 2004 Actually, it does bother me a lot right now, so I'll give you the short of it... I had to sell my classic car collection and home to pay off my sermounting medical bills. Had two choices, sell to a constructor of ill repute but who could get the money in the time needed, or go with a reccomendation from the neighbors, whom I trust, to allow a supposidely and seeminly nice couple buy the house for a little less. I went with the couple. It was less money but seemed a better choice. To expediate the move, much of my stuff was moved to the barn (more of a nice shed) so that I'd be out and they could get in right away. Soon as they were in, I was thrown off the property and told never to return. Numerous legal attempts to get my property failed and finally the neighbors reported they saw all my stuff being hauled out and destroyed. The place is outside city jurisdiction, so little can be done. The end??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 WOW, thats cold!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad2600 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 That's not fair at all. You should be able to sue them for everything they've done. It doesn't make sense that your legal attempts have failed. Damn. It goes to show how much you cannot trust people. I wish you luck in recovering anything from your collection. There must be a way to trace where your collection went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chairmonkey4406 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Man I am so sorry. That is terrible! I hope you can get revenge on those people or at least get some of your stuff back! Who knows, maybe your neighbors were wrong about your stuff being destroyed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman_x_2002 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Hmm. Around these parts there's an old saying when buying or selling a house... from the seller to the buyer: "If it ain't nailed down, it ain't yours, and it's coming with me!" Now I'd say that this stuff is definitely rightfully yours, and you have every right in the world to seek legal satisfaction from these people. I don't think there's a judge in the land that would probably rule against you, as long as you can show some proof that these people are the ones that destroyed your stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Hmm. Around these parts there's an old saying when buying or selling a house... from the seller to the buyer: "If it ain't nailed down, it ain't yours, and it's coming with me!" Or if you have ever seen the movie "Moving" with Richard Pryor. That is a funny damn movie, but it sucks having anything that you owned being stolen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Hey Greg: Oh man - I'm sorry about your unfortunate incidents. Maybe some of us can help get your collection going again? I have 3 HES / Activision carts (Sports Pack, Action Pack, and Smash Hit Pack - they're PAL, though) and a handful of doubles I'd be willing to part with to donate to you if it will help... The 'handful of doubles' are Adventure, Asteroids, Haunted House, Superman, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and some others (I'm doing this off the top of my head as I'm not home right now) Let me know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendon Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Maybe some of us can help get your collection going again? I have 3 HES / Activision carts (Sports Pack, Action Pack, and Smash Hit Pack - they're PAL, though) and a handful of doubles I'd be willing to part with to donate to you if it will help... Let me know Very nice suggestion, PMP!! I've got some loose carts and a few boxed ones that I could donate also. Nothing rare, all commons. Can put together a list and would be glad to ship them along if Greg wants them. Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Greg Mendon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 The link isn't working for me (so forgive my ignorance), but it sounds very unfortunate. Have you contacted the county Sheriff's office, and/or a local TV station? They might find this newsworthy. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 The link you posted is not working for me, but from what you have described it sounds horrible. I don't understand if they actually had the stuff hauled out and destroyed why they wouldn't just let you retrieve the items in the first place? What a heart rending situation. I'm sure many people in the community would help you build up a new collection and I'd be happy to contribute as well.. