Collecting disasters

emike · **Posted:** Wed May 04, 2011 10:11 am

Werecat wrote:

Then, the second incident happened several years ago. My young cousins were at my folks house (where I had stored all my stuff), and my mom let them play with all my ‘Joe toys that were safely packed away. She knew I was saving that stuff, and she knew the worth, but for whatever reason, she let them play with everything.

So when I came over to visit, I found my entire rebuilt collection scattered on my folks’ driveway, in their wooded back yard, and on the front lawn. Lots of figures had been scraped against the driveway losing paint (the worst was my A.V.A.C. who had virginal silver paint until he was ravaged by tiny hands and concrete). Guns, helmets, visors, and many other small pieces were lost in tall grass, several vehicles were missing parts or broken from rough play, and they even somehow lost an arm from that giant Star Brigade Armorbot when they were playing with it in the woods.

After that, I took all my ‘Joe stuff to my place and stored it away.

I've had nightmares like this.

Xenos · **Joined:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:07 pm **Posts:** 17

I bought a Dreadnok Stinger one day, and it was in great shape, but really dirty. Decided to wash it with dish soap, and as I was doing that, broke off one of the doors. Really annoying.

Breaker · **Joined:** Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:59 am **Posts:** 2

My worst was bumping my prize Sears M.S.V. Vamp off the shelf while making a (in hindsight) needless move to another piece, and having it hit the ground breaking the machine gun connector! I had that since I was a kid, never a mark on it, and then at age 38 I break it!!!

Man-Child · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2011 4:40 pm

My small tale is not nearly as funny or disatrous - but it's still worth sharing.

A little less than a year ago I stopped by a flea amrket a block from our house and there was a 99% complete in great condition Terror Drome for $30. Nothing broken, only missing 2 door gun stands and 1 door had a broekn hinge. I had a good talk with the guy selling it (he was a big time collector) and even though he knew it was worth a lot more he was happy to sell it to me. I was really appreciatve and looked forward to a complete restoration - one of my favorite things about collecting joe.

Now comes to the turning point. Up until now I haven't mentioned I have a wonderful nearly-two-year old boy named Jonathan. We're in an apartment so no joe room for me - had to put it in a corner of our bedroom. Jonathan was absolutely fascinted with the TD much to my horror. Especially being as young as he was, he patricularly enjoyed opening the doors...and pulling them off and into pieces...again and again. I kept tryinf to explain to my wife the importance of keepin out boy away from a toy in his own home but even i felt like an idiot just saying it.

At this point the TD is in storage and I've got to do another inventory to see what the state is. But I'm thankful to have it and him irregardless.

firefox91 · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2011 8:26 pm

kiddreams wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot one more. At the 04 Con Drew found me a near complete SEARS COBRA MISSILE COMMAND CENTER in a very nice box. I boxed it up and sent it back home through their UPS they had on the sales floor. So I get back in town and wait for it to get in. A week goes by and nothing. Another week and still nothing. So I have to call them and after an eternity on the phone they let me know it was in Tulsa but there was a problem. I was thinking no big deal because I had insurance. Well, I get to UPS and they bring out the box. It was smashed up and beat to freakin hell. I opened up the box and the Command Center's box and contents were also smashed to hell. I asked them what the hell happened and they told me I didn't pack it well and they were NOT going to cover the insurance. I soon filed a complaint with the BBB and to this day I only use their service as a last resort.

This is pretty much why I consider any form of shipping insurance a sham. It doesn't matter how well you packed it or how badly they smashed it, they won't find in your favor because they are judge and jury. I NEVER use UPS. Every time I get packages from them, they are smashed. I rarely have problems with USPS.

Loc · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2011 7:07 am

BFJ, Why don't you share your flooding disaster story?

Werecat · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2011 1:58 pm

siddarth wrote:

Werecat wrote:

Back in junior high I came home with ‘D’ in math, and as punishment, my parents threw away all my toys. My entire ‘Joe collection from 1982 - 1988, all my Transformers, all my M.A.S.K. stuff, all my off-brand toys, as well as coloring books, filecards, comics, magazines, etc. that was related. The only thing that survived, were my Legos, Matchbox cars, and a few of my Thundercats, as all of that stuff was stored in our den instead of my room. (My Thundercats would later be destroyed when my dad accidently threw them away back in 2004 or 2005 when he was house cleaning old stuff out from their storage cupboards.)

