Continuing on from the "age is a relative concept" thread, I'd like to ask a genuine but possibly dark question.
Males in my family don't seem to make it out of their 60s and as I'm 58 this year, I'm thinking its about time I drew up a will. The basic premise is simple, everything goes to my daughter, but what's the best way of getting rid of several tons of painted metal?
I'm hoping Leon would be kind enough to take back anything still bagged at a reasonable price, but I have defaced a lot of the little darlings with my daubings. How should I advise my daughter to rid herself of them? If I pop off in spring, then the St Helens Phalanx is in June, so that would be handy for the bring and buy, but for the rest of the year?
I'm hoping I can put her in contact with one of the specialist booksellers who haunt the wargames shows, and that's about it for my worldly goods.
For grave goods, I'm taking a copy of "Dido and Aeneas" by Purcell, a book (haven't decide which one), a copy of a film (haven't decided which one) and Centurion#1.
Sorry if this is a bit depressing but I don't want my darling distressed unduly.
Never thought about it.
Guess it doesn't really matter that much to me. Won't know it anyway!
A depressing question but one I have considered myself. My thinking was to suggest Hinds Figures - I have dealt with him before and I have found him to be a true gentleman. I have always felt I have got a fair price, arrangements have been easy - I usually just box everything and arrange to meet at a Show to handover, Ian then does the sums and pays, usually in installments if it is a big consignment. That would mean your daughter could just clear through, put everything in boxes and arrange handover. Ian does travel a lot so may even be able to collect from her. As for books, the only one I can think of is Caliver, but I have no experiences in that direction except as a very satisfied customer.
I hope this helps,
Kind regards,
Richard
This is a question I often see raised on other forums and it's certainly a very difficult one, my answer would be to make it as easy as possible for the loved ones who are left. I would imagine the last thing that want to do is be sorting through all your stuff.
maybe prearrange with your club or friends to sell it off for you
Take care
Andy
Quote from: rim66 on 07 March 2018, 09:11:38 AM
A depressing question but one I have considered myself. My thinking was to suggest Hinds Figures - I have dealt with him before and I have found him to be a true gentleman. I have always felt I have got a fair price, arrangements have been easy - I usually just box everything and arrange to meet at a Show to handover, Ian then does the sums and pays, usually in installments if it is a big consignment. That would mean your daughter could just clear through, put everything in boxes and arrange handover. Ian does travel a lot so may even be able to collect from her. As for books, the only one I can think of is Caliver, but I have no experiences in that direction except as a very satisfied customer.
I hope this helps,
Kind regards,
Richard
Hinds Figures is a good idea
Take care
Andy
May it not be an issue for a long while yet.
Yes, you must get yourself a fairly standard Will (apparently it's cheaper and more convenient in the long run, especially in Scotland). When you get older and more doddery, you can perhaps think about a Power of Attorney.
You've probably also thought about separately writing down contact numbers for relatives, employer, subscriptions (union fees, magazines, etc.), pension schemes, Council Offices (for rates), funeral undertakers, etc., and telling your daughter where the list is kept at home (plus any other relevant documents, including the copy of the Will). My dad wrote out a similar list and it was extremely helpful both in the immediate aftermath of his death and later when it came to the clearing out of his flat.
To this list, you could add your instructions and contact numbers, etc., with regard to your collection of wargame figures and books. By having a handy list at home, you can continuously update these details as and when required without having to update your Will.
Hinds and Caliver sound like good starting points. If you also include forum details, she could also let the younger ones of the forum know you've kicked the bucket and they might be able to offer more contemporary suggestions.
Quote from: Westmarcher on 07 March 2018, 10:13:37 AM
Yes, you must get yourself a fairly standard Will (apparently it's cheaper and more convenient in the long run, especially in Scotland). When you get older and more doddery, you can perhaps think about a Power of Attorney.
You've probably also thought about separately writing down contact numbers for relatives, employer, subscriptions (union fees, magazines, etc.), pension schemes, Council Offices (for rates), funeral undertakers, etc., and telling your daughter where the list is kept at home (plus any other relevant documents, including the copy of the Will). My dad wrote out a similar list and it was extremely helpful both in the immediate aftermath of his death and later when it came to the clearing out of his flat.
