What will become of your collection?

“On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

A comment of Viruz concerning what will become of his dioramas once he is gone triggered in my mind a reflection.

I have over 2000 miniatures, what will it all become on the long term?
Will I really hold on to everything until my body shuts down from lead poisoning? How can I let go “my p-p-precious”?!

I already have a rough inventory of my collection, with an approximate value for insurance purposes. That’s a start.
I will probably sell most of my unpainted miniatures around my retirement to fund a major trip with my wife… I’ll let you guys know.

In the best case, I would imagine having my kids, my closest relatives and friends to pick the best pieces as souvenirs and sell the rest by lot.
I mean I invested so much time already, it kind of represents an aspect of myself that I hope will remain once I am gone.
Maybe I am just overthinking it and it simply makes me a materialist person…

Anyway, I ask you guys, what will become of your miniatures over time?

Hopefully they'll get a lot of play time first. But I'd nominate a fellow collector to distribute and/or sell the collection to provide for my next of kin and ensure as much as possible stayed within the community where it can be cherished.

i hope i've got another 40 years left to finish painting it all...

whatever my family wants to do with it really. its not worth very much. that said, i don't have a pension and i don't expect that there will be any social welfare by then so i'll have probably sold it to pay for food or power or medical bills.

Joking aside, as one of the 'older' members of this forum,I'm more than likely going to pass-away, before most of you - so the collection will more than likely be broken up and sold to most of you!

Paul / Golgfag1

For other time-advancing reasons (baby!), I have begun slimming down the unpainted portion of my collection.

There comes a realization that much of what I have, I cannot practically get around to painting.

So slimming. And consolidating to fewer, "nicer," pieces.

This exercise emphasizes: most of what we have is not worth all that much. And the process of selling it is time-consuming. And things like packaging materials and shipping cause notions of profit to bleed away.

Not to be gloomy! But unless you're sitting on your nuln spearman collection, forget about paying for college for your descendants.

Add to that: figure we all check out around the same time, plus or minus. Who exactly is there to buy this stuff?

Best to enjoy actively while you're around. And then to be not much concerned with the ultimate disposition of the stuff Other than perhaps to hope it ends in the hands of fellow enthusiasts who will appreciate.

Or hey, recruit younger old hammers and build the market. Hah!



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I told my family that I want to be buried with my armies, so the future Indiana Jones will be very confused I think my mausoleum will be like that:

The chinese buried there was the greatest wargamer of the world!!. And he played only 1:1 scale models

This is a problem I've thought about from time to time. I have a pretty good idea what will become of my father's toys. (Some of them have even begun appearing in my pictures of late. Thank you dad. I love you. You are awesome. And you can see that your hobby loves are shared.) I'm hoping against hope that one of my nieces or nephews will have a similar desire for my crazy when the time comes. (Not that there's any rush. I've a LOT of painting to do.)

My miniature collection is entirely plastic and is mostly comprised of late 80s/early 90s board game components. It doesn't have the value of most people's vintage lead collections.

My children, I hope, will keep them and play with them with their own future children.

In German, I could verbalize myself better.

Viruz":3l2v9k7f said:

If I die, the dioramas (Miniatures) are burned with me. (cremation)
Or come into a pewter figure museum My wife then decides.

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A year ago I got heart Problems. The problems do not come from the heart, but from the head.
I was worried about what happens when I die, with the many pewter figures.
I've well-ordered everything and my wife is informed.
The dioramas and pewter figures come into a Museum (for Miniatures or Toys)
Many (not all) of my Miniatures and dioramas have been painted and built original by Hobby Products.(Catalog miniatures)
Whether a museum takes all the figures and dioramas, I do not know.

A complete sale would take too long time.
Each of us has to think about what happens after his death with the miniatures.

That's sad to hear Viruz, hope your on the mend.

For me, after I'm gone, my earthly possessions will be of nought concern to me. I'd hope my son likes them enough to want to keep them, but as I've already mentioned, I won't be here to worry about them......or anything else that I've acquired in this life, so it's irrelevant what happens to them after I'm gone.

I'm only 50+ and still have time.
But I think my things should come in good hands.
Otherwise I could put all things into the dustbin now.

I think of it as art. I want it to survive me. I go by symphoinicpoet because I actually write symphonies and poems. Serious ones. Long ones in some cases. Crafting and painting miniatures is a bit more light-hearted, but no less artistic feeling to me. I invest as much of myself in it, I think. Maybe not quite as many hours, but surprisingly close. And I . . . I want my art to have meaning to people. I want people to enjoy it. I want it to make an impression that surpasses my brief span at least a little. I think "need" is maybe too strong a word. I don't know that we must think about what happens to our toys. But many of us would probably like to think about it. Many of us will worry on it needlessly. (The truth is that many of them will be enjoyed for a time, some will be lost, others will be preserved. Some will be played with. Others will be seen as art. But probably most will be enjoyed at least by some and at least for a while. Eventually that number will dwindle, and their influence will pass unless others spend time conserving them or creating new versions of them. (In the case of Viruz and Papafakis I'm quite confident there will be imitators and conservation both. I think I can confidently say you are both among the very best modelmakers in the whole of the world. I'm good . . . but you guys . . . I am in awe.)

Anyway . . . yes, I spend time thinking about that stuff. You've clearly planned it well Viruz.

(In the case of Viruz and Papafakis I'm quite confident there will be imitators and conservation both. I think I can confidently say you are both among the very best modelmakers in the whole of the world. I'm good . . . but you guys . . . I am in awe.)

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Oh my God.
You are embarassing me.
There is much better than me .
Link
But many thanks for your praise.

Yeah, I'm a bit gob smacked by the praise too Symphonic

But on the other hand, I don't think it matters who your are, there'll always be someone producing something "better" than yourself.

I'm pretty self critical of my own work, mostly because of the way it usually doesn't turn out the way I had envisaged it to.....even if the final product looks fine to everyone else.

Thanks for the high praise anyway Symphonic, even if I don't feel worthy

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Oh, give me a break! You guys both do work good enough to appear in any major motion picture. Are you the very very very best on earth ever? Probably not. But who the heck is? Who's the best composer? Is Stravinsky better than Bach? Is Mauchaut better than Beethoven? Hell, I don't know. And I've studied all of them. (Some rather closely.) They're all better than me, but maybe I'm better than I think. Or not as good. It's so darned hard to measure. But if I were making a sci-fi film I'd be entirely comfortable hiring you guys to help spend my effects budget. (Along with some competent camera, lighting, compositing, and editing folks. And maybe a glass painter or two.)

Why am I comfortable saying this? Because I'm pretty stinking good at sci-fi models myself. And I can see where you're both better. You could either one of you make the next Star Destroyer, I think. Me? Probably not. (Heck, I seem to recall there are some experienced film guys on here, so I expect they can back me up as needed.) Anyway . . .

You're welcome. Quit being so darned humble and take a stinking bow! *expletive deleted*!!!

Bows out of fear of expletive

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I don't have any kids yet, but assuming I do and I can interest them in Oldhammer, I hope my collection stays in the family and it reminds them of fun times we had pushing them around the table together.

Part of my Collection comes from the 80's, and now need new homes. There we be played whith all over again.

Sincerly Taogoli