How to part with your collection when you.......

die ?
As a collector, one don't have one piece, but a bunch of it, whether it be watches, pens, collectibles, hi-fi gear, camera&lens, cars, & in this forum = clothing.
Even if one had children, they may not be so obsessed to clothing as you do & may show no interest to your " heritage".
So, back to my Q - have you think about how to do with your collection when you grow old to the point where it is not " necessary" anymore ?
Remarks: I am talking about a bunch of clothing, many many pieces. One may respond to other collection that is not clothing. You know it takes much more than $ but a tone of heart blood to build a collection

Geeboo said:

die ?
As a collector, one don't have one piece, but a bunch of it, whether it be watches, pens, collectibles, hi-fi gear, camera&lens, cars, & in this forum = clothing.
Even if one had children, they may not be so obsessed to clothing as you do & may show no interest to your " heritage".
So, back to my Q - have you think about how to do with your collection when you grow old to the point where it is not " necessary" anymore ?
Remarks: I am talking about a bunch of clothing, many many pieces. One may respond to other collection that is not clothing. You know it takes much more than $ but a tone of heart blood to build a collection

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Interesting question as some of us are approaching that point in our life, where we have multiple collections and no family members with an interest in our “stuff”.
It’s difficult to let these things go, but the reality is that many of these items are costly and will be sold for pennies on a dollar, if the owner doesn’t take action prior to his “departure “. My suggestion is to have a plan. Document your collection with photos and prices and compile a dossier, Advise family members where it’s located. Lastly , begin to gradually reduce your collection by selling off those items that are high value items first, and work your way down to lesser valued items until the collection is depleted.
Lastly.... have I taken my own advise and done any of this?......Nope!

Going through a funeral plan and firearms admin/prep now before I redeploy to Afghanistan. Approaching the local Police 'District Firearms Officer' who happens to also be on the committees for the Militaria Guild and Military Rifle and Pistol Clubs. He is the President of the RSL (VFW) in town as well. Will leave him my gun safe keys so they don't destroy the safe. I am signing Tianna up as a member of the collector guild so the imitations are okay until the kids get old enough. $10 a year to make life easier.

Jackets, militaria and sundries will require some assistance from FB mates and peers in the Armed Services. I have a museum curator just over the border on standby as well.

Great question!

You don't just die of old age ! Death can come suddenly and unexpectedly.....

I have my stuff bagged and tagged with what it is and a rough current value. You can't call yourself a true collector if you don't exhibit ALL the spectrum behaviors - of which cataloguing is but one

Though i have a very small collection now, it's still smart for those left behind to deal with our messes. Might be the only time my wife knows what and how much i REALLY have with any accuracy !!

Through the years I've assembled and then years later parted out those collections. I'm trying to not get sucked into the cycle again but the fun and draw has always been partly the hunting down that elusive "something". I have always taken pains to ensure those left behind have clear, written instructions regarding my wishes, even more important now as I'm well and truly beyond the first flush of youth. We are only temporary guardians and thought does need to be given as to how and where your things are passed on.

Good thread.

"My greatest fear in life is having my wife sell my jackets for what I told her I paid for them"."

Me... many years ago.

Someone I know who is younger than I am made an interesting prediction.

When all of us old farts start passing away and our collections hit the open market, the prices of items is going to go down because there are not enough younger collectors to fill the empty spaces we will leave and that a lot of those younger collectors don't have the $$$ to buy and/or afford some of the items.

Next time you go to a militaria show take a look around and see what the current age group looks like.

As for my collection, I already have someone in my family that is into militaria that will be getting all of my stuff. Of course, I'll need to talk to my wife and see if she'll want any of it.

True, younger generation seems not so interested in these dead people clothing.
But what do they wear ?

Stony said:

Someone I know who is younger than I am made an interesting prediction.

When all of us old farts start passing away and our collections hit the open market, the prices of items is going to go down because there are not enough younger collectors to fill the empty spaces we will leave and that a lot of those younger collectors don't have the $$$ to buy and/or afford some of the items.

Next time you go to a militaria show take a look around and see what the current age group looks like.

