LEGO scam arrest

prof1515

I'm guessing in this case it was an ego thing. The guy was well off, he had a great career, was obviously a clever chap. But there are criminals who commit crime literally just to beat the system. It's some kind of game, testing themselves against the authority to see if they can beat them. Sometimes it's subliminal, but my money is on this guy just getting an ego trip out of outsmarting the law.

Well, it's not really just ego though that plays a role. It's basically narcissism. People like this guy literally believe that they're entitled to get what they want and justify whatever means they use to attain it as being acceptable since it achieves their goals, goals which are obviously (to them) a legitimate priority of the world. Politicians are often susceptible to this kind of behavior but he's in the computer industry and I've known far, far, far, FAR, FAR too many narcissistic people like this in that field. I'm not sure exactly why that's so though I think part of it has to do with the inability to discern that a well-paying occupation in which a person can achieve via their own self-taught skills (hence, not attained via someone else's superior knowledge) and ambition and in which the ultimate purpose is to direct and control the devices people rely upon (ever notice how often the term "God" is used in the computer field to describe levels of access or access profiles) does not mean that they're superior in any other way. They literally begin to believe that they're always right, capable of controlling whatever they want and doing whatever they need to to attain both.

samiam391

How many of you have been inundated with emails, texts and Facebook posts from friends/family linking to this story with the question "did you hear about this guy?".

Yes, gotten quite a few of those from friends and family. It seems to them, that if one person in our LEGO community does it, then we all fall under suspicion, or at least need to hear about it ;-)

seonadancing

Interesting pictures here.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/05/sap_legoland/

graphite

Bet he used fake barcodes to get all those sorting drawers cheaper too =)

littletoki

I'll bet that his house doesn't look very different from the homes of a lot of Brickset members. LOL.

I know that mine looks quite similar to that.

seonadancing

They make the Lego minifigs sound like it's made of ceramic.

There were 46 boxes of a lava-like Lego creature called Magma Monster, 35 boxes from Lego’s Indiana Jones-themed Pharaoh’s Quest, and 75 tiny Lego figurines.

rocao

The authorities will go through the process of trying to determine which items were actually obtained by the barcode switching, but a number of sets from the photos and his auctions were sets that were on wide clearance and my guess were obtained that way.

dougts

^ yeah, it's not as simple as the article makes it sounds. Also, to an "outsider", the description of his LEGO room sounds like some sort of illegal backroom den of theft and shady dealings. But honestly, other than the way he acquired some of the sets, there is nothing untoward there. I have a big closet full of boxed LEGO sets, tons of neatly sorted pieces in dozens of plastic storage bins, two scales, packaging materials, etc. Basically all the same stuff he did.

brickmatic

Plastic is cheap...very cheap. Yes...Lego does spend a lot of money on their high tolerance molds, but the plastic (material) used is nothing special and is extremely cheap.

Arguably, but the pieces aren't cheap. It's expensive to make them.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca

I dunno, guys and gals. After reading earlier the forum thread about everyones' occupations, and later reading about how many you are racking up huge collections both personally and for the resale market, I'm starting to have my suspicions as well. No one is above reproach! The witch-hunt is on!

Just kidding.

emilewski

I love one of the comments on the Wired article: "If convicted, as part of his sentencing, he should only be allowed access to Mega Bloks"

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

I'll bet that his house doesn't look very different from the homes of a lot of Brickset members. LOL.

I know that mine looks quite similar to that.

I doubt if many of us live in $2 million dollar houses in gated communities. But as far as boxesupon boxes of Lego you are right.

How many of you keep every receipt for Lego purchases. We do! I can prove 99-100% of all purchases, save for garage sale and flea market buys.

cynthilina

Well this is one of those things that happen all the time. For example this week this happened to me. Let me explain. I visit the walmart here regularly same with target and with Kmart and I have been stopped several times and asked about my reason for spending so much time in the Lego Isle. In fact I have had the stores check my bags in walmart after doing a price match just to be sure I was not scamming them. However I digress. In the last few weeks I noticed a few sales so I would go hit them up, something else I noticed was the same 2 guys there often. They were writing down items (something I had done in the past) to track pricing, so I thought nothing of it. So this week I seen the same thing yall did with the QAR and a few others and decided to get some sets. As I was checking out I got the QAR and one range up as $30 and the other as $79. I figured I had hit the jackpot but was a bit curious as to why they were so different. I asked about the sale price and the girl at the counter called the manager. My wife and I were taken the security room in walmart and asked about where we got the boxes from. I told the guy I had picked on from the front and one from the very back of the shelf when asked why I responded with " I am a collector so I try to find the boxes in the best condition" He said ok makes sense. He said they know that I am a legit buyer and that they had to stop anyone that had rang up suspicious. He took the box out and pulled off a barcode that was double sided taped onto the box. He said that the Walmart company, target and Kmart have been notified of a Massively widespread Barcode swapping of items in the store, not just Lego. He said what people are doing now is waiting for things to go on sale and then swapping barcodes. This makes the swap less obvious to the people at the register, and also to the cameras at the self checkout. Then another group of “random” people would come in and price checks the items to be sure they had the ones with the changed barcodes. They would check out with just a few items or so each as not to raise any eyes to them. He let us go with no problems and thanked us for the cooperation.

