What do you tell strangers when they come over?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

The best way to explain it is "these are toys for men". It is no different to explaining that a comic book from the 50s of a popular icon is worth lots due to rarity or how signed copies of an album might fetch high price or rare vintage videogames that are out of print are important to collectors.

They don't have to understand, just realise that in the world of fandom things are valuable to people who think money is not as important as the thing they buy it with. It's not like you have a gambling addiction or doing something illegal.

You are a man child. lol You consider it normal human behaviour. And that it is part of who you are like old guys who collect trains, gun collectors who collect guns, or book worms who have large selection of books that are not easily obtainable anymore.

Punch them in the face if they disagree with you. That will make them understand you are not sick person that needs help. Just in love with the valkyrie toys which you value more than your children, pets, partner and will guard with your very life if they ever try to steal them. They will probably be buried with you in your coffin after your death and if a grave robber decides to take your VF-1 off your hands, a great curse will come upon them and their families that last until the end of days.

Ok that was a bit extreme.

Maybe the curse will be lifted after 10 generations if they only took a banpresto valkyrie. You are a reasonable person.

Edited July 24, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[SuperSenpai]

I keep my toy collection in my office, which is in the basement. I also generally keep the office door closed when we have visitors (esp. if they have small children), so most people never see the collection. The only time people see it is when we occasionally give guests a tour of our house, if they happen to wander in after watching a movie (our theater system is downstairs), or if my wife says "You should see my husband's toy collection. It's pretty cool!" Generally, people react positively to it, especially the guys. Some of my wife's girlfriends simply say "My husband would love to see this." At worst, people might be indifferent about it. I've never heard anyone say anything remotely judgmental about it, but then again most of my guests have manners.

I think it also helps to elevate your collection if you display your toys in an elegant manner, like works of art or museum pieces rather than children's playthings, and if the room they are displayed in is well-lit and organized. It can make the difference between looking like an adult hobbyist or an overgrown man-child. Check out the Shelf Porn submission at the Comic Book Resources Robot6 blog:

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/tag/shelf-porn/

They're not Macross or even strictly toy-related, but some collectors have some really elegant and clean-looking set-ups. This is one of my favorites -- and proof that Detolf enthusiasts exist outside of the Macross toy collecting community!

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/06/shelf-porn-face-off-who-has-the-best-shelf-porn-you-decide/2/

[Ignacio Ocamica]

I think it also helps to elevate your collection if you display your toys in an elegant manner, like works of art or museum pieces rather than children's playthings, and if the room they are displayed in is well-lit and organized. It can make the difference between looking like an adult hobbyist or an overgrown man-child.

Couldn't have said it better!

[Damaramu]

... or if my wife says "You should see my husband's toy collection. It's pretty cool!"

My wife is under strict orders to never mention any part of my collection to anyone. I primarily collect videogames and I do have a small cache of Macross toys. They all reside in my office, which I keep locked up.

[Mommar]

My wife is under strict orders to never mention any part of my collection to anyone. I primarily collect videogames and I do have a small cache of Macross toys. They all reside in my office, which I keep locked up.

Why?

[Benson13]

I consider it a form of operational security. Some things are private. Plus you don't want your significant other blurting out my husband/BF has $15,000 worth of plastic sitting on his shelves.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

What I would do is to take pictures of all the valuable stuff so if someone does in fact break in despite all the locks and security and guard dogs that the ninja can easily bypass, you have some proof of what it is you owned. Police will be able to get a better description of what to look out for if you just had pics of what the things actually look like.

There is a lot of weird things people collect. Mantiques?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/antiques/9831625/Forget-antiques-the-latest-trend-is-mantiques.html

Valks are cheap compared to those other things. (ejector seat for 15 500 pounds?)

I got a friend who is into retro nike shoes. There are many vintage things from the past we can't obtain easily so stockpiling a lot of the old stuff makes logical sense. For me? I have a lot of vintage videogames that people wonder why I never throw away. They say to me "everything is available digitally now" and I respond that it's just not the same as owning the originals and first print. For instance what if the company that released it goes under and the license to re-release something expires??

