This question comes from Adam in Melbourne:
“What’s the strangest reaction you’ve had when people see The Transformatorium?”
(Or as Adam put it: ‘the nerd shed’)
Well that’s a toughie, I’ve had at least a few hundred visitors to the shed since I first got it set up nearly 4 years ago. Some people travel hours to specifically tour the shed and sometimes fathers contact me, wanting to bring their sons for their birthdays. Conversely, sometimes it’s an unsuspecting tradesman visiting our farm, such as a mechanic or labourer, getting dragged in with a ‘Hey, you want to see something cool?’ line from yours truly. Usually I do the lighting start up sequence, where shelf after shelf gets lit from the bottom up, ending with ignition of the ceiling light. There is usually a lot of ‘Oh wow!’s followed by that moment of stunned amazement as people try to visually process what they are seeing, being completely enveloped by Transformers on every wall and even the ceiling.
Their subsequent reactions tend to be based on who they are and why they are seeing it.
People that know about The Transformatorium
Reactions from people who have specifically come to see the Transformatorium, or at least are aware of its existence before visiting our place on other business are pretty standard:
Those coming to see the shed tend to go very quiet after their initial excitement, wandering around getting lost in the thousands of toys surrounding them. They methodically work their way through shelf after shelf, seeing if they can spot any figures from their childhood.
Those who were aware of the sheds existence, but didn’t come specifically to see it, show bemusement a lot of the time. This is often the mothers of the friends of my children, who are dropping their kids off for a playdate or party, and have been taken in for a look. They seem impressed but also have a ‘why would anyone do this?’ look upon their faces.
People that don’t know about the shed
It’s the people that aren’t even aware that The Transformatorium exists (how that can be I do not know – the level of ignorance in society can be shocking sometimes!) are ones that give the most varied reactions, though the first reaction is always surprise as no one expects to see such a thing on a farm in the middle of nowhere. In fact only last week my daughters new singing teacher (a very talented young woman who has appeared on The Big DJ Trev Show before) saw the shed for the first time, as did her mother later when she came to pick her daughter up.
The mother was extremely impressed and spent a long time looking around the shed. In fact when her two other younger daughters were asking to leave after nearly half an hour she said ‘No, I haven’t finished looking yet’.
However when the singing teacher took a look, her reaction was almost accusatory. ‘How much did all this cost?’ I believe were her exact words. In that scenario I was the one that was bemused.
People online
Most people on the internet are very complimentary when they first see a photo. I’ve received all kinds of compliments, and sometimes comments such as ‘I want come live there’ or ‘will you adopt me?’.
Some people say it looks like a store which I’ve always found a bit odd, though I take it as a compliment as to how they are displayed. Other people react with questions, often about dusting but sometimes other things such as how many Transformers I have or the dimensions of the shed.
The Visitor Book
We used to have a carpet cleaning company come out once a year that was run by a husband and wife. When I showed the husband the shed he swore a lot (in a good way), looked about, then went and got his wife from inside our main farmhouse ‘Ya gotta f*cken look at this!” I believe were his exact words to her. It was actually his suggestion for me to get a visitors book. Let’s have a look at just some of the reactions people have recorded in it over the years:
“Wow, that’s a BIG collection. Dayam” Brendan – 15/11/2020
“Wow! Just wow, and I want to play with them” – Ronnie – 19/12/2020
“All I can say is WOW!! Just completely blown away” – Brett, 24/01/2021
“Coolest thing I’ve ever seen” – Patrick, 07/08/2021
“It’s bloody awesome” – Shane & Jodie, 19/01/2022
“Mind Blowing!! Keep it growing” – Michelle, 06/08/2022
“Wow wow wow!!! I can’t actually believe how incredible it is. Fabulous Job Trev” – Diane, 11/12/2022
“Amazing – ‘More than meets the eye’” – Pieter from Able Media Productions, 13/01/2023
“I loved listening to you talk about your collection. May it grow even bigger!” Ben from Mudgee Guardian, 19/05/2023
“Amazing, childhood dream come true” – Matt, Chester & Ashlee, 06/08/2023
“Incredible!! You da bomb Trev!” – Lisa & Scott, 03/02/2024
“Mind instantly blown, it took me back to my childhood. Amazing” – Michael & Wyatt, 24/04/2024
“WOWSERS! Oh my HAT!” – Petrina, 12/06/2024
The Strangest Reaction Ever
The strangest reaction I ever got, ever, would have to be from one of the operators of Dry Creek Farm, an awesome company that uses goats in order to clean out noxious weeds like blackberries in an environmentally sustainable way in the best traditions of permaculture. His reaction was – nothing.
Complete indifference. Could have been saying to him ‘Hey, look at this brick that looks exactly like those 27,000 other bricks over there, isn’t it great?!’ Didn’t like it, didn’t dislike it, just didn’t care.
I’ve encountered wonder, awe, shock, confusion, bemusement, amazement & joy. I’ve had people visibly impressed, dumbstruck, stunned and surprised. But never, before or since, have I had someone look inside the shed and have the same expression one would have looking at a piece of grass – just complete disinterest. Even people that aren’t into Transformers are either impressed with the scale of the collection they are seeing, or at least kinda curious in how it came about since its not something you see every day. But nope, not this time.
So Adam, the strangest reaction the nerd shed ever got was no reaction at all.
Cheers for your question.