Small Scale Military Headquarters

I called Michigan Toy Soldier Company today to inquire about Hobby Master prices as all of their future Hobby Master releases have disappeared from their website. They told me they will not be carrying this line for the near future.

Then tonight I'm browsing the Missing Lynx forum and see a post that points to some sad news...

http://royaloak.patch.com/articles/roya ... e-director

http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/26615971/index.html

TSHINTL:

Maybe Hobby Master dropped Michigan Toy Soldier.

Very true!

Wow! I hope MTS doesn't close its doors.....

i found it crazy that his lawyer was actually trying to justify this do to the economy

Yeah, this story has been getting all sorts of negative attention. I first heard about it over at the Treefrog Treasures forum about a week ago and shared it here. With so much negative attention I don't think MTS has much of a future, especially since most of their stuff is available from other retailers.

-Kevin

Too bad... What a shame. And actually, how stupid! He didn't think he'd get caught?! Stupidity or hubris or both...

Good riddance to MTS. Any company that would try to pull off a $200,000 fraud doesn't deserve to be in business.

And looks like the owner is facing a year in prison. And so he should.

to me, $189,000 in false charges seems like more than just 'trying to keep your business afloat'. It may have started off that way but probably seemed so easy to do, he just kept a goin'. How he could think anyone wouldn't notice that much money on their statement is beyond me.

Just because Peter Jackson is rich now, doesn't mean he always was, so things like checking CC statements would be an engrained habit from his not rich days. I'm surprised it had to get that high before he was caught.

The funny thing is, I've never been inside MTS, but I've been in their parking lot. This past August, I was in town visiting family and MTS was having a sale outside in their parking lot. I picked up a really cool Schleich cathedral ruin for $35. I still have it in the box. But I had to move on and I never went inside the store. Guess I never will.

Shame on him. Mich Toy is now on my no-no list.

Shocked and saddened by this…I have been a customer since they opened, and during the 21st Century heyday, purchased quite a collection from them as well as some 1/16 FOV Extreme Metal tanks. With the economy so depressed, especially in Michigan, I have watched five hobby-supply stores go under and MTS is one of the last holdouts . It is where I buy most my paint and supplies, and the staff are real good folks that you enjoy having coffee and talking military history with . This just sucks, what a shame, what a dumbass.

i have purcheased from them and always had a good experience but now im done with them

I have spent a lot of time in this store., and spent a fair amount of money. I have always really liked all the guys that work there ( not to mention the two cats - Stella and ... I can't remember the other one's name). For me, the sad thing is that the other employees will suffer, as will a local community that arose around this store front, all because of one man's foolishness .

What the owner did was reprehensible. I guess a desperate time calls for a desperate, foolish action. He will pay back the money and will go to jail.

In the past, I have ordered from MTS without any problem. As long as they have items with a good price, I will still order from them. If they do not ship my order, I can always get my money back from the credit card company. There is no risk for me. The credit card company will deal with them accordingly.

The only reason I am still willing to deal with them is that I was always treated as a value customer. I have no complain with their service. On the other hand, when I was just starting out collecting diecast, there once was a vendor (starts with “P” and not surprisingly, no longer in business) actually hung up on me. Not a penny of my tens of thousands of dollars spent collecting diecast went to that guy.

I have ordered a few things from them awhile ago. Wow! The thought that it could be my card , definately not as abundant as Peter Jacksons but nevertheless...

Cheers

Luke

It's interesting since this news became widespread, there have been no 'flash sales.' Coincidence?....

Scales of Justice...
Despite his pleas to remain free, a Royal Oak businessman is going to prison for 10 months for billing nearly $190,000 in bogus charges to Hollywood movie director Peter Jackson’s American Express card in 2008.

Richard Berry, owner of the Michigan Toy Soldier Company in Royal Oak, was sentenced Feb. 7 by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland, who also gave Berry three years' probation.


http://www.freep.com/article/20110209/N ... CFRONTPAGE

Sad, but justice has to be served. It's sad that he also has two children, his elderly father and six employees to take care of. I guess its over for him.

Rick will have time to think about it thats for sure...10 months in prison to be followed by 2 years of supervised release.
He also must pay restitution of $129,824.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland sentenced Berry on Monday, but delayed Berry’s imprisonment by 90 days to allow him to find someone to run his business

do the crime pay with time!
hes really getting off pretty easy