Disposition of collections

[Michael Mahoney]

I am looking for suggestions on what to do with a large collection of figures of different scales and time periods, singles, and vignettes, when I die.
I have no heirs, and there is no museum in the vicinity.
I have won awards over the years and the figures are nicely done. I hate to think they will end up in the dump.
Ideas?

Thanks,
Michael Mahoney

 

[DEL]

I don't tend to hang onto many of my figures or indeed display the ones I do keep.
That being said it might be worth your while considering turning them into learning aids perhaps by creating thematic displays.
Say for example Knights, Napoleonics, WWII etc, each figure group being shown on small shelves attached to an illustrated backboard on the specific subject.
Explanatory labels can then be attached describing the figure along with an information panel describing the historical context.
Could be displayed in local schools where if nothing else they would be attractive ways of covering wall space. And you never know who could be inspired.
Cheers
Derek

 

[tonydawe]

If you want them to go to a good home, I suggest you auction them off as a job lot, or sell them to other collectors through an online specialist auction site.

You could probably sell them on Planet Figure if you wanted to.

 

[mick3272]

Del.
Think of a charity like the (Mick 3272 home or drunks) ask a mate to take them to one of the larger shows and ask if they could be auctioned. That way they will go to a good home. and so will the money. Are you ill or just planning ahead?
Mick

 

[DEL]

planning ahead?
Mick

I think in Michael s case it's planning ahead and I know several others who have the same dilemma.
As for me I just checked and I've currently only got 8 finished pieces, 2 of which are about to cross the border as a thank you to a mate. What I enjoy is the planning and painting.

 

[mick3272]

Sorry Chaps,
I read and replied to the question but in my own little world I attributed it to Del.
Put it down to old age
Mick ( gray haired old git)

 

[Dan Morton]

Michael:

If I'm reading your location correctly, you live in Mountain View, Arkansas, USA. Right?

Do you have any WW1 pieces? If yes, have you contacted the National WW1 museum in Kansas City? https://www.theworldwar.org/support/donate-object.

WW2 pieces? http://www.nationalww2museum.org/give/donate-an-artifact/index.html National WW2 museum in New Orleans.

Korean War? national_mall@nps.gov Washington, DC

Civil War? - Fort Donelson in Tennessee might be the nearest to you.
Mailing address - P.O. Box 434 Dover, TN 37058-0434

The first three have curators that could assist. Some, frankly, will be more helpful than others. They may not have a place in their museum collections for any of your pieces, but they may know of another museum that you could contact.

Good luck!

All the best,
Dan

 

[Michael Mahoney]

Thank you for the ideas so far.
Derek, your suggestion is giving me some food for thought, but it still does not dispose of the collection.
Internet sales are a good idea, except for the shipping, which is rough on the figure. It is still a good option.
I will look into attending a show as an outlet, also.
To answer Mick, I am merely planning ahead.
Thank again for the ideas.
Michael M.

 

[Michael Mahoney]

Dan, just received your message and thank you so much.
Yes, I am just outside of Mountain View AR and a long drive to anywhere.
Yes, I have WWI and American Civil War. I'll check the TN and KS places.
Wow, thanks you again.
Michael M.

 

[Dan Morton]

"I will look into attending a show as an outlet, also."

World Expo in Chicago July this year. http://www.we2017chicago.com/

National IPMS in LaVista, Nebraska in July also. http://www.ipmsusa2017.com/

Both PF and Timelines have well-maintained lists of events.

I think some of the vendors at the larger shows do commission or consignment sales, but have never checked.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Michael Mahoney]

Dan, last show I attended was in Dallas/Plano TX. The whole thing was/is plastic oriented with emphasis on WWII vehicles. Disappointing, and now it is a nine-hour drive one-way. I used to live three hours from there before retiring and moving.
I'll look into the Chicago show in spite of it being a warzone.
Thank you again,
Michael M.

 

[Dan Morton]

I went to the IPMS national show in LaVista, NE several years ago and it was surprisingly good. Emphasis on aircraft, armor, etc., not figures, but still pretty good.

