How do you feel about people touching your collection?

[suspsy]

Had a friend over today with her six-year old son who likes dinosaurs. I was happy to show off my collection to him and let him examine some of the toys up close, but at the same time, I was poised to gently dissuade him if he started banging them together. And later, after they'd left, I went back downstairs and carefully arranged all the toys back in their exact spots.

What about the rest of you all?

[Takama]

Almost everyone knows not to touch my dinos unless i give the ok.    But then again, most of my stuff is in my room. I do have doubles and Older figures that i let others play with

[Reptilia]

I think I wouldn't let anybody touch my figures, and I keep them well protected. I gave a few models to a friend's son, but when he asked me to bring over all my dinos to show to his son and daughters I just declined. He's the kind of friend who you can tell anything, so there was no problem, and I'm more than happy to re-buy certain of my Papos every once in a while to give the spare copy to the little kid.

[UntidyVenus]

I have a few over sized silly figures I'm fine with people playing with, so to keep them from messing with my nicer ones I reach in and pull out the jumbos hand it to them. Usually keeps things at Bay ;3

[Neosodon]

I don't mind letting people handle my collection. As long as it's not some hyperactive 6 year old. All of my models are dual purpose anyways so they are meant to be handled.

[Jose S.M.]

I have a six year (boy) and two year old (girl) cousins that love to see my figures, he is very calm and just like to see them, she likes to grab some of the figures and place them in lines on the floor or the fishtank stand. Neither likes to bang them but with the girl I take the bigger figures and give them to her because otherwise she would knock all figures over. I know the figures are for ages 3 and older ,but since she only places them in one place to "admire the aesthetic result" I let her. Plus she doesn't like the "spiky" ones.
To be honest I have caused more "damage" to my figures since I'm kind of clumsy and have dropped a couple while dusting, worst case is the W.S. Iguanodon that got a big paint scuff on its nose yesterday  it's bothering me and I think I'm gonna have to replace it.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

i'm a control freak so i dislike anyone touching or moving anything, i'm very territorial.  I'm very careful about who i let into it.

[Dyscrasia]

I can't stand people touching my collection. That is why I use glass display cases with locks.

[Ravonium]

Overall, I'm generally fine with people touching my collection as long as they don't cause damage to the figures. I have a 7 year old relative who won't bang them together but will occasionally take some for his own thing.

[Silvanusaurus]

My figures are sacred objects that can only be handled by those who are truly pure of heart... or clean of hand.
No but in all seriousness I have pretty severe, often disabling OCD, and my dinosaurs and other collections are high on the list of things I try to keep uncontaminated and clean, even to touch them myself requires certain protective measures (for the figures), so other people doing so is cause of great concern. Buying second hand 'used' figures means lots of cleaning! It's pretty ridiculous, but hey, that's mental illness for you.

[Nanuqsaurus]

Haha this thread suggests I actually know other people.

[Lanthanotus]

i'm a control freak so i dislike anyone touching or moving anything, i'm very territorial.  I'm very careful about who i let into it.

... says the guy with the free access backyard (sorry, Chris, I couldn't resist )

Half of my collection is stoed away in the attic, so no "danger" there anyway, the other half is on display, but for the most part very high up on a shelf and in a closed cabinet, so anyone interested in handling would usually ask. Most time that's the case for my son who has a particular interest in several figures as Bullyland's Ammonite, Schleich's big Apatosaurus or CollectA's Deluxe Kronosaurus. He knows that he's always allowed to play with them, but needs to ask and handle them carefully and I act the same if friends of him are here asking for a figure. Those which are real toys (like Schleich, Bullyland etc, but not the likes as Kaiyodo or such) I give away and calculate in that they may experience a scratch or two. If it really bothers me in the end, I mend the figure with a bit of paint, but as of yet I feel all fine.

[BlueKrono]

I'm usually fine with other people touching my figures, as long as they're of an age where they're not going to carelessly damage them. I even enjoy letting others handle them when showing them off. For me "seeing" it is partly a tactile experience, especially with three dimensional models. A large portion of my collection already shows play wear, either from myself as a child or bought used. Pristine condition isn't as important to me as it seems to be for other collectors.

[Ravonium]

A large portion of my collection already shows play wear

With my other collection, same here.

[sauroid]

when i still had my figures on display shelves and still lived with my family, whenever there's a party/function at home (usually my parents' friends and their children) people would look at them to admire without touching because they were in glass covered shelves with lock. sometimes a pesky kid would want to play with or even take them home. i just tell them theyre off limits. well if i like the kid and he/she is a relative id get an extra figure among my minor damaged duplicates to give them to play with and take home. i had an experience with a very bratty kid who demanded to open the shelves and his parents was very annoyed at me for saying no to their kid and told me to give their kid the figures (i was a teenager then) but my parents promptly asked them to leave LOLOL.

[ceratopsian]

.... I had an experience with a very bratty kid who demanded to open the shelves and his parents was very annoyed at me for saying no to their kid and told me to give their kid the figures (i was a teenager then) but my parents promptly asked them to leave LOLOL.

You are blessed with super and supportive parents!

For me, the issue hasn't arisen as no one has actually wanted to touch/play with my models and toys.  However, if anyone did ask, my response would depend on who they were and whether I thought they could be trusted to be careful.  And regardless of how trustworthy, I wouldn't let anyone touch my resin models, rare/expensive PVC models, custom repaints, fragile items like Kaiyodos or items that cannot be easily and cheaply replaced.  And I'd be a bit twitchy about any playing, careful or otherwise, with my toys!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

i'm a control freak so i dislike anyone touching or moving anything, i'm very territorial.  I'm very careful about who i let into it.

... says the guy with the free access backyard (sorry, Chris, I couldn't resist )

Half of my collection is stoed away in the attic, so no "danger" there anyway, the other half is on display, but for the most part very high up on a shelf and in a closed cabinet, so anyone interested in handling would usually ask. Most time that's the case for my son who has a particular interest in several figures as Bullyland's Ammonite, Schleich's big Apatosaurus or CollectA's Deluxe Kronosaurus. He knows that he's always allowed to play with them, but needs to ask and handle them carefully and I act the same if friends of him are here asking for a figure. Those which are real toys (like Schleich, Bullyland etc, but not the likes as Kaiyodo or such) I give away and calculate in that they may experience a scratch or two. If it really bothers me in the end, I mend the figure with a bit of paint, but as of yet I feel all fine.

lol that's outside the house, the house itself is locked.. two totally seperate things      It does give me pause when I want to share my collection as a museum at some point though. 

[Libraraptor]

I have a closed cabinet for the more precious figures. It is taboo for my Kids and their friends to open it. On open shelves it is okay to touch them or take them out for play.

[Halichoeres]

This has been an interesting thread! Nobody brings children to my apartment, luckily (children are fine, but I don't want any and I am very happy to not have them in my personal space). So the only visitors who would be interested in handling my collection are fellow biologists, and I can generally trust them to be pretty careful with things. So it doesn't bother me when, say, a friend who studies Paleozoic fossils picks up a Kaiyodo trilobite to admire its gills, because I know he's handled priceless objects and they've survived. There was one time a friend drunkenly stumbled into a bookcase, but miraculously the only things that fell were Legos, and they can withstand any insult.

[sauroid]

.... I had an experience with a very bratty kid who demanded to open the shelves and his parents was very annoyed at me for saying no to their kid and told me to give their kid the figures (i was a teenager then) but my parents promptly asked them to leave LOLOL.

You are blessed with super and supportive parents!

thanks. i am more important to them than other people's children and their crazy parents.