AITA: Buying a glass case for my figures to prevent nephew from ruining them?

A Redditor shared a conflict involving their collectible gaming figures and their 6-year-old nephew. Despite clear instructions not to touch the figures, the nephew damaged one during a previous visit. In response, the Redditor purchased a glass display case with a lock to protect their collection, which upset their sister and mother. Now, they are accused of being overly strict and unfair to their nephew. Read the full story below for the details.

‘ AITA: Buying a glass case for my figures to prevent nephew from ruining them?’

I (25F) and my husband (25M) are big gamers and collectors. We have an entire room in our house dedicated to having a shared space to play games. On the end wall we have a shelf where we keep our game figures we like to collect, figures like old Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures. We are currently working on completing both of these sets.

My sister who we’ll call “Jane” (23F) and her son/my nephew who we can call “Tommy” (6F) live two states over, which means when they come to visit they have to stay with my husband and I. I repeatedly tell Jane and Tommy that the figures in the game room are not to be touched as they are collectibles in the works. Jane brushed this off and let Tommy play with these figures against my request.

It wasn’t until Tommy broke the head off of my Violet from “The Incredibles” figure due to her neck being very thin compared to the size of her head, that Jane had finally scolded Tommy for touching my figures. This upset me so much I had to lock myself in my bedroom to cool off. All is well, as my husband surprised me with a new one for my birthday the month following.

Once they headed back home from my house after Thanksgiving, I decided I needed to take the extra step if my wishes could not be followed. I went on amazon and bought a large glass display case with a lock on the doors, like a trophy case you would see in a school. I neatly arranged the Skylanders, Disney Infinity figures, and Amilbos all on their own shelves.

Since it is around Christmas time, my sister has once again come to stay in home with my nephew. It was to his very unpleasant surprise when he entered our game room to see this newly locked display case. He begged me to open it so he can play with the figures and I repeatedly told him about all of the other games he could play. Jane says l’ve gone too far purchasing a large display case for my “toys” so I can, as she puts it, “lock up the one thing tommy enjoys playing with when he visits.” She also has our mother on her side, calling me to tell me to stop “b**lying my nephew.”. AITA?

EDIT: I do not want to lock the entire game room because my nephew loves to play our nintendo switch and sometimes my husband and I will also play Mario Kart with him. My nephew is very respectful of our nintendo switch and our other games. For some reason it is ONLY the figures that are the issue.

I don’t want to leave him bored at my house so I don’t want to lock the entire room. Another note, please realize that yes Tommy is old enough to know better but ultimately this is a result of my sister as a mother, not Tommy as a little kid. Thank you for all the kind comments/messages, I appreciate them all.

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

Apart-Ad-6518 −  NTA. I repeatedly tell Jane and Tommy that the figures in the game room are not to be touched as they are collectibles in the works. Jane brushed this off and let Tommy play with these figures against my request. So a clear boundary which your sister allowed her kid to breach. It’s totally ok you brought the cabinet. When your nephew didn’t listen your sister should have stepped up, been a parent & told him no.

It’s on her to buy those toys if he wants to play with them. Or stay at a hotel where they’ll have to pay for stuff he breaks. She also has our mother on her side, calling me to tell me to stop “b**lying my nephew.” So rather than do the right thing she ran whining to your mom. Her reaction shows why your sister is a huge A H & a complete failure as a parent.

SeamStressed1 −  You tell them you do not want the “toys” played with because they are YOUR collectibles.. she lets her son break one,, you lock them up to protect the rest.. she whines and complains because you won’t let her uncontrolled spawn break your things..  get a lock for your entire gaming room.. then nobody will have to see the offending case..  bottom line it’s your stuff, you can protect it .. if they don’t like it, they can get a hotel or stay with Mom.. since she thinks her grandson should be allowed to break what he wants.

No_Philosopher_1870 −  NTA. They don’t have to stay with you. There are hotels, so if the fact that you lock up your collectibles after her children get into them after being told not to do that offends her so deeply, she and her family can stay in one.

You don’t owe her child the privilege of playing with your collectibles. In her forties. my eldest sister got into Barbies in a big way. In her guest bedroom, she had a triple shelf that held well over a dozen Barbies, all in-the-box. She told me that she didn’t have to worry about me messing with her Barbies because I didn’t like dolls as a child, but when friends with children came over, she had to lock the room to keep children away from them.

Timely_Egg_6827 −  NTA. Tell your sister that the fact you and your husband put them up doesn’t mean she makes the decisions in your household. You made some simple requests and she failed to uphold them. So your options are either withdrew the invitation or lock up your collectibles.

You don’t care that her son likes to play with them. He broke one and your husband, not her, paid for the replacement. She should be frankly ashamed at taking advantage of your hospitality while telling her child to abuse it. I mean he knows you don’t want him to play with them but because Mummie dearest told him it was OK, he ran straight to them. If your house is so boring, he can bring toys from home or they cam stay in a hotel.

Joubachi −  NTA. Interesting how “enforcing boundaries that you set” is called “b**lying” by them, what a great lesson for their son. Honestly if possible I wouldn’t have locked away the collectables but the entire room.

Dominique-Gleeful −  Nta it’s clear Jane refuses to teach her spoiled child to respect other people’s stuff. Quite frankly I’d tell her to start going to a hotel if she can’t respect such a simple rule in your house.

n0shmon −  NTA. Your belongings, your choice. Give your nephew the broken violet to play with.

Different-Employ9651 −  Tommy should bring a couple of his own things to play with. NTA. I hate this stuff so much. I have a Hornby train set, built up over a long time. Kids are NOT allowed to touch it unsupervised.

rainbow-songbird −  NTA I have a 2 year old daughter and a 35 year old brother in law. They both love playing/building lego!  We visit quite often so we have brought a box of lego they are comfortable leaving there for her to play with. However if we visited less frequently we would bring some with us.  MY 2 YEAR OLD CAN UNDERSTAND THAT SOME LEGO IS FOR LOOKING AT AND SOME IS FOR PLAYING WITH.

Honestly I would be relieved if they brought a beautiful cabinet to store my brother’s finished models in because I do still have to redirect her occasionally because those are my BILs lego models and would feel awful if she broke any of them!

SuperPotato8390 −  INFO Does your mother not host them because your nephew is too annoying or did she find a better excuse? (Anyway nta obv).