Thinking About Selling

[Xavion2004]

To find the happy medium, I think we need to be willing to live with incompleteness, omissions, and breaks in our collections. That’s a very difficult concept for a collector to embrace. If we only truly love six figures in a complete set of ten, we’d rather keep all ten or sell all ten than keep the six we truly love and sell off the other four.

[basilfan]

Everybody says (not just on this forum, but in real life, too) that they don't want to saddle their children or heirs with the trouble of getting rid of their stuff someday. I guess I'm the only person on Earth who would not consider it a hassle at all. I'd love to go through a whole house making four piles: keep, donate, sell, trash. That is, for me, fun.

[bmattioli]

I'm a collector for life..

[PNGwynne]

This topic makes me very, very sad...

I didn't feel sad at all, it was freeing--even invigorating.

I still have lots of stuff I really care about and can now enjoy more fully. And I got rid of even more stuff that I bought without much mindfulness and which was, in a way, crushing me.

Having a large collection is nice I suppose if you have the space to properly enjoy it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with curating a smaller, personal collection.

I'm no longer the completist, that's certain. And, I think there's value in taking control of one's possessions before something drastic happens, and it all ends up in a landfill.

[TrekStar]

I’ve also been thinking about selling off most of what I have, clearing space and making a few bucks to boot.

The interest just wasn’t what it used to be for me except for Star Trek, it took a long time to get back all those originals
I once had and then EMCE-NuMego and of course the time and money spent on creating customs.

Unfortunately I have no siblings and my girlfriend has no interest, so I’ll sell what I don’t want and hold onto the rest until later on. What I can’t sell, I can always give to the toys for tots programs or donate to a children’s hospital, Salvation Army etc.

[Dan2Dan]

Unfortunately I have no siblings and my girlfriend has no interest, so I’ll sell what I don’t want and hold onto the rest until later on.

This is a running joke in my family. When I die, all the stuff that I've accumulated in my 'dork closet' over so many decades (albeit intermittently) will, axiomatically, be thrown by my wife and adult daughter immediately into a bunch of black trash bags on its way to a swift transport to the local landfill. So all that stands between my 'collection' and that fate is my heartbeat. When in my mind, I feel like, if I took the time to methodically liquidate my collection, with knowledge of what was truly valuable (and an ability to describe it accurately in hundreds of eBay listings), it would generate over $50K, and maybe $100K. And yet, paradoxically, that very same process, with my involvement, would break my heart to a level 2-5X whatever proceeds I would realize from a sale.

[Jorge Galvan]

I think this conversation has been talked about over time. I am an addict. I can't stop. Ebay and Heritage Auctions are my DRUG DEALERS.



I just got done checking my weekly bids on the Heritage site (and I lost all of them!)


But it is up to an individual to decide if they want to stop or go or pause for a while. I have been collecting since 1971. whether it is comics, toys, guitars, gear, books, magazines, cDS/ALBUMS; videotapes/dvds. it is a part of me.


There was a time in the double naughts where I was out of work and I had 15 guitars in hock. FIFTEEN! I thought for sure I was gonna lose them all and miracle of miracles, I had gotten a new job and worked like a dog! And got all my guitars out of Hock! It was a time of survival and I made it and I still have all my guitars. I remember something Harlan Ellison said in an interview, where once you start to make money, you can go out and buy the things you could not afford when you were young and poor. Because you can. And he did! What happened when he died? Some of his comic books were put on the auction block at Heritage and I am proud to say that I own some of his (Quality) Plastic Man and Police comics that were in his collection. I have his books that were in his wonderland collection and it is moments like that when I feel a sense of accomplishment.


I have two storage units and I don't know if I will ever have a home big enough to fit everything in it, but when I do go, I do hope my family SITS On this stuff and in 20 years, they will make out like bandits. Sure they can sell my stuff sooner, but will not get as much as they would in the future.


Over in the horror section, I have a thread where Guillermo Del Toro is selling off some of his collection, because he almost lost it all in the LA Fires earlier this year. He would rather see someone who love this stuff get it then to lose it in a tragedy.


Different strokes for different folks.



DEATH, DEBT and DIVORCE are constants in the world of collecting and I have revolved around all of that in my life. good or bad it is what it is.


Good luck.

