Have you had others MESS WITH YOUR TF'S AND BREAK THEM!?

[gamblor916]

BigTransformerTrev that is just wrong what they did to your stuff. They're guests in your house and should act as such.

If your rage is a source of humour just stay calm, and send them the bill for complete replacement at current value.

I've had a couple of TFs broken but only when I was a kid. Some guy broke Laserbeak's leg off and my cousin lost the clear piece on Grimlock's back. Small change compared with what happened to you.

[BigTransformerTrev]

BigTransformerTrev that is just wrong what they did to your stuff. They're guests in your house and should act as such.

For the 3 women last weekend, it was the FIRST TIME EVER they had been to my home. Somehow I don't think they would appreciate me coming to their home and messing with things on their shelves on my first visit (or 10th for that matter). I mean, who does that kind of thing?!

[gdmetro]

Despicable.
I guess some people are so disrespectful and self centered. If this is just a glimpse of their attitude I wonder how far they go in other aspects of their life?

I don't know how I'd react but I would have immediately shown them the door.

[Megatron]

Wow.. sorry to hear that BigTFTrev. I completely understand how you feel. Fortunately I don't know or hang around with anyone who is so disrespectful that they would just go into my Transformers room uninvited and start touching and breaking things. If that ever happened to me they wouldn't be visiting my house anymore, especially if they are not listening to my concerns or taking it seriously. (My family completely understands the value of my collection and wouldn't ever dream of touching any of it at all.)

I just get the impression that people such as the ones you encountered are so uneducated and self centered that they have no idea how to treat other people with respect or decency, nor understand how valuable Transformers (or any toy/model/die cast, etc.) collectables can be - especially those busts and statues! How would they like it if you started playing tea party with their precious silverware without their knowledge or permission?

Seriously some of us spend literally tens of thousands of dollars on this hobby... those people should understand that. Perhaps placing a lock on your Transformers room will help prevent any future misconduct if you can't avoid people taking an uninvited tour of your house in future.

[GoktimusPrime]

I also don't know anyone even remotely that bad in my personal circle of friends and relos. Perhaps it's because most of my friends are geeks who collect toys, comics, DVDs etc. themselves. But even my Mundaner friends would never dare dream of doing something like that... it's just so ... awful!

If anyone ever did do that I would absolutely expect them to compensate me. That's just part of being a responsible person. I once accidentally scratched someone else's Super Speedbreaker -- I gave him a spare loose G1 Sixshot as compensation. I've had some other people (adults) who've accidentally damaged/broken my toys and they've compensated me too. It's just the right thing to do! If you've done something wrong, own up and fix it. It's what we teach children.

[jazzcomp]

Sorry to hear BigTrev. Do these women know how much you value your collection?

For these women and others, they have no idea what your collection means to you. For them, it's just toys. They outgrew them and therefore is just rubbish with some sentimental value. Not really valuable from their point of view. Imagine if you told them about AFA grading.

I can see where they are coming from saying since kids isn't equal to toys.

For these casual acquaintances, I guess we have to set the house rules when they visit.
I usually lock rooms back home that I don't want anyone to access. Unfortunately in Oz, locks in rooms isn't the norm.

Not everyone has a collection. For me, since I don't know the value of stuff - i tend to be very careful. A simple vase could be very expensive. Even stuff at work that I use or equipment I could break could take a lot of money to fix.

If ain't mine, better be careful.

[Lint]

For the 3 women last weekend, it was the FIRST TIME EVER they had been to my home. Somehow I don't think they would appreciate me coming to their home and messing with things on their shelves on my first visit (or 10th for that matter). I mean, who does that kind of thing?!

Different people have different "boundaries", I remember having guests who thought it was perfectly okay to rifle through shelves, cabinets, personal belongings and eat anything they happened to find. If these differ from your own or even the 'majority' it can be VERY hard to understand this behaviour.

These people don't understand collecting and are most certainly fishing for a bit of humour from your reactions to them messing with your collection.

My advice, like others have said, is to put a lock on your study or set some firm ground rules for all guests. You have more than enough citeable examples of how idiots have cost YOU money. If they still don't understand, just ask them how they would feel if you just keyed their car. It's equivalent to the same thing.

[GoktimusPrime]

I think it's just a matter of respect. I don't care how much something is worth --you don't go and wreck stuff that doesn't belong to you!

vandalism /ˈvændlˌɪzəm/
noun
deliberately mischievous or malicious destruction or damage of property.
wilful or ignorant destruction
And of course, the Classical definition (from Roman times)...
ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable.

[jazzcomp]

Accidents happen so it's not always respect. Disrespecting someone deliberately is a cause to discontinue the friendship/acquaintance or whatever relationship you have.

I think the value is important. We brake something we can't afford to replace, it's a very big deal. If it's affordable/replaceable, then it's not a big deal. The big deal would be if it had sentimental value. It's not replaceable even if the value/cost isn't high.

[Fungal Infection]

Not a transformer, but my daughter broke my Centurions Jake Rockwell figure after being given it to her by my wife who thought it was a junker by virtue of the fact that it was just sitting on the floor on its own rather than being immaculately displayed like all my other stuff.

"You're such a perfectionist with displaying your stuff that I thought this was a junker!!!"

As much as I was pissed, I can't get mad at my daughter and as for my wife, she is right to an extent because normally I dont keep anything lying around in my collection room regardless of whether its a junker or not. So I guess she was only acting based on what she knows about me and my character traits. But yeah, some real c#*ts out there.