They don't seem to realise that if a given thing is not popular enough in the place it first appeared in, you may never see it again. Don't get me wrong I like that digital downloads and retro gaming scene is big NOW, but it wasn't when I was into it. So what about those "dry periods" when things just are not around for you to download? Much better to own the actual games themselves and have them physically at your side imo. The younger generation that relies too much on digital copies will eventually get old and understand this later on.

Fans always have to deal with that fear they may never have easy access to something later on. That's all this is. Without Ebay I would not have had access to some of the vintage toys from the 80s. If an old show, game, movie was not well known, you are screwed.

Thankfully there are things that fans have kept alive due to sheer persistence.

Example was the cult classic rpg Earthbound on the old Super Nintendo game system only recently got released in europe on the nintendo Eshop. Why wasn't this on the nintendo Wii Eshop?? I guess that is why people pay such huge price for vintage games.

This is not the kind of thing that happens too often though. When a game isn't well received you are going to have to go through extreme means to obtain the stuff. (ie fan community translations of the titles that never appeared outside the territory it originally appeared in)

Edited July 24, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Benson13]

Wait, you DON'T have an ejection seat in your house? How do you plan to escape from your home in case of emergency? Do you not think of your family Lurker?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I have underground network of caves like Batman that I escape into so that I don't have to worry about floating down on a parachute into a dangerous area and be attacked by looters after a zombie apocalypse.

This is where all the gas masks and transforming robots are kept to keep me alive long enough to secretly transport all my hidden valkyries by underground rail network to a new secret base if the first base is ever attacked by raiders.

After a great cataclysm, people will have forgotten all about valkyries and preserving them for humanity thousands of years to come in order to remember them is top priority. If there is an emergency and you eject you are just abandoning your duty to guard valks with your life just to save your own skin. It's selfish.

The valks are worth more than you! How could you abandon them. Would you abandon a little baby in a burning building? These are like little babies crying for you to help them. If only they could speak.

Edited July 24, 2013 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Benson13]

Touche'.

[Kicker773]

Macross room - locked and only visible if accompanied by the curator. Usually no one asks what they are because they are overloaded by what they see.

It would be nice to educate them, but I don't have the time.

[derex3592]

LOL at this thread.

[Sebastian]

I hide them in one of the back rooms of my house. Rarely I show my collection to anyone...

[Reïvaj]

Guys, we need more Macross fans, it's time to come out of the closet and proselytize!

[VF5SS]

"GET IN."

[Jasonc]

Usually, I ask strangers if they want any water or something to drink. Then, it's business as usual.

[Kanedas Bike]

This ^

And those that do notice the items I have displayed call them Transformers and I'm far too impatient to even begin to try and explain the difference.

-b.

[Benson13]

I really wish out niche was as big as our hearts made it out to be.

[Graham]

Here in Hong Kong, it's pretty common for adult males to collect toy or model robots, so nobody even bats an eyelid at my collection.

Graham

[RT junkie]

I have a pretty big collection, but it's in my basement. I have a couple buddies who appreciate it. I tell strangers I have an Ebay store, and the toys are my inventory. I tell my father-in-law to mind his f-ing business.

[SaitouSad]

Most of my entire toy collection are still in their boxes, because the majority portion of my custom display cabinet still reeks of glue (or possibly formaldehyde.. I don't know). Carpenter says it would take 2 - 3 months for the smell to go away.

But when I do have my collection up for display, I'll probably just lock the room when guests are over... probably only unlocking it for a few peeps who give me less crap about my hobby.
When you have friends (best friends supposedly) who question your toy collecting hobbies, you learn to keep your power levels in check and not reveal too much to people...

[Benson13]

Give it a few more years guys. Women's fashion now includes Marvel Comics shirts. Chicks will be jocking our shizz because of our sweet Valk collections in the near future.

[skullmilitia]

Thanks for the intel Guys, I'm off to start my international Macross Heisting.

Don't worry, If I hit your place, I'll make sure to sign Ranka on the wall.

That way when the police go to find me, the Vajra will protect me.