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 OMG. I had to read your description of events a couple of times to take it in. It really staggers me (as a non US person) why (1) you can't get the same legal juristiction wherever you are in the US and (2) why the hell anyone in a civilized country has to sell their HOME to pay for medical bills! As a European (kind of), this just appalls me to the core. I used to have a vague desire to live in the US for a bit. Screw that. Why you people put up with being treated like that is a mystery to me. Sorry to sound preachy, but I am deeply shocked at what I've read here. Hope you get your stuff back/ replaced soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Be glad it's only your Atari collection that's lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 I have a Yar's Revenge, Berzerk, Pac-Man, Combat and Space Invaders (all spares) that I could send to ya.. Just drop me a mailing address Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad2600 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 I have several games such as Warlords, Joust, Star Ship(Yellow text variation), Berzerk, Basketball, Astroblast, Super Challenge Football, Mario Bros and Star Wars:ESB if you want them. I can help you out, Greg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Zumwalt Posted January 4, 2004 Author Share Posted January 4, 2004 as some of you can't get the the link, here is a quick copy/paste of it... sadly, Atari stuff was not the only thing lost... as to medical and such, yes, the USA has some of the worst in the world. And in the US, it is all business, so if you can't afford it or end up with large bills, you're screwed. My health problems are long term, so the bills just kept getting worse... finally, it was lose stuff to collection agencies, or sell. But enough about that... As to why Wagner chose to destroy everything rather then let me retrieve it is quite the mystery. The local police can't do anything as the land is outside city jurisdiction (remote country area), and the state police have to enforce the new owners claim that I'm a tresspassor, so they said take it to court. I have been trying to get news sources involved, but most feel it is too one sided a story and since Wagner refuses to speak with anyone, they'd rather not get into it just yet. For those offering to help restart my collection... I am very touched. But at this time, I don't know I could ever look at a system again. You must understand, I had over 300 games, several rares, dosens of systems, including a 2800, and well, right now, I'm just a whirl wind. Let me think about it a while. Again, thanks. =============================================== At first glance this may seem a bit out of the ordinary of what you may have expected to find here. No doubt, many of you will have found your way here from emulation, Atari, collectable, antique and simular sites. I ask you, to read on, and all shall be explained. January 1, 2004 For many years I've been know world wide for several of my collections. They included: Live audio recording of 28 Rock Groups 600 music cassetts 150 VHS movies 2 dosen CDs Most of these can never be replaced. Some of the recording I did (with permission) while touring with many of the bands. The material value of replacing these is estimated to be around $8,000 Pre Basic D&D collection including the rare white box set and paperbacks. Basic D&D collection 1st Edition D&D collection 2nd Edition D&D collection At an auction at GenCon in 2002, a set like this auctioned for $27,000 and did NOT include the Modules or my decades of created works. It also did not include my official TSR membership awards, signed by Gary Gygax himself. Complete Chessex Dice collection: Menagerie™, Signature™, Borealis™, Vortex Dice, Speckled Dice, Translucent Dice, Opaque Dice, Frosted™, Nebula™. Complete Crystal Cast collection: Complete Koplow Dice collection: Glitters, Pearls, Solids, Transparents, all Polyhedral (34) sets, Mages, Glow and... Misc other dice including jumbo and mini sets, adventurers dice, rune dice and more. 1 of a kind glow in the dark 100 sided from the owner of Koplow given to me because of my vast collection. Most of these sets can no longer be obtained. Together, they had a material value of over $1,000 2 1830's Spanish swords valued at $60 each 1 1350 Catana, Hanwei valued at $300 1 1502 Thistle Claymore valued at $460 (Pewter) Complete Grenadier Fantasy Figurines Complete Ral-Partha Fantasy Figurines Complete RAFM Fantasy Figurines 28 original castings Once insured from 1990-1996 at a value of $22,000 Most, over 1000, of these miniature pewter sculptures (many, less then an inch in height) are non replacible. 50 Lbs of raw pewter ingots: 90% lead, 5% tin, 5% antimony Hand and Dremel carving tools Molds (Classic electronic gamming systems and accessories) Odyssey 2 + games Intellivision + games Nintendo + games 3DO + games Sega + games 2001 + games 32X + games abc80 + games Apple2 + games C64 + games COCO2 + games Coleco + games Genesis + games Megadrive + games N64 + games Playstation + games saturn + games TI99 + games (Atari 2600-5200 consisting of one of the worlds largest collections.) This Excel database contains a complete list. The value of these pieces of American Icon culture of nearly half a century are priceless. (Family heirlooms) Photo albums containing some photos over 100 years old. Considered priceless as they have a full history. Fortunately, most of them were made into a digital album. Still, it is not the same as the real thing. Hamilton Railmans watch from 1902 17 Ruby jewels This goes back four generations to the original owner. The Clinton Watch company has its full history. This