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When the Neighbors Don’t Like Your 10-Foot-Tall Transformer Statues
- vrtnis 3y agoSeems like these Georgetown statues were sourced from Taiwan, but there is also this Wired story where someone was building (much larger ones apparently in Thailand) https://www.wired.com/2011/06/thai-sculptor-autobots/ https://www.wired.com/2011/06/thai-sculptor-autobots/
- aaron695 3y ago> Dr. Howard did not apply for any kind of permit, despite Georgetown’s historic status and the fact that the sidewalk is public space. Public land, the end. Should not have done it. Moving past that, these places go for millions and are safer and have better schools because of the "historic status", but everyone wants those benefits but don't think the rules apply to them. Personally I like confronting sculptures, a graphic Jesus on the cross or Hitler. Do I get to do that, while everyone else has to be historic to keep my land value up? I don't believe these have their own Wiki page, they are bulk made and basically props from the latest movies, not even the original series - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(sculptures) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(sculptures) I would hazard a guess someone doesn't know the difference between Thailand and Taiwan. And the 'made from recycled parts' has always made me laugh even 20 years ago when I bought (a very small) one in Thailand. So many are sold they'd be using new stuff.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 3y agoYou appear to be shadowbanned. I have the setting turned on so I can see dead comments. I vouched for this comment, which I think will make others able to see it as well. On topic - I think if someone put up a Nazi statue in the neighborhood, the community’s response would be a little more direct. The homeowner might be too busy repainting his brickwork and replacing all the windows to try putting up the statue a second time.
- 0max 3y agoNIMBYism has gone too far
- ajcp 3y agoand this is the first flare of it for you?
- mkl 3y agohttps://archive.ph/Pj9ij https://archive.ph/Pj9ij
- kneebonian 3y agoSucks to be the neighbor who doesn't like it. That's the price of living in a free society putting up with annoying neighbors who may do things you don't like. But if it isn't actively hurting you they should be free to do it. And no decreasing "property value" is not a harm, property value is an entirely imaginary number than anyone can make up and change for any reason it isn't real it is fake and it isn't actual real material harm it is theorized future harm that may be done to you at some point in the future.
- bruce511 3y agoMost people (Not just Americans, but especially them) are obsessed with the value of the home they own. This is largely the result of the strong "you must own your own home" thinking [1], coupled with the pervasive argument that your home is an "investment". It would be helpful if people understood that most buildings require (expensive) maintenence. Most buildings depreciate with age (materials, style, wear and tear etc) and so the idea of "property prices always go up" is either a myth, or based on increasing scarcity. Naturally though since the investment idea is pervasive, scarcity is the obvious consequence. And by extension anything that affects value, in a downward direction, is by default a negative. [1] the root idea is that people who own will be more stable, and less likely to indulge in anti-social behavior, like say revolution, since they have skin in the game, and "too much to loose". Prevent rebellion against land-owners by making the rabble into land-owners. Which is solid thinking, and has resulted in very stable, socially-responsible populations. Who, it turns out, care mostly about property value to the exclusion of everything else.
- was_a_dev 3y agoThe attraction of owning a home is your landlord is the bank, who has set a long term profit goal on you loan. Not some landlord trying to extract futher value from your home. Since purchasing my home, my stress has evaporated. The freedom and lack of harrassment is priceless. Do I care about the future price of my home - no, because I don't intend to move in the mid-term, and my mortgage is just rent. I bought my home to live in, not to speculate with
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- profsummergig 3y agoAnyone know how he became so wealthy?
- oakmad 3y agoLooks like lots of businesses, investments and patents https://newtonhoward.com/rapid-4-d-imaging-focused-on-protein-folding-2-2-2-2/ https://newtonhoward.com/rapid-4-d-imaging-focused-on-protei...
- nico 3y ago> This is achieved by a unification of cognitive and neural phenomena known as the Fundamental Code Unit (FCU), representing identifiable patterns of brain activity at the submolecular, molecular, and cellular levels (intra-brain communications), as well as their manifestations in thought and language (inter-brain communications). Is this for real? I mean it’s a granted patent, but it reads like sci-fi Can you get a patent for just ideas/concepts that you think might pan out in the future, but no one has put into practice, not even the applicant of the patent?
- jachee 3y agoPretty sure that’s literally how patent trolls work.
