Korvessa | 13 Feb 2016 12:27 p.m. PST |
As I get older (55) I start to wonder, just what the heck am I going to do with my hoards of gaming supplies? Like many of you, I have hundreds of books and thousands of miniatures. I have four boys, a couple of which will game with me sometimes, but none of which share my love of history. No idea what to do with all of this stuff when the end comes. So what are your plans for your treasures when you finally go? |
cosmicbank | 13 Feb 2016 12:31 p.m. PST |
I am in the same boat as you except 2 sons who don't game. I am giving some to a gaming buddy's Son and selling the rest. |
Extra Crispy | 13 Feb 2016 12:37 p.m. PST |
At some point I'll sell it all off. |
FusilierDan | 13 Feb 2016 12:38 p.m. PST |
It's a fluid plan. I will leave a project each to my children. I will take an Honor Guard with me. the rest hopefully cataloged by then can be sold off. If family composition changes between now and then I'll revise the plan. Of course I should right this down but that would require planning more. |
Waco Joe | 13 Feb 2016 12:40 p.m. PST |
If I see the end coming it will probably be a massive auction or a table at Historicon (unless it is in Baltimore ) If the end comes suddenly my boys know where to take the stuff and give away/sell. But I am still working with local zoning people on:
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Doctor X | 13 Feb 2016 12:41 p.m. PST |
Two sons, both game, one has painted quite a few figures. I plan on being around a long time yet so no need to decide now. |
wrgmr1 | 13 Feb 2016 12:41 p.m. PST |
Our group has an unwritten agreement that if anyone passes one of us will take on the job of selling the collection and the money goes to the family/wife. The person selling them gets his pick of any one army for the service. |
Project Vehemence | 13 Feb 2016 12:47 p.m. PST |
I've lost enough family and friends to realise we can go at any time, therefore I have a list of list of friends to receive specific items, and the rest to be given away free to whoever wants them. I hope for my last post-departure act to be one of kindness and generosity. 'Cept for my 28mm Romans – hell I want to be buried with them! |
skipper John | 13 Feb 2016 1:33 p.m. PST |
I intend to take my stuff with me… |
Old Contemptibles | 13 Feb 2016 1:44 p.m. PST |
Gentleman, I intend to live forever. |
vagamer63 | 13 Feb 2016 1:55 p.m. PST |
Another friend and I spent the better part of the last 10 months helping the family catalog and sell off the collection of a very close friend. He ran a retail business, a painting service, and had quite an extensive collection of painted armies in various periods in his personal collection. Biggest problems: The family believed they had a Gold Mine on their hands, so were asking top dollar for the painted stuff which was painted to an average wargame standard! Most (a large majority) of gamers, once they hear it's an estate type sale feel they shouldn't pay more then half the price of the bare lead! We managed to sell some stuff, and much of the bare metal went quickly once the family dropped the prices as there was a ton of it. However many of the painted armies are going into storage with the family. Most likely never to see the light of day, or a wargames table ever again! My advice: If you haven't played with it in a year – get rid of it NOW! If it's an army of bare metal you haven't laid brush to in the last 6 months – get rid of it NOW! If you plan on letting your gaming buddies and family deal with your collection after you've departed this life be sure to leave SPECIFIC Instructions with your Family, and the friends who will be dealing with the liquidation IN Writing, as regards your wishes of how, when, where, and/or how much! You never know when it might happen, so you should make a written plan NOW!! Having been through this twice with members in our group I can tell you it's not fun, and I will not do it again unless there is a written plan that is binding on everyone!! It's not FUN!! |
nevinsrip | 13 Feb 2016 3:02 p.m. PST |
I am about to become a grandfather, so I decided to sell off all the excess that I have and place the funds in an account for the baby. It will be a tidy sum when all is said and done. I'm not going to tell her (it's a girl) about it. I'll leave instructions with my daughter for the money to go to her after I'm gone. A goodbye present from grandpa. |
D A THB | 13 Feb 2016 3:10 p.m. PST |
Must be an age thing as I've turned 55 and have started to catalogue my collections. I have no children to pass them on to and no strong ties to a gaming group, so I guess they will have to be auctioned off when I'm gone. I do plan to sell things off when I get to a semi retirement stage and don't feel like playing with them anymore, but I will need a hobby when I'm retired. Of course if I die unexpectedly then I hope some of my past gaming friends will step in and help. |
Condotta | 13 Feb 2016 6:05 p.m. PST |
I'm sending it all to vagamer63. That's my plan, now written :^ ) |
Calico Bill | 13 Feb 2016 7:24 p.m. PST |
I'm 70, and unsure of what to do. No family interest. While I have a thousand books and hundreds of boardgames, no one is interested unless at give away prices on EBay,etc. MAYBE my Geo-hex, 28mm Orks & Bretonnians, 15 and 6mm Napoleonic & Ancient armies would be worth the trouble trying to sell, but not by much. Not big bucks for sure. So I most likely let the family give it to anyone who wants it, the majority becoming land fill. Sad. |
Early morning writer | 13 Feb 2016 7:35 p.m. PST |