To this list, you could add your instructions and contact numbers, etc., with regard to your collection of wargame figures and books. By having a handy list at home, you can continuously update these details as and when required without having to update your Will.
Hinds and Caliver sound like good starting points. If you also include forum details, she could also let the younger ones of the forum know you've kicked the bucket and they might be able to offer more contemporary suggestions.
Some very good points there
Take care
Andy
The standing arrangement between me and some of my older wargames friends is the lead gets sold, first dibs to friends, at reasonable prices, the rest is auctioned with any profits to the (insert here).
Books to a specialist.
I am between 10-20 years younger than most of them, and their painting surpass mine, so I fear I will be perpetually skint!
As a few others have mentioned, I think the best way is to partner up with a gaming friend and make sure you both know roughly what's in each others collection. Maybe even catalogue it if you've got the time (and inclination!) When the unfortunate time comes, the friend can take charge of that aspect and save family members from having to sift through it all, very often with no real idea as to the value.
Ian Hinds is a good option, as are the tabletop sales around the country. We had a widowed lady at Battleground a couple of years back who brought her husbands collection along to sell and got a very good price for most of it and went away very happy. There are also people like Colonel Bill's who take second hand painted/unpainted figures.
For books, there's Caliver, Dave Lanchester and Colin Worley. Dave sold a large batch of books to Worley last year and got a really good price for them.
Having given a good deal of thought to the matter (I'm older than many here), Hinds and Caliver are already in the written plan for my executor. If I go another 20 years and in case plan A is no longer an option, our executor (he is 25 years younger) also has the option of a giant jumble sale on eBay (or what ever it has become).
I have a partial list (mainly the painted 10mm) but such inventories require focus and discipline to draw up and I'd rather read or paint or play.
In the end he is being well compensated to deal with this. He is not a family member so no guilt in leaving him with it a few loose ends :)
Can't say as it bothers me, I'll be dead. Idea I came up with was to post something on every forum I know for folks to take stuff away free; that's armies, materials, terrain, books, the lot. If no-one wants it, it goes to the tip or a charity shop; again I'll be dead so it won't bother me.
A roup as we say here or a garage sale was another but too few modellers and gamers in these parts to make it worth while.
I pretty much hold the same view.
the items are precious to me, but I don' want the people still here after me to worry about them and if that means skip, then skip it is.
Our friends have just been on a 'short' cruise that cost £4,000. That money is gone, history, zip etc with a few photo's to show for it. If I were to value my kit at the same value (who knows), then a lifetime of my using it makes it massively better value than my friends cruise - so it is a mindset thing and I have no quarms about my lovely stuff being given a value of £0 on my demise, the value is in the here and now.
my neighbour spends £1200 per year on his golf - the £1200 last a year and is now spent and gone, blah blah
As an aside, I can't imagine that Leon's business would want to buy back unused lead, not if he wants to stay in business for the living!
another sad truth is that over the next 20 years or so, there will be an increasing amount of this sort of stuff sloshing around and I imagine dropping values will reflect that.
I don't really worry about it, I'm young enough to ride the crest of genetic engineering and become immortal.......... :d
Quote from: Matt J on 07 March 2018, 03:02:55 PM
I don't really worry about it, I'm young enough to ride the crest of genetic engineering and become immortal.......... :d
That could solve much, prehapes we all can just leave you our stuff to deal with?
Quote from: Matt J on 07 March 2018, 03:02:55 PM
I don't really worry about it, I'm young enough to ride the crest of genetic engineering and become immortal.......... :d
I'm 32, so maybe immortal by the time I make 60?
:d
Quote from: Matt J on 07 March 2018, 03:02:55 PM
I don't really worry about it, I'm young enough to ride the crest of genetic engineering and become immortal.......... :d
That's one thing I would definitely
not fancy.
Being a few thousand years old, (having used many other previous identities)....I can tell you....It gets
incredibly tedious.
Cheers - Phil :P
Unless I can get a bunch of new joints I wouldn't fancy it much either.