[Guest davidwhangchoi]

i have to deal students regularly coming in and out. Once one of them told their parents what they saw at my place, negatively affecting my relations (affecting my job/income) that's the only reason i have to hide them. i even have to hide any violent games/movies around when conducting seminars/classes at my place.

unless i move to a bigger place and have a common room, i have to keep things boxed up in storage.

[Gakken85]

I really wish out niche was as big as our hearts made it out to be.

Nicely said.

[Ahab]

My wife and I are both artists, consequently our house and property is filled with sculptures, paintings and creative clutter. My toy collection pretty much blends into the surroundings. A while back, we hosted a figure drawing event in our home/studio where we had a nude model/acrobat suspended from the ceiling. I've never seen people less interested in my Valk collection...

[raptormesh]

My wife and I are both artists, consequently our house and property is filled with sculptures, paintings and creative clutter. My toy collection pretty much blends into the surroundings. A while back, we hosted a figure drawing event in our home/studio where we had a nude model/acrobat suspended from the ceiling. I've never seen people less interested in my Valk collection...

You would still find me fiddling with your valks in the background. After a minute or two of "studying the form".

[Benson13]

I could admire a Valk and the form at the same time.

[derex3592]

I think the nude model suspended from the ceiling should have been transforming Valks for sheer entertainment value!

[BlueMax]

I have my display wall right at my living room, and people who visit my place will see it right after they enter the door. For me, I proudly display them and like to show them off.

Even if they don't appreciate it the way I'd like them to, they still generally make a good ice breaker and a conversation topic to talk about.... though it won't be as interesting as studying a nude model suspended in the air....

[Gakken85]

i have to deal students regularly coming in and out. Once one of them told their parents what they saw at my place, negatively affecting my relations (affecting my job/income) that's the only reason i have to hide them. i even have to hide any violent games/movies around when conducting seminars/classes at my place.

unless i move to a bigger place and have a common room, i have to keep things boxed up in storage.

Elaborate. Sounds like a fun story! haha

[spanner]

I have to say that 99% of people who see my various collections of stuff (Macross, cars, bike, planes etc..) mostly make pleasant or encouraging comments about them. Hey its my hobby and its what I do!

There was this one time (only just recently actually) that a mate of my brothers was over and saw my Macross display and immediately referred to them as "transformers s%&t"..

I felt overwhelmingly obligated to inform him that they were indeed NOT transformers or anything of the sort but he stood firm insisting that if they do transform then they are just as he originally referred them as..

Then the argument of how much they cost started up with him telling me im an idiot for spending as much as I do on them.. and.. that I am obviously childish, immature for collecting toys and rubbish in the first place and should grow up and act my age.

I was quite surprised at how verbally aggressive he was about it.. My brother later apologized for his mates behavior and said that he can be extremely narrow minded about a lot of things..

As far as I am concerned he can go f@#$ himself.

Edited July 26, 2013 by spanner76

[Gakken85]

I woulda kicked him out .

[RT junkie]

You would still find me fiddling with your valks in the background. After a minute or two of "studying the form".

Wait, the "form" was a chic, right? Just trying to figure out if I'd be trying to draw the valk or the form if I were there...

[Benson13]

I have to say that 99% of people who see my various collections of stuff (Macross, cars, bike, planes etc..) mostly make pleasant or encouraging comments about them. Hey its my hobby and its what I do!

There was this one time (only just recently actually) that a mate of my brothers was over and saw my Macross display and immediately referred to them as "transformers s%&t"..

I felt overwhelmingly obligated to inform him that they were indeed NOT transformers or anything of the sort but he stood firm insisting that if they do transform then they are just as he originally referred them as..

Then the argument of how much they cost started up with him telling me im an idiot for spending as much as I do on them.. and.. that I am obviously childish, immature for collecting toys and rubbish in the first place and should grow up and act my age.

I was quite surprised at how verbally aggressive he was about it.. My brother later apologized for his mates behavior and said that he can be extremely narrow minded about a lot of things..

As far as I am concerned he can go f@#$ himself.

You know what that really was right? Straight up jealously. He obviously never had a childhood, hatched from an egg, and was never loved. On top of all that some ginger headed death machine stuck a firecracker in his Jetfire and he's been traumatized ever since.