Historical miniatures is a small hobby – very small – and I foresaw a decade ago that as we age, and we are – new blood aside, the available 'pre-owned' miniatures on the market will far exceed the demand. Therefore to see any sort of 'gold mine' in our collections is a mite foolish. There value will decline rapidly as time marches its inexorable way forward. What does this mean? Plan on those give aways mentioned above rather than on selling things off. Perhaps by giving these great quantities of figures, painted or otherwise, to the younger sets, it will revitalize the future of the hobby. Does this stop me from adding to my collections? No, though I'm getting very, very near to being 'done' on that front. So manufacturers need not worry. We'll still buy. But the used market will plunge – or so I believe. I once remember every convention had a table of repainted armies and they always sold. Haven't seen that in maybe twenty years. Now, no matter the quality – if you can find a buyer, big if – at a swap meet, the offers will border on the insulting. This is reality. Not for everyone in every instance, but it is moving that way. But no need for the land fills. If nothing else, donate to a charity that focuses on kids with an instruction that the items need to be put to some intended use. |
Winston Smith | 13 Feb 2016 8:32 p.m. PST |
Not my problem. I'll be dead. |
Wolfshanza | 14 Feb 2016 12:01 a.m. PST |
Yep, ah'm pretty much with Winston ! |
Martin Rapier | 14 Feb 2016 12:45 a.m. PST |
I have designated three friends (at least one of which I hope outlives me) to dispose of it all on behalf if my wife. There is a lot of collection disposal going on these days, and I have been the grateful and I hope respectful, receiver of some. |
freerangeegg | 14 Feb 2016 6:54 a.m. PST |
I have heard that as long as I haven't painted everything in the lead pile I'm not going to die anyway. So l reckon I'm good for about another 50 years at least at the moment, and I can top it up a bit more if I look like running short. |
vtsaogames | 14 Feb 2016 7:42 a.m. PST |
I've been selling Tom Loback's 15mm war game figures for his wife. Hopefully one of the Fencibles will render me the same service when the time comes. Anybody want some very nicely painted 15mm Seven Years War figures? Hopefully within the NYC Metro area since I would rather not deal with the post office. |
nazrat | 14 Feb 2016 9:22 a.m. PST |
I'll be dead. Who cares what I leave behind? |
Miniatureships | 14 Feb 2016 2:04 p.m. PST |
Early Morning Writer, the charity idea is not bad, but it may work with the issue of the lead laws dealing with toys. I know a used book store in the state that had to change the classification of his children's books to collectible books because he could not afford to have them all tested for lead. I would think, don't know, that charities might be in the same boat with some donated toys and then passing them on to someone else. I have seen at a few of the past East Coast HMGS shows, both in the flea market as well as in the dealer room people selling off collections of gamers that have pasted away. Personally, I have been selling off my stuff over the years based on the principle of when was the last time I played with these figures and will I ever game with them again. I have long since given up putting on games at conventions, due to work related to being a vendor. I still have some stuff that I will not sell because of personal interest, even though it has been years since gaming with it. I do have two grandsons, and one is now about the age that their mother played "Steam, Iron and Tin", so I figure this fall maybe the oldest would like to play. Hey, he loves going into grandpa's garage with all the toy soldiers, airplanes, GI joes, all over the place. |
(Phil Dutre) | 15 Feb 2016 2:16 a.m. PST |
Problem is that "wargaming collections" are often hoards of junk collected over the years: unpainted miniatures from several decades ago, half-finished projects, scratch-built scenery-items, etc. The real value if often sentimental (as with all collections) to the owner, since each item might have a particular story. But for a prospective buyer, it often is not that attractive. Perhaps a completely finished, properly painted and based army. But even then some people will say "These have the wrong size of bases, unusable for me!" Best thing to do is make a realistic estimate how many years you have left, how many games and painting that will be, and start selling off your hoard in small chunks while you are still alive. And if you would unexpectedly die, well, yeah, it's an unexpected event, so it's difficult to prepare for that. |
Early morning writer | 15 Feb 2016 7:41 p.m. PST |
Minaitureships, good point about the giving to children's charities. While the bulk of my collection was created after the lead laws impacted the hobby here in the US – a lot predate that and it would be too daunting to discriminate one group from the other. Also, I've bought from overseas where those laws don't apply and some still have lead content. Oh, my earlier post should read "Prepainted" not "repainted" – some sort of auto-correct to thank for that (had to use the capitalization just to get it go this time!). |
Miniatureships | 15 Feb 2016 9:39 p.m. PST |
Early morning writer, I am talking about the new lead testing law for children's toys and such that was only pasted a years back. The law applies to all children items, which is why the used book dealer changed his children's book section to collectibles or some other title. I believe the law effects all items being sold to children, both new and used, which is why I believe that most charities would pass on listing them as something for children. Second hand stores may not have a problem selling them, because they are not marketed as children's toys. The first year that HMGS-east had Historicon at Fredricksburg, we down there about a month in advance and walked around the city, which had a lot of Antique stores. In one store there was a display of Old Glory Union Civil War soldiers, painted, and listed as antiques with a high price. I remember painting a unit of those figures when they first came out. I guess I am getting old. |
snurl1 | 16 Feb 2016 1:02 a.m. PST |
I'm about to be 55 too and the dispersal of the collection has been on my mind lately. As a test a few years ago I sold 2 small regiments of painted Dwarfs in Wally's Basement. These were Nicely painted and based and sold for $5 USD per figure very quickly. |
Royal Marine | 01 Mar 2016 2:58 p.m. PST |
Wargamers die when they finish painting their last figure, so always keep at least one unpainted figure for each project and you will never die. Simples. |