watch was in perfect working order. I had a second watch made by Hamilton 1968. Grade 925 Size 18, 17 Ruby jewels. However, it was not an heriloom. The first watch was valued at over $1,000 and the later at $200 Bibles brought over to the US from Germany at risk of death. WURZBURG Silver plated Flute-German worth $150 And then their are the miscelanious oddities... art supplies 20 years of celebrety autographs Over a decade of personal sketch work. paintings war medals 3 cent Stamps wedding photos and other personal effects RaVe items WWI silver bracelet Silver Certificates worth $150 yearbooks skeleton Keys electronic parts 200x telescope Clothing Computer Desk Automotive tools, ramps, compressor 18 Glass fish Rolling toolbox containing various electron testing tools. 5 channel FM X-Ceivers So, what you may ask do all of these things have in common, aside from having been mine? Jason Wagner of Valders Wisconsin, destroyed them all!!! 3416 Thompkins Rd, cell # 1-920-323-1150 Why did he do it? It still remains something of a mystery, as he refuses to this day to speak to anyone, including the police. However, you can read this letter that was sent him which explains some of the circumstances. Notice As you surmise, he still refuses to acknowledge to this day. The forms were filed with the insurance company, but it could be months, even years before Wagner is brough to court. And then, the best I could hope would be a monitary compensation... and that will simply not do. Further, Wagner had to take out several loans just to get the house, so I KNOW he hasn't got any money to take. This man and his families crimes must be made know. In all, he has destroyed or stollen over $50,000 worth of art, antiques, collectables, books and more... over a century of my family history... and a half a century of American culture. The final insult and injury... Wagner has effectively destroyed my Last Will and Testament. An Executioner is a destroyer of Historical items; a devil is a liar and deciever; Wagner has disgraced his family name and is worse then both. From this day forth, let the name Wagner forever be like shit on the lips of those who speak it. As much of this may have simply been stollen and not destroyed as reported by neighbors, I ask that people keep a close look out for anything surfacing. What else can you do to help? Direct everyones attention possible to this page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 in all honesty.. I would burn that house to the ground! I suggest you do the same! Just dont get caught;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyranthraxus Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 Well in the end its just stuff. I feel more for your loss of irreplaceable family photos. Its amazing how some people can be selfish stubborn assholes. I'd try approaching some local TV or newspapers. Such a bizarre situtation is something they'd cover. It might not get your stuff back but at least you could embaress the hell out of the guy so he could never leave the house. A more fancy website would help too. For a unique problem as yours you need publicity to put pressure on your local officals to get off their lazy asses. But I would downplay your music collection as live recordings is a sticky area like emulation that not everyone is friendly too. Regardless of the value of collectables and their destruction. Its the shoddy treatment you have recieved that is whats unforgiveable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Zumwalt Posted January 4, 2004 Author Share Posted January 4, 2004 Seeing how this "thief" in an act of what I can only call spite, has in most likelyhood destroyed all my systems, where does that leave me now with all my ROMs? Their is no physical evidence... This will likely be held up in court for months if not longer... Do I have to get rid of them too after 24 hours because of his actions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
povlok1 Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 ..hmm.... you smell smoke?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 As to why Wagner chose to destroy everything rather then let me retrieve it is quite the mystery. Well, it's probably more than likely he's mentally ill: people like that can seem pretty "normal", which is why they seemed like a nice couple, but then they can wig out, which probably also explains why he won't talk about the situation to anyone, since it seems like to him that it should be pretty obvious why he acts the way he does, yet no one else can understand why (which probably goes hand in hand with the paranoid delusions of threatening you with arrest for trespassing). Anyway, sorry to hear about all this, as this is a sad, disturbing story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avid Fan Posted January 4, 2004 Share Posted January 4, 2004 You ever see that movie American History X. I'd wanna make the bastard bite the curb for stealing my game shit, and give him a boot to the back of the head. Extreme. Yes, but stealing from PEOPLE is wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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