So, I received a call from the Police today (TF Related)

[Zippo]

Was at work, about 3pm when I picked up a call on my work cellphone from an unknown (private) number.
As soon as I heard this is <unknown> from the New Zealand Police, I asked what I had done. Thankfully nothing.

The person told me that someone had broken into my storage unit and they need me to go in at some point and see if anything was missing.
Had a bit of a conversation about what was stored in there - action figures and a bit of Lego.

Part of me thought that it could be have a bit of a practical joke, but I guess I will find out when I head in on Saturday (since I have to anyways)

[SharkyMcShark]

Don't forget to report your missing MISB Fort Max, MISB Overlord, RiD Black Fire Convoy, and AFA 90 Optimus Prime.

[SharkyMcShark]

Seriously though, that sucks.

You'd like to think that unless the thief was TF savvy he wouldn't have taken anything (or much) once he realised what it was.

[rampagesss]

Dam sucks to hear , hopefully nothing major was taken

would be funny if you went there with the police and you had stock-piled hundreds of megatrons and shockwaves

[GoktimusPrime]

Seriously though, that sucks.

Indeed it does. I've had TFs stolen before from being burgled...

You'd like to think that unless the thief was TF savvy he wouldn't have taken anything (or much) once he realised what it was.

In my experience a thief with no TF knowledge will target any toy that is in box - because to them that appears to be the most liquifiable. I was told by police that most thieves are junkies looking to make quick cash so they can buy more drugs and get their next fix. So all they care about is finding stuff that they can sell easily and quickly.

So because of this loose toys don't appeal to thieves, but any toy that is in box. Sealed or loose - they don't discriminate... remember that the thief is just rapidly swiping anything that looks valuable, they're not going to check if the toy is sealed or loose or what the condition is etc. Boxed toys look like STOCK, and thus to them equates instant $$$.

When I got burgled, all my Transformers that were stolen were in box. Nothing out of box was taken.

Examples of things stolen:
+ Original G1 Optimus Prime in reissue box - worn and incomplete (this was my childhood toy)
+ Original G1 Megatron in reissue box - extremely worn
+ Original G1 Galvatron in reissue box - slight wear, incomplete
+ Original G1 Ultra Magnus in reissue box - restored and complete
+ BTA Alert - Loose mint in box
+ BTA Broadblast - MISB (I hadn't gotten around to opening it yet! )

Examples of things not stolen:
+ All my MOSC toys. Of course, they're wall mounted which may have been a deterrant as the thief would have needed to climb up to get them. I guess carded toys appear less valuable than big boxed toys.
+ All of my exclusive toys -- BotCon exclusives, JafCon exclusives, e-Hobby exclusives, Lucky Draw Prize etc etc., none of this was touched despite the fact that they're probably the most valuable pieces in my collection. My guess is that because they're all displayed _loose_ which makes them look like any other regular toy to someone who doesn't know any better.

The thief just treated my loose toys as if they were absolutely worthless. I found most of my Binaltechs strewn all over the floor (the burglar must've chucked them in order to swipe my PS2 and DVD/VHS player which were on the same shelves at the time) -- and my BT Prowl was damaged as a result. But ultimately it was this thinking that saved my loose toys from being stolen.

About 11 or 12 years ago I got burgled in this small house where I had Transformers all over the place (bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, lounge room, corridors etc.) At the time I didn't keep anything in package and not a single Transformer was taken.

So in my experience sealed toys are more attractive targets for thieves whereas opened toys don't appear on their radar.

would be funny if you went there with the police and you had stock-piled hundreds of megatrons and shockwaves

Is Shockwave classified as prohibited in NZ?? It shouldn't be because it doesn't resemble a real gun -- it's a scifi/fantasy gun. Cos both Classics and Henkei Megatron are non-prohibited in Australia since they aren't modelled on real guns.

[SharkyMcShark]

Considering the above I'm glad that all a thief would find of interest in my Transformers room is two TF07 Dreadwinds and GF Backpack.

[kup]

My most valuable toys are also loose. The stuff that is sealed isn't really all that valuable except for a couple of pieces and even so, they are not prohibitively expensive.

So if I am targeted by a burglar and the mentality is to steal sealed toys, it would not be an irreparable loss.

[GoktimusPrime]

Not all value is monetary though. I was immensely upset at what the burglar had stolen... those original G1 TFs were toys from my childhood and I have precious memories of growing up playing with them.

While it would be expensive, I could replace a stolen exclusive toy. But I can never replace my childhood toys. e.g. I got another original G1 Optimus Prime since the theft, but it's just not the same because it's not my Optimus Prime. Having said that some of my exclusive toys have sentimental value too... like if my Lucky Draw silver chrome Bluestreak. I can't replace that... sure, I could _buy_ another one, but I could never replace the fact that I won that toy in a random draw competition from Takara.

[Deonasis]

That sucks Zippo. I hope they just busted the lock and saw nothing of value to their eyes. Damn I'd be mad, but I bottle it up well. Best of luck for tomorrow.

[optimus1]

Hope nothing bad has happened Zippo, I hope it was just an alert saying they have broken in, but got caught out before anything was taken/damaged.