- whimsicalism 3y agoWas also curious about this. I noticed he was MD for some finance thing? Could also be familial. I know a few very successful professors and they're rich but I don't think this rich?
- jaredhallen 3y agoIt must suck to have a cool neighbor.
- krick 3y agoWhat reading the article really reminded me, is that it sucks to live among people. I mean, one weirdo thinking he's cool puts transformer statues on what's essentially a public street in a lively neighborhood just because it's technically his property, some other dude cuts down some old trees in his actual own backyard, and gets harassed by his neighbors, because they apparently thought these trees are their family… Also, considering the length of the article (which includes mentioning the shape of Dr. Howard's glasses) the whole argument sounds oddly unclear about what is or isn't his property and what are the regulations. In place where I'm living rules are pretty explicit (and, apparently, much more restrictive — both with regards to what can be done within my own actual backyard, let alone on the public street). I always thought of these rules being quite annoying, but somehow assumed that they would be much more strict in, say, Seattle. Anyway, the only way to live a good life is to avoid people at all costs. Also, driving 15 minutes to say hi to your neighbor sounds fun.
- sircastor 3y agoIn the last year or so two very big, very old trees were cut down in our circle. Both were unfortunately a risk that the property owners didn’t want to deal with (one an issue with possible falling limbs, the other was threatening a sewage line.) While I understand that, the loss of both trees can have an impact on how the neighborhood is seen, and reduce property value. Likewise, I think transformer statues are cool. If I lived on the street, I wouldn’t be surprised if it affected my property value, and potential buyers. I would be annoyed, though. This is why people formed HOAs, and why people like them.
- sokoloff 3y agoThis is also why other people resolutely refuse to buy in an area under the control of an HOA. I’m in that camp, but I understand the other camp and I’m glad that both arrangements exist and help people sort themselves into more compatible neighbor pairings.
- krick 3y agoFunny enough, there appears to be a Transformers statue at "Birch The Plaza, 10000 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia"
- morder 3y agoJust a small correction but that's `Barricade` and not `Optimus Prime` on the right.
- Conscat 3y agoI was very confused when I saw that.
- jeffhwang 3y agoThank you! This has been bugging me and the references I found online to Newton Howard all seem to refer to the blue robot as "Optimus Prime". I know Howard is not necessarily a fan of the toys/shows/movies. But c'mon, if you're gonna troll the neighborhood, at least know the names of the robots you're using. Also, Optimus is the most well-known of all the Transformers. How could he (and the news media) get this so wrong?
- bredren 3y agoThis made me think of the 2018 novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Not the highest rated book but has (had?) some interesting takes on social media. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Absolutely_Remarkable_Thing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Absolutely_Remarkable_Thing
- Rebelgecko 3y agoReminds me of Kenny Irwin[1], who wasn't allowed to show people his giant robot sculptures because too many of his neighbors complained about how visitors parked along the street, littered, and lowered property values [1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/garden/pink-robots-at-the-gate.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/garden/pink-robots-at-the...
- chaostheory 3y agoReminds me of the Flintstone house in the SF Bay Area. https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/06/29/inside-the-famed-flintstone-house-owner-florence-fang-shows-off-latest-additions-to-controversial-hillsborough-property/ https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/06/29/inside-the-famed-flin... She won her legal battle. Now, she added even more dinosaurs to her backyard
- aezart 3y agoI think they're ugly as hell and in poor taste but I also think people should have the right to do what they want with their homes as long as it's not dangerous. Although since they're on a sidewalk it's a problem if they're blocking public spaces.
- karmakurtisaani 3y agoThey're also free advertisement for a franchise owned by a multibillion dollar corporation. It's almost like being a useful idiot for a megacorp.
- archerx 3y agoYea, if they were original piece of art it would be cool but I would hate to be forced to stare at soulless corporate crap trying to masquerade as "art". I too would want them removed if I was forced to look at that garbage everyday.
- hytdstd 3y agoWhat? Clearly this man receives a great deal of value(>$50k) in having these statues in front of his home. Just because in theory, he's creating value for the franchise that he isn't capturing, doesn't mean he's being exploited. He's no more an idiot than a Disney fan wearing a Mickey Mouse hat or shirt.
- karmakurtisaani 3y agoYes, he's paying more than 50k to advertise a franchise. Sounds a bit idiot-ish to me. But hey, it's his money so it's not like I'll argue too much about it. Regarding the t-shirt, at least you get actual use out of wearing branded clothes, even though to me the same logic applies to an extent.
