Unfortunately a few weeks ago my gaming friend “Scotty” died suddenly at the age of 52.
After 40+ years of friendship and lots of gaming in various forms over the decades it’s left a major hole in my life and is taking some time to start to come to terms with.
In addition I am also dealing with his wargames related estate for his wife Julie . . After 40 years of collecting stuff / hoarding it /never parting with any thing , there is a lot of stuff to attempt to realise the value of for Julie his widow. I have started with a local show bring and buy (which went very well) , the local club (thanks guys - you’ve been great) and now moved on to e bay .
I have some reflections so far, based on having to sort through mounds of stuff.
1) the simple option is for your family to hire a skip and bin the lot if they don’t know what it’s worth. Yes those few bits of plastic/lead can really be worth £25 /50/100/250/1000s etc and at volume this adds up .
2) Talk to someone about what you might want to do with stuff after your passing - even mention some in elements in a formal will.
3) Leave some guidance to help the person sorting stuff to identify what it is in the box or drawer . Or an opinion of expected value . Have a conversation in advance about someone dealing with your estate .
4) Books are a real problem on moving on . Value is pennies against pounds bought for unless it’s really unusual .
I feel a rationalisation of my own projects coming on next year .
I have been able to draw on a network of contacts which has helped to ID stuff and enable it to be sold locally or on e bay and it’s been a real help to me - thank you all .
I am out scattering Scotties ashes this weekend with his wife and family and will reflect on the many happy times we had over the gaming table ..
He will be missed and I think that we will all be reviewing our collections/ hoards.
ReplyDeleteSorry for you loss Dave.
ReplyDeleteDave some thought provoking words. A very sad situation. The challenge of ‘the collection’ is one that needs some thought as we all get older. I guess the difficulty which many of us face is the personal commitment is so great to amass our armies/collections it is almost impossible to contemplate them shrinking. This needs some thought in the new year.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on dealing with all of that and the grief. I always liked visiting Scotty (especially at his mams because he less room to keep stuff), I would always leave with something he'd found in a cupboard somewhere//had left over from a project, most of my 15mm Naps are made up of a mad mix of manufaturers donated to me over the years by Scotty from his odds and sods boxes. I cant imagine what suprises he had hidden away! When he died I looked in what I still call my 'Scotty Boxes' of unpainted, half finished odds and sods that I had collected over the years and gave them all to a wargames club at a school. Having only recently reconnected with him after a 10 year gap I shall miss him, my first experience of a wargames club (1984/85?) was going with Scotty on the bus to Middlesbrough and spending 3 hours trying to find it (we got off the wrong end of ormsby bank) and my 1st experience of the Wargames Holiday Centre (1989? 90?) was with Scotty too. Take care Dave.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your loss. Having dealt with collections of two friends who passed I felt I had to give serious thought of my own 50 year accumulation. As suggested I have begun the process with steps 2 and 3. Most of us do not dwell on our own mortality unless we are forced to.
ReplyDeleteSo sad to hear of your loss. We lost a good friend, mentor and gamer a few years back and I still miss him dearly.
ReplyDeleteAll the best and good Christmas wishes to you and yours.
Sad to hear Dave!
ReplyDeleteSorry for your loss Dave.
ReplyDeleteI've left Victoria that in the eventuality of my death every 4L RUB of figures is worth at least #400.00
If any chancer turns up and offers #1000.00 for everything, tell them to eff off.
I think she'll likely burn them ;)