Storage or sell

[Bo8a_Fett]

Having a dilemna at the mo....my very small house is fast becoming a warehouse for all my collectables....I can't open a cupboard without a tribble like cascade of toys and collectables tumbling down on my head a'la Kirk. There are boxes everywhere and with no prospect of moving to a bigger place and with the kids getting bigger and taking up valuable hoarding space...I need to make a decision. Should I pay rental for storage and just ship my stuff out until such time as it can be welcomed back into loving arms...or should I sell alot of it as it's boxed up most of the time and rarely gets an airing...
opinions please...and be gentle...i've been collecting this stuff for nigh on 20 years...

[grayhank]

Deleted

[palitoy]

IMO, time to take a long look at what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

Storage just drains your resources and if you're willing to lock it away somewhere else, you don't really want it.

[Mikey]

I would say, go through it all and sell everything that you're not personally attached too.

It's a really great feeling of freedom having purged yourself of endless junk.

I've done it, and man it feels good.

Just keep stuff you currently like .......

Don't worry about future values, past obsessions etc.

I'm telling you, trimming away a lot of fat is really liberating

[megocrazy]

I stopped collecting action figures and only concentrate on Mego/Megolike toys. I've basically started selling off everything else as I have had time to do so. I have roughly 50 18 gal totes stored at my Mom's house as well as 20 or so here. That's after selling off close to 10 in the past year or so. I have bought out a couple of collectibles dealers as well as some large collections over the past few years. It is basically the stuff I couldn't flip at the time I bought it so I packed it away. I should have just let it go for any reasonable offer back then. You just reach a point where you have to narrow the collecting down and focus on certain lines. Don't put it in storage. It will end up being worthless by the time you get back to it. Pick a specific category to focus on and vacate the rest. The ebay aggravation will be good for you.

[wayne foundation 07]

With 20 years of collecting it would be impossible I think to decide what to keep and what to sell.I think I would get creative with storage ideas,stick boxes in rafters,cut out the wall behind the stairs,heck they even have those lift things for the bed.I'm a minimalist,I don't keep alot of extra stuff around to clutter stuff up,but love my toys.When we were getting our first house back in'93 I sold all my Star Wars toys, model cars and football cards.The money came in handy for the down payment but always kinda regretted it in the back of my mind ever since.I know everything is replaceable,but then its somebody elses memory not yours.

[starsky]

un pack those boxes and decide what you can live with or without. dont waste your money on paying for extra storage!

[Bo8a_Fett]

Move the kids into storage and use their rooms.

I've tried...lol...the missus says no

[Bo8a_Fett]

thx for all your opinions...trouble is as most of the stuff I have is mainly Star Wars and Dr Who stuff it's gonna be difficult to open up them boxes and be ruthless. All over the house we have storage idea's of every kind...even the downstairs toilet is a makeshift storage closet. The idea of even sorting out the stuff is daunting as it would easily take 2-3 weeks to just catalogue what I have...

[toys2cool]

I'd sell a lot of it

[mitchedwards]

Here is the rule of thumb we use at our house.

If you ave not used it touched it or looked at it in a year, then its time to get rid of it.

[Bo8a_Fett]

lol...shows my intentions as I've just started another thread about some great Dr Who figures I've just bought.....I think i'm gonna have to have a serious sort through and sell up on a lot of stuff...cheers guys

[grayhank]

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[JDeRouen]

I went through this a few years ago and I think am about to go through it again. Back then, I decided to ditch everything that wasn't 8" Mego (Flash Gordon and playset, 12" heroes. Fighting Furies, etc.) and to get rid of a lot of my playsets and accessories. (All the POTA stuff except for the figures, Wayne Foundation, Walton's farmhouse) and really haven't regretted it except for the Flash Gordon figures.

Like Mike said, it's a liberating feeling.

[Marvelmania]

Most collectors reach this point. As others have said keep what you really love and sell the rest. You can use the extra income to further your collection in a positive step. You'll be amazed at the new amount of space you will have open up. It's all about fun and not keeping everything or your collection will become a burden.