- lisasays 3y agoSorry, but that's not how things work. When you buy property somewhere -- you agree to abide by the all of the existing codes and statues of that municipality / jurisdiction. Full stop. In the case of this guy -- he's no just being an asshole, and guilty of poor taste. He's intentionally violating the law. Because he thinks he knows better.
- ineedasername 3y agoIf some wealthy person in the 1500's had put two replicas of the statue of David in front of their house they'd have had some angry neighbors as well. (especially if those neighbors were Catholics, which they most likely would have been) That's not to say that these statues are quite on that level of masterpiece art, but certainly an argument could be made that they rise above the level of kitsch (still a valid if less well regarded genre) into the realm of "legitimate art". In fact a reasonable argument could be made that they exist at the cross section of modern & classically-inspired art. Cultural icons raised to the aesthetics & inspiration of classical masterpieces. Of course I wouldn't read that precise intent into this owner's display. I mean only that, provided all laws are being followed, the aesthetic taste of one neighbor on their property probably shouldn't be abridge by the differing tastes of another neighbor. But if I was the owner, and trying to make a point about the legitimacy of my right to decorate as I'd like, I'd respond to neighbors' complaints with a few small fig leads satirically placed over the crotches of the robots. However I'm also unclear on the land ownership here, which probably matters: The article references the sidewalks as a public space, but what is the specific ownership of the land underneath the statues? Where I live, there are defined statutes regarding ownership of areas of public usage like side walks that are, nonetheless, nominally owned by the homeowner & home attached. These things can vary by city and state. In my area, rights and responsibilities are split. I am not responsible for maintaining the physical structure of the sidewalk, but I am responsible for maintaining its usability in the form of snow or other debris removal.
- bombcar 3y agoThose "pedestals" that they are on look as old as the building, and I suspect they're "outside the sidewalk easement" - they look like originally they may have had large flowerpots or trees in a pot or something similar. Later on in the article they call them "filled in planters" so that fits.
- elnatro 3y ago> David was originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, but was instead placed in the public square in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504. […] > On January 25, 1504, when the sculpture was nearing completion, Florentine authorities had to acknowledge there would be little possibility of raising the 5.17 metre high statue approximately weighing more than six tons to the roof of the cathedral. So, no, that naked man statue was going to be placed in a Catholic Cathedral (but the statue weighed too much). Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)
- vjk800 3y agoHow would one go about purchasing massive statues from one's favourite video game franchise? Asking for a friend...
- toastal 3y agoThis look a lot nicer than the Marvel Universe statues dotting Thailand. I swear every market needs a 10-foot Hulk statue or its status will get revoked.
- danparsonson 3y agoAh, so - I guess the neighbours (quite rightly!) prefer the original Transformers from the 80's cartoons.
- Animats 3y agoHe has enough money to have real transformers made. This group could probably do it. They built the power loader from Aliens.[1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPQO8F3RpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPQO8F3RpE
- WheelsAtLarge 3y agoI'm surprised someone hasn't gone after him over copyright or trademark infringement. I suspect no one asked the toy companies that own the rights for permission. But I'm only guessing.
- newjersey 3y ago> But that was “The Exorcist.” A film. (Maybe?) An old movie, at least. The “Transformers” franchise, which has grossed more than $5 billion across six films, was more like … I.P. (Michael Bay, the “Transformers” producer, declined to comment on Dr. Howard’s decorating choices or the neighbors’ reaction.) I imagine at USD 25k a pop, he has the whole IP thing squared away.
- drewcoo 3y agoIt's not as if the guy is staging Transformers porn, somehow damaging the children's toy brand. What would Mattel say to him? "Cease and desist advertising the Transformers for us for free unless you also pay for the privilege?"
- pvaldes 3y agoMeanwhile in Spain... http://elprimerpaso.es/2012/10/la-estatua-gigante-de-mazinger-z-de-tarragona/ http://elprimerpaso.es/2012/10/la-estatua-gigante-de-mazinge...
- eggy 3y agoLet's see what the objecting neighbors say when the Decepticons alighting from triangle-shaped UAP/UFOs start ripping up their quaint neighborhood, and Barricade, Optimums Prime, and Bumble Bee are banned from the neighborhood!