The biggest thing you need to worry about are acts of God like
fires,
floods...those are scary. So, to prep for those, the advice most have given in here about an inventory and checking your home insurance policy is a must.
Not to mention earthquakes
those pesky basterds may not be that frequent here in the north of Italy, but I know that in all of Europe I practically live in the state where they happen the most. I'll have to buy a nice, solid house in the future, one with anti-seismic foundations would be the best. I hope nothing bad happens in the meantime.
Theft-wise, only a person who's into collecting could steal your figures "the right way". I mean, if they were to pick and throw every gokin they found in a box, they'd scratch the paint and break the plastic parts to the point where the figures would be almost worthless from the damage taken. If they wanted to do things right, they'd have to steal all of the toy boxes, too. Such a theft would probably take a lot of time, for large collections,
and a lot of patience. I'm not saying it's impossible, or that it hasn't ever happened to anyone, but.. it's kind of unlikely, isn't it?
Perhaps unlikely. But not impossible. And even so, a burglar would probably just grab the most valuable item
in a hurry and maybe a couple of figures just for the psychological shock you'll experience coming home to
find your stuff has been thrown around, damaged, or missing.
If any of your robots get stolen, it's likely the burglar has kids and will give the toy to his kids, or sell it.
Robot collections displayed in glass cases appear valuable if the burglar can get any money for it at a
local hobby store or pawn shop that might be interested in buying collectable action figures.
Especially if the burglars are a couple of college kids... the store simply has to look up the blue-book
value of the action figure before making a final decision whether or not they'd wanna buy the toy for re-sale
to make their profit back. If the stolen item were a DX Mazinger set (with the Scrander set),
that would certainly fetch significant dollars on eBay these days even if it came without the boxes,
as long as the set isn't damaged in any slight way.
It all depends on how smart the burglar is, and whether or not the burglar is aware of this type
of Collector hobby and its valuable assets.
If a local store or pawn shop were to buy the stolen collection (robot toys), they would handle
the transaction like an ordinary used comic book collection and call it a day.
High-value stuff such as electronics would have the pawn dealer requiring ID to register the
person selling the item, and run a serial number check to see if the ownership is authentic.
So, as soon as your stuff gets stolen, provide xeroxed photos with the item's serial numbers
to all your local pawn shops-- that way if someone walks in trying to sell an owned item
the loot will get checked.
Here in upstate NY, by law, pawnshops are required to run ID checks and hold the item for
a week or longer to verify whether or not the item was stolen. This would give the original
owners time to notify the pawn shops that their stuff got stolen, and then serial numbers
will be verified. The perp who sold the stuff gets checked by their ID, and they'll get caught.
...on that note, I worry about my chrome Mark Tilden Signature Robosapien-X simply because
any young burglar would wanna steal a Robosapien before thinking about stealing SOCs.
Robosapiens are more well known than SOCs. And, of course, my computer gear.
I keep serial numbers on all my stuff, and I engrave some of my stuff with my name initials
and SS#.
I live in a basement apartment with a rear entrance and a back alley... I never come and go
to/from my place through the front sidewalk of my apartment building. Like Batman.
Upon coming home, I can approach my place through the back alley from as far as three
blocks away-- so, my immediate neighbors and hood locals never know when I'm home.
If someone Really wants to case your place they will take their time observing you at
the times you leave your place to go to work/come home from work so they can learn
your At Home/Away schedule.
I don't even tell my roommates my work schedule, so they don't know what time I leave
for work in the morning and come from work in the afternoon.
My room windows face the front of the building, and I always keep them blinded with
sealed white shades against the glass, backed with black curtains behind the shades...
...you'd have to stare closely to see a faint light on at night.
Burglaries are more likely to happen if the burglar can see through your window and
realize there's no one inside (no body movement or presence inside your home).
Burglars will do their thing on sudden impulse once they realize no one else is looking
and they see something valuable through your window.
Until then, they can't just steal what they cannot see. Keep your shades and curtains closed.
If you're going away on a lengthy vacation, even for a few days, have your local
Post Office hold your mail and package deliveries for you until you return.
Or have a trusted relative or neighbor pick up your mail out of your mailbox and hold it
until you return.
A burglar can tell if you're away: your mail still sitting inside your mailbox for several days
is their cue that you're away, and so they'll have more time to break in and go through
your stuff more carefully and choosey.
zozo-mag