Note to Orcs, here I am speaking of a collection of hips, knees, shoulders and such and not reefers. ;)
I suspect most of us would have to be immortal to finish all the projects we have on the go, let alone all the ones we want to do
Westmarcher, makes some very good points, having a will makes things so much easier for those left behind
I agree with Norm, all of my 'stuff' has already provided me more value than I paid for it. Anything that is got from the sale of it is a bonus. I hope that it goes to someone who will enjoy it.
Typically here, unfortunately there have been a few over the last couple of years, the local club is contacted and one or two members of the committee deal with the sale
Quote from: d_Guy on 07 March 2018, 05:44:27 PM
Note to Orcs, here I am speaking of a collection of hips, knees, shoulders and such and not reefers. ;)
Makes me sound like some sort of reprobate.....HMMMM. Most of my family think that so perhaps its correct. ( but it has been fun) :D
I did an inventaory of my books with ISBN no and approx. price based on what I could find on the internet - I know that is very variable, but it should give them some Ide as to what to do with them.
I have sold stuff for the wife of a deceased friend and gave her the money.
I think a general list of what you have and approx. what you think they are worth. It could just be something like :-
Painted 10mm - 40p a figure £3.50 a vehicle
Painted 28mm £2 infantry £3.50 Cavalry, £6 Gun and 4 crew.
If you can get someone other than a solicitor as an executor it can save unnecessary expense. Some 20 yeas ago A colleague at work lost his Aunt. She had made her solicitor the executor. The Solicitor insisted on writing to everybody in her address book to ask if they had any claim on her estate and charged the estate £40 a letter for doing so. Legally correct but questionable.
We had power of attorney for our parents which made things really easy. You are not legally obliged to tell the bank they have gone , so we just wrote cheques for the funeral expenses and sale of the house from their account. Then just wrote and closed the account when everything was settled.
As your daughter is the only beneficiary this would sound like a sensible idea. The only thing to be a little concerned about is if she were to ever get together with someone a manipulative or dubious and they persuade her you are insane ( this could account for many all of the forum) and pack you of to a care home early.
Anyway, you know the wargamers law. "Don't paint your last figure or you will die" So just keep buying the figures. I am due to live to 183 with what I have already. :)
We have made some arrangements with the guys I usually play with; 20mm goes to X, 10mm goes to Y, Naval Warfare goes to Z and so on. That way the 'burden' is spread evenly, friends can still enjoy the stuff we made (hopefully for generations to come) and the family won't be bothered with traders or others insulting your legacy for ridiculous prices. I have other (and easier movable like the motorbike etc.) stuff to sell to keep my wife comfortable for a while and the rule of thumb is that she or other close relatives can keep anything they want as a memento even if that means she wants to keep the whole collection for a while. Re-enactment stuff, uniforms, guns etc. should be sold within the group which should bring in a few quid and that would only really leave the books. Now that is a problem... they represent quite some value and just giving them away wouldn't be fair to her so they would probably have to be sold. I would advice her to sell them in small batches on the internet (giving close friends a first choice) and go out for a nice dinner or a movie every now and then.
A wargaming friend of us passed away just ten years ago and his parents have held on to his 1:1200 metal ships collection and his books (we were already given the rest). Two weeks ago we visited his grave in Northern Germany when we were in the vicinity and left a pack of chewing Tobacco on his grave. Three days later his parents visited one of our group; they had found the Tobacco on his grave and immediately knew we had been there! They're 80 years old now and asked if we wanted to take care of his collection of ships for wargaming (value of around GBP 10,000,-; he had the complete WW-2 US and IJN Pacific fleets incl. supply and transports!) since they were now at the age that they had to consider what to do with it all. They also offered us his books; all for free because they wanted his friends to enjoy the legacy. Wonderful people... we'll take them out to dinnerwhen we pick up the stuff for sure!
We have had some other experiences too though; when another friend passed away some 13 years ago a friend visiting his wife a week after the funeral was barely in time to rescue a part of his collection of vehicles and painted figures from the bin! She couldn't care less if he took it (but yes, she did want some money for it!) or otherwise she would throw it away like she had done with the rest of his stuff... You would almost be glad he didn't have to live another day with a witch like that!
Cheers,
Rob
It seems to be gifted to the club round here.
I do now have most of my books on the Kindle, so that really is one thing less for people to worry about!