I still remember that day back in 1988. It took years and a small fortune to rebuild my ‘Joe collection, but I was never able to recover with Transformers or M.A.S.K..

Then, the second incident happened several years ago. My young cousins were at my folks house (where I had stored all my stuff), and my mom let them play with all my ‘Joe toys that were safely packed away. She knew I was saving that stuff, and she knew the worth, but for whatever reason, she let them play with everything.

So when I came over to visit, I found my entire rebuilt collection scattered on my folks’ driveway, in their wooded back yard, and on the front lawn. Lots of figures had been scraped against the driveway losing paint (the worst was my A.V.A.C. who had virginal silver paint until he was ravaged by tiny hands and concrete). Guns, helmets, visors, and many other small pieces were lost in tall grass, several vehicles were missing parts or broken from rough play, and they even somehow lost an arm from that giant Star Brigade Armorbot when they were playing with it in the woods.

After that, I took all my ‘Joe stuff to my place and stored it away.

There's a special place in toy hell waiting for your parents. You know the place where toys really do come to life.

Nah, my folks are good people, but old-school. They simply could not imagine little plastic toys could be worth more than the price tag on which they were sold for.

General Hawk · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2011 5:30 pm

My biggest disaster is still a little hard to talk about... :oops:

In my old house, I had a large display room as a three-season porch, which held my shelves of toys, lamps, etc... lots of stuff that I used for my dio-stories and such.

Well, one particular evening, I was working around a 6-foot standing lamp. I was using the AC Adapter for my camera because the battery had died, and was moving around the lamp to get a better angle. Well, the cord caught the lamp and pulled it right over... on top of my mint, complete Tomahawk.

With a crack, nearly every single propellor blade snapped right off and went flying in all directions. I just stood there with my mouth wide open, not even knowing what to say.

I still don't know what to say!

cmderinchief · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2011 8:02 pm

Werecat wrote:

siddarth wrote:

Werecat wrote:

Back in junior high I came home with ‘D’ in math, and as punishment, my parents threw away all my toys. My entire ‘Joe collection from 1982 - 1988, all my Transformers, all my M.A.S.K. stuff, all my off-brand toys, as well as coloring books, filecards, comics, magazines, etc. that was related. The only thing that survived, were my Legos, Matchbox cars, and a few of my Thundercats, as all of that stuff was stored in our den instead of my room. (My Thundercats would later be destroyed when my dad accidently threw them away back in 2004 or 2005 when he was house cleaning old stuff out from their storage cupboards.)

I still remember that day back in 1988. It took years and a small fortune to rebuild my ‘Joe collection, but I was never able to recover with Transformers or M.A.S.K..

Then, the second incident happened several years ago. My young cousins were at my folks house (where I had stored all my stuff), and my mom let them play with all my ‘Joe toys that were safely packed away. She knew I was saving that stuff, and she knew the worth, but for whatever reason, she let them play with everything.

So when I came over to visit, I found my entire rebuilt collection scattered on my folks’ driveway, in their wooded back yard, and on the front lawn. Lots of figures had been scraped against the driveway losing paint (the worst was my A.V.A.C. who had virginal silver paint until he was ravaged by tiny hands and concrete). Guns, helmets, visors, and many other small pieces were lost in tall grass, several vehicles were missing parts or broken from rough play, and they even somehow lost an arm from that giant Star Brigade Armorbot when they were playing with it in the woods.

After that, I took all my ‘Joe stuff to my place and stored it away.

There's a special place in toy hell waiting for your parents. You know the place where toys really do come to life.

Nah, my folks are good people, but old-school. They simply could not imagine little plastic toys could be worth more than the price tag on which they were sold for.

This was one of the single-most-hard-to-read-post I have read in a LONG time. I am proud you stick by your parents Chris. Mine, especially my mom, were the same way. She was a school teacher and didn't see ANY value in Joe, with the exception of the comic books, because to her, books of any reasonable form were acceptable. My old man was an Army vet and was a bit more understanding. They drew their line when the Flagg came out. But God bless 'em regardless - good folks/old skool.

Heh...this should be a Declassified article.

JoeDeclassified.com

Collecting disasters

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