As for my collection, I already have someone in my family that is into militaria that will be getting all of my stuff. Of course, I'll need to talk to my wife and see if she'll want any of it.

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On the money 100%.

Same for old firearms, classic cars and stamps....

My 23 year old son nicks my A-2's, G-1's, M-51's plus my LVC's and Red Wings all the bloody time. He's probably counting the days til i peg it !

How can youngsters get into the collecting mularkey when WE older folk with disposable income keep pushing the prices up ?

Those younger and wanting to collect will be able to buy stuff at the sort of prices we used to. Good luck to them.

Did you buy your shit as a finacial investment or to preserve history ....?

Officer Dibley said:

My 23 year old son nicks my A-2's, G-1's, M-51's plus my LVC's and Red Wings all the bloody time. He's probably counting the days til i peg it !

How can toungsters get into the collecting mularkey when WE older folk with disposable income keep pushing the prices up ?

Those younger and wanting to collect will be able to buy stuff at the sort of prices we used to. Good luck to them.

Did you buy you shit as a finacial investment or to preserve history ....?

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Column A and Column B.

Column A is why we've priced youngsters out of collecting. Then some on here (grumpy old gits) complain the young aren't interested when in reality, they can't afford to collect.

Quel surprise......

Basically the same thing happens with classic cars. The younger folks can't afford an original muscle car or classic car, so they buy a "ricer" and put stickers and fart cans on them.

You have to ask yourself “who is going to want this stuff in ten years?” This is true of just about all collectibles. Young people just don’t seem interested in preserving the past. Also as someone pointed out earlier we have priced this stuff far out of reach of many young people that do not have the disposible income tomafford it. This also means as more of it reaches the marketplace the prices will drop according to the demand. I see it happening with militaria, especially German, as the older collectors die off and the executors liquidate the collections.

A bunch of young-hating crusties.......

No wonder they don't like us or have an interest in things we like.......

Ciao folks

Well, not in all cases. I just sold a nice G-1 to a young fellow in the US who appreciates the finer stuff. There is still some hope.

ausreenactor said:

On the money 100%.

Same for old firearms, classic cars and stamps....

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Depends on the interpretation of firearms. Fine English sporting shotguns and rifles by makers such as Purdey, Holland & Holland etc., and to a lesser extent some of the best provincial makers will hold and gain value for as long as game shooting is popular and legal. Should the latter change then demand and value will inevitably fall. I love best guns by best English makers and would rather invest in them as opposed to ostentatious cars, watches etc. The only exception to that would be land here - and property

There are always some things that will be highly sought-after and the demand will always exceed the supply. It is the non-traditional things that will probably lose value in the coming years. I am having a “pre-estate sale” which is I am actually finding very enjoying and satisfying to fund new custodians for some of my treasures. Always bear in mind that we don’t own these things, we merely have temporary custody. As such we have a responsibility to take care of these items and to pass them along to others who embrace the same philosophy.

That is and interesting question and one that I am facing now as I just turned 75. I had a pretty nice collection of vintage watches which I had intended to pass on to my kids,who are now both middle age. I decided that because they knew nothing of the value they would probably get taken advantage of. I based this on the increase in value of almost all the vintage Rolex watches as well as a few others. Using and appraisal from 2018 would probably be and under appraisal in 5-10 years. Because of that, I decided that the best avenue was a carefully thought out liquidation. I felt like selling now at prices I know are honest for the watch and condition would be the best for everyone. Also, when multiple heirs are involved, it’s a whole lot easier and better to divide up cash, stocks and bonds, etc. than collectibles.
My advice to the OP is to sit down and formulate a plan, to either get everything appraised and then develop a spreadsheet with everything identified, listed and valued, or do as I did and plan on liquidating your collection in and orderly fashion, with the proceeds in cash or securities that are easy to value.


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Have already started compiling a database of my "crap " ! as pointed out above , we are responsible for the prices going up. but when your toasting away in that oven or lying there in a box , are you going to be bothered ?
Maybe as "caretakers" we should really give this some thought as to what is going to happen to all the original stuff we collect .