Hello,
I hope this is the best place to make this post. I am a new member who has read the rules, and I hope this thread will be okay.
I am looking for information pertaining to the closure of Scanning USA magazine, and in particular the involvement of Alex J Blaha, of Aurora, IL. I know the magazine folded about 9 years ago, and that there are members here who purchased subscriptions and who I believe were left out of money.
First of all, I want anyone reading this who was ripped off back then, if you never did receive a refund and weren't able to reach Alex Blaha, he posts frequently on a Star Wars collecting website under the name Hoth_My_Fav. He can be reached there, at rebelscum.com.
Anyway, if you don't mind, I'd like to share a little backstory before I continue. I have been a member at the aforementioned site for 15 years with the same username I registered here as. For the last few years, Alex, as Hoth_My_Fav (since he has been adamant about hiding his real identity the entire time), has been posting there and generally annoying many members with opinions that go against the common mindset. About 5 weeks ago, he started a discussion that called out the ethics of a grading company that services people in our hobby. I did not like it, as he was bringing down the name of some innocent people due to him having an agenda against that company. I was able to secure his name from someone who had made a deal with him, and did some internet searching. I was surprised to see his name turn up here, and then saw the situation with his magazine.
It quickly became apparent that Alex was a hypocrite also guilty of taking people's money, the same as the situation he was trying to condemn against. Not being a person who takes scammers and thieves lightly, I created a thread that called his credibility into question here.
In it, I used a couple of old threads from this site as reference material, including this one.
Some people have called into question the accounts of what happened by members here, and I mentioned I would join this forum and directly ask the people affected, if they are still active here. Also, in the thread I linked, member af5rn posted "apparently he just slithered away like a snake in the night, with no warning, apology, explanation, or farewell to anybody. He even kept taking money from new subscribers after he already stopped publication." Is that last part true, and can be confirmed?
What I am asking is if anybody here who was affected by this would be interested in sharing your story in the thread I linked to from the other site. It would both lend credibility to what I have found out about him, and also give anyone here screwed out of their cash a chance to confront him personally. Also, can anyone confirm for me if Alex ever reimbursed anyone at all, or if they all lost their money? If anyone would like to speak to me privately and not here, please feel free to email me at iancowley@rogers.com.
Thank you very much for your time, and sorry for bringing up a near decade old issue.
Ian
I hope this is the best place to make this post. I am a new member who has read the rules, and I hope this thread will be okay.
I am looking for information pertaining to the closure of Scanning USA magazine, and in particular the involvement of Alex J Blaha, of Aurora, IL. I know the magazine folded about 9 years ago, and that there are members here who purchased subscriptions and who I believe were left out of money.
First of all, I want anyone reading this who was ripped off back then, if you never did receive a refund and weren't able to reach Alex Blaha, he posts frequently on a Star Wars collecting website under the name Hoth_My_Fav. He can be reached there, at rebelscum.com.
Anyway, if you don't mind, I'd like to share a little backstory before I continue. I have been a member at the aforementioned site for 15 years with the same username I registered here as. For the last few years, Alex, as Hoth_My_Fav (since he has been adamant about hiding his real identity the entire time), has been posting there and generally annoying many members with opinions that go against the common mindset. About 5 weeks ago, he started a discussion that called out the ethics of a grading company that services people in our hobby. I did not like it, as he was bringing down the name of some innocent people due to him having an agenda against that company. I was able to secure his name from someone who had made a deal with him, and did some internet searching. I was surprised to see his name turn up here, and then saw the situation with his magazine.
It quickly became apparent that Alex was a hypocrite also guilty of taking people's money, the same as the situation he was trying to condemn against. Not being a person who takes scammers and thieves lightly, I created a thread that called his credibility into question here.
In it, I used a couple of old threads from this site as reference material, including this one.
Some people have called into question the accounts of what happened by members here, and I mentioned I would join this forum and directly ask the people affected, if they are still active here. Also, in the thread I linked, member af5rn posted "apparently he just slithered away like a snake in the night, with no warning, apology, explanation, or farewell to anybody. He even kept taking money from new subscribers after he already stopped publication." Is that last part true, and can be confirmed?
What I am asking is if anybody here who was affected by this would be interested in sharing your story in the thread I linked to from the other site. It would both lend credibility to what I have found out about him, and also give anyone here screwed out of their cash a chance to confront him personally. Also, can anyone confirm for me if Alex ever reimbursed anyone at all, or if they all lost their money? If anyone would like to speak to me privately and not here, please feel free to email me at iancowley@rogers.com.
Thank you very much for your time, and sorry for bringing up a near decade old issue.
Ian