[Dan2Dan]

There was a time in the double naughts where I was out of work and I had 15 guitars in hock. FIFTEEN! I thought for sure I was gonna lose them all and miracle of miracles, I had gotten a new job and worked like a dog! And got all my guitars out of Hock! It was a time of survival and I made it and I still have all my guitars. I remember something Harlan Ellison said in an interview, where once you start to make money, you can go out and buy the things you could not afford when you were young and poor. Because you can. And he did! What happened when he died? Some of his comic books were put on the auction block at Heritage and I am proud to say that I own some of his (Quality) Plastic Man and Police comics that were in his collection. I have his books that were in his wonderland collection and it is moments like that when I feel a sense of accomplishment.

To me, this is the kind of story where Life intersects with someone's collection, which gives the collection so much extra value to the collector beyond the actual items. I think the above is so great!

I have 'collections' of a few things, including action figures. But I've been happy that I never developed the 'completist' compulsion. Among my first 'collections' was comic books 45 years ago. That experience taught me as a kid that, as various creators came and went on various titles over time, some issues were much better than others, and that, in the fairly short run, those 'better' issues by more famous artists would be worth way more money in the Comic Buyer's Guide. So, with only two exceptions, I never became a 'buy every issue of the titles I like' guy. That willingness to be selective has carried over into my other collections.

Where I have found myself to be 'weak' is an endless attraction to 'a great deal.' So over many years I've amassed many things, including many figures and their vehicles, for which my primary fondness is the memory of the deal, more than an intrinsic appreciation for the item itself.

When I first became a working professional, and made more than minimum wage for the first time in my life, I definitely did the Harlan Ellison 'thing' a few times. But on hindsight, for me personally, that didn't bring me the same long-term joy that buying things as they were released, or on ebay after they went out-of-fashion, and watching them appreciate in value over time (thereby in some way validating my own tastes) has.

[TRDouble]

Pre-2020, I felt really down and morbid about life and started to see off stuff MIB/MIP that was just sitting in other boxes. Sideshow Star Wars, Toy Biz Marvel Legends going back to pre-Spider-Man Legends, DC Direct, Mattel JLU (opened and the ones I never to around to opening), DC Universe Classics (again from the beginning because I had one open and one MIP of all the super-hero stuff), McFarlane Sports Picks (which I am at the point of donating because only the star players and legends sold), and probably a lot more random stuff. It was crazy how much stuff I accumulated and barely even looked at or opened.

It was great, I made some good money, I cleared a lot of space. For various reasons, I wasn't buying much either, so it really worked out good.

Then, things changed again. I got into McFarlane DC Multiverse. Hasbro started releasing some Marvel Legends I thought were pretty good. Mego-style figures were a big buy, especially the super-heroes again. A few Funkos turned into WAY too many Funkos -- POPS!, Dorbz, and other items. I look around my house and realize that I have too much stuff. Sitting in boxes. Again. Without feeling morbid and depressed like the last time, I plan to start moving stuff out again (although eBay will take a much larger cut this time around) and slow down with the new purchases. Money is tight everywhere, so I don't know how well I will do, but Christmas is always a good time to get back into the selling arena.

But I worry because the last time I went into sell mode, I threw myself way into it and became obsessed. It because a second job. When I finally had to take a break, one reason why I stopped selling (besides getting rid of most of the good stuff) and couldn't get myself back into it was that I did not want to get consumed by trying to sell as much as possible as quick as possible again. This time I am just downsizing for myself, so I think I'll be good all around this time.

[Sonneveld]

It's a difficult decision. As others have said, just give it some thought. No need to rush into it.

I think I'm on my third or fourth collection, now. When I was college age, I sold my childhood collection to help out some family members. I only regret the Castle Grayskull. Yet, every time I had money to buy a new one, I'd think, "But it's not my Castle Grayskull."

My friend associates his Star Wars collection with his late mother, who would help him look for figures as a kid. I think a few of us might have such memories, too.

But I'd move somewhere, collect cool things, have to move for various reasons, clear out the collection. It's never easy, but it is oddly freeing. I really loved that Mego-like Flash Gordon. That was my prize for a while. Sometimes that's enough, you know? You did have it. Now someone else can enjoy it.

I did ebay on my last purge for some stuff, and donated a bunch to a veterans charity for them to sell.

Now I have stuff again. I keep telling myself, "last one," but then they make something else cool. I've been far more selective, down to cancelling pre-orders.

I understand the feeling that your identity is connected to this hobby of collecting. But when you're ready to part with bits and pieces of your collection, you will remain who are. It's all good.

[powersthatbe]

So worth it though having so much “stuff” when my grandnephew whose 2 and a 1/2 will visit and loves to see my room. So I lay out all available playsets and vehicles and figures and he has fun. His favorite toy this week was the super powers whirly bat and he learned and said a new word “helicopter.”)

[basilfan]

Cempleteness is overrated.