Unfortunately I was not able to get the $30 box however they did give me the other one for $50 for the inconvenience. Also I made sure that the managers knew who I was and that I was a frequent person at walmart. Most of the floor managers already knew me and let me in on some sale items before they were put on the shelves. Guess the point of the story is that the person in the news was just the first one to get caught, others are coming.

lulwut

I didn't think this story would get so big. Seems to be the talk among everyone. I thought this scam was too common to get this much coverage.

starfire2

Why can't "they" steal Barbie or Poke'mon? Why LEGO?

legoDad

@cynthilina...wow, didn't know this could be so widespread. Hope it doesn't put a bad light on the honest Afol's out there.
Good for you gettin' a discount for being honest.

Istokg

Geeze.... back in the early 1980s I was the only one buying up sets on clearance (Yellow Castles for $20 each... Main Streets for $19.... Knight's Tournaments for $7....) now all you Newbies are crowding the field with a few bad apples.... lol... ;-)

CCC

Interesting pictures here.

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/05/sap_legoland/

I find it shocking that Police are allowed to release photos like that - outside the house from public land, and so on will happen. But inside his house, presumably taken under warrant? He has not been convicted yet, and many of those sets may be legitimate. If that is meant to be future evidence, why allow public access to it?

cynthilina

Well at least we now know he had the stock. I have to say my house looks like that, I don't have that many Y wings but I have filled one closet and moved to another. I don't know why this is such a big deal, this kind of thing has been going on a long time. It does make things harder for the regular AFOLS.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

The fact that he changed the bar code on three boxes the day he was caught but only purchased one of those and put the other two back on the shelf leads me to believe he wasn't in this alone either.

As for the picture taken in his office, my guess is that picture came from a private party rather than the police. I don't think they would jeopardize the case by releasing that picture.

CCC

The fact that he changed the bar code on three boxes the day he was caught but only purchased one of those and put the other two back on the shelf leads me to believe he wasn't in this alone either.

Or he was trying to cover his tracks, and make the prices look legitimate. Change a few labels, and let someone else buy one first, or if the cashier is suspicious that the price is low, and they scan another, the price comes up the same.

As for the picture taken in his office, my guess is that picture came from a private party rather than the police. I don't think they would jeopardize the case by releasing that picture.

The photo caption says "Thomas Langenbach's home office. Photo: Mountain View Police".

doriansdad

As for the picture taken in his office, my guess is that picture came from a private party rather than the police. I don't think they would jeopardize the case by releasing that picture.

Jeopardize? I would say this case is as close to a slam dunk as you can get. No doubt he will plea guilty to a lessor charge, pay his fine and move on.

BoiseState

Showing pictures like that before he is convicted doesn't seem very smart.

Cam_n_Stu

I certainly don't condone his actions (assuming he is guilty) but the police releasing the pictures seems like an unnecessary intrusion of privacy and morally dubious ahead of a conviction.

Yellowcastle

Should we add the picture of his room to our ongoing "How to Store/Sort" LEGO threads? ;o)

jadedanc

@Yellowcastle LOL Love the question! Put a smile on my face today. THANXS!

nkx1

I certainly don't condone his actions (assuming he is guilty) but the police releasing the pictures seems like an unnecessary intrusion of privacy and morally dubious ahead of a conviction.

I agree entirely. While it's interesting for people like us to see the photos, you are supposedly innocent intil proven guilty in a court of law in the US. Since he hasn't yet been convicted, however damning the evidence, it would seem unethical (to say the least) to post photos of guy's house.

I can also foresee potential liability on the part of the police if, say, the photos attracted burglars to the house. No idea how that would be proven if a burglary did occur, but it's plausible a competent attorney could attempt to prove such a case.

BoiseState

He most likely is guilty, but showing photos like that could make it harder for him to receive a fair trial.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

The photo caption says "Thomas Langenbach's home office. Photo: Mountain View Police".

@CCC you're right, I missed that! My bad!

Thanos75

This is crazy....the guy makes more then enough to buy whatever sets he wants...Doesnt he know that all you have to do is wait till Target and Wal-mart have a sale?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/former-sap-exec-gets-30-212736486.html

icey117

His wife got him on a tight budget!

jadeirene

The guy wasn't just trying to get a LEGO fix. He was stealing LEGO (buying at deeply discounted prices using fake barcode labels) then selling the sets online. He was selling tens or probably hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of LEGO online.

pvancil27

Greed knows no limits.

CCC

Yes, it was not a lego fix, it was theft to make money by selling it.

And has already been discussed at length at the time he was arrested here ...
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/comment/82062

Pitfall69

Yes, and that article has holes as well. A $279 Box of Millennium Falcon "LEGOS"???

legogal

This shows that there are no limits to idiocy or greed in the US today...I can say this because I am an American.

AFFOL_Shellz_Bellz

Makes me sick that he wasn't made to pay restitution, or do any community service. Also what does it mean six months in custody? Whose custody? What a farce our justice system is at times in California!

Pitfall69

I think people's judgment was clouded by the mere fact that he was "stealing" Lego.

Pitfall69

I watch a lot of a TV show called American Greed. Recently, there was a story of a man who defrauded banks out of 22 million dollars. It really wasn't that upsetting because of my perception of banks in general.

dragonhawk

Pitfall69 said:

Yes, and that article has holes as well. A $279 Box of Millennium Falcon "LEGOS"???

$279 for Millennium Falcon ? Was he stealing from TRU ?

I noticed that typo too. It should have been LEGOs. (Just kidding people :D)

Pitfall69

Yeah, I caught myself saying Legos the other day. I'm not writing an article though ;) At least get the facts straight before writing a "piece" on a Lego thief.