I try to get to the Military Miniatures Society of Illinois every fall. With the World Expo being in Chicago and the MMSI hosting it, don't think their annual fall show will be held.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Mirofsoft]

The World Expo is realy for figures painters

 

[Ray Stout]

I have given this some thought too, and come up with this solution. Contact your nearest Club,(if you're not a member of one) and arrange for them to pick up your items after your demise and allow that club to have an Auction, with 50% going to the Club Funds, and the balance to your nominated relatives. This way, the club,AND your relatives benefit, and the figures/kits go to a good home. Ray

 

[jai]

I wrote in pencil behind every book and drawing the acquisition value .... I hope the relatives rivendino them at least half of the price paid ... some are worth several hundred Euros.

for the figures I'll tell you what happened a few years ago.

When a person has missed the modeller has met with the widow and offered 3,000 Euros for the whole collection including the figures still in the box.

Luck had it that a friend heard about the thing and stopped the sale. has dealt him and the club .... they have collected more than 7,000 Euros just for the boxes. still I am not sold books to far as I know. ... The metal models walk were sold at 7 € to 20 € horse ... this makes you calculate how many pieces were in the house

All the money went to the widow

My advice to be sent to two or three trusted friends in charge of the sale when the time and maybe write a little letter notes.


This week my aunt turned 100 years has said "life is a huge canvas, spilling on it all the colors that you can"

I .... I wish you to continue to spill your colors on the lead for many years


Sorry for my english

Giorgio

 

[Jim]

My wife knows that, should she survive me (and she probably will), that she's to contact my closest friend (one of two who's allowed to call me 'Jimmy' - she's not even allowed!), who'll inventory all the kits, figures and books and miscellaneous stuff. He's a used kit dealer and he'll sell them and give her the money - all the money. He might auction them at the model club meeting. Mike's the sort of friend who'd clear your computer of 'naughty' stuff before the family got to it - not that I'd have anything like that...

 

[theBaron]

Contact an auctioneer while you're still with us, or make provisions in your testament, to have your executor contact an auctioneer.

As a member of two clubs that have had various collections brought to us by the surviving family member, my perspective is that it is generally a pain in the ass for a club to try to dispose of someone's collection, just as it is for your surviving family. It is far easier for everyone to let a professional handle it, if you decide that liquidating your collection is what you want to do. Each case is different, of course. I've seen some cases in which it was relatively easy, because the survivors just wanted to get rid of their departed's things, and weren't too worried about getting cash value back. I've seen others where it took a long time to dispose of a collection, and where the club's officers wound up with extra work to take care of the collection.

After having a professional take care of it, the next best thing probably is to go through the forum, to get wide access to the broadest group of knowledgeable people. I see a lot of this on the Treefrog Toy Soldier forum, where someone joins up to post questions about his or her late Dad's or Granddad's collection. Even if the person just sells the pieces on eBay, the forum provides some friendly free advice.

But personally, I'd write it into my will either to bequeath it to a museum, library, or other organization, or to contact a specialty auctioneer to take care of it.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Tecumsea]

I'm having my grey army melted down and made into a lead coffin.......but not yet hopefully

Keith

 

[Ferris]

The Pharaos and Chinese emperors took their collection to their graves to have something to do in the afterlife, although environmental restrictions would probably not allow you to bring any paints if you would want to do this now.

Seriously, after having had to deal with this issue with my dad's car and model train collections I strongly recommend to at least prepare some catalogue with estimated 2nd hand value, as well as info on ways to sell. Also consider selling in bulk and settling for reduced price quickly, because hobby items tend to lose value quite rapidly...who needs old figures or trains when there are brand new and shiny ones?
Another consideration: give it away to fellow hobbyists. The money was spend a long time ago and is difficult to recover. Only spend the time if the involved amounts are considerable or you need it for grieving.

Adrian

 

[tonydawe]

I've told a good friend of mine, who has several thousand plastic model kits in his collection, that if he was to die before me that I would arrange for him to be laid out in a Viking Longboat, have all his built and unbuilt kits placed above, below and around him and push them out to sea after setting them on fire. The Viking Funeral ensures his earthly remains are preserved in a plastic sarcophagus and doomed to float around the ocean for eternity and most importantly from his point of view, it ensures his bitch of an ex-wife doesn't get her hands on his precious collection of kits and throws them all into the local tip. It's what he'd want.