I sometimes find myself worrying about what will happen to my massive collection of toys, comics and books when I fall off the twig in around 100 years or so (I'm not planning on going early or easily). Will I ever get around to establishing a museum of childhood, or will all my stuff end up in charity shops or dustbins? It's a bit like being a parent and having to think about making provisions for your children when you're not here.
Are you a proud collector? What would you like to have happen to your beloved treasures when you eventually have to cast off this mortal coil? None of the "I'll be dead so I don't care" cop-outs; what would be the ideal fate of all your material companions through life that would allow you to bow out with the assurance that they'd be cared for and cherished after you've gone exploring in that 'final frontier' ?
And what's the absolute gem of your collection, the one item that, if everything else was jettisoned by your heirs, you'd breathe a little easier in the hereafter (if there is one - and if you can breathe) so long as it survived and was looked after and appreciated by its new owner? Too difficult a question? Okay, you can pick three items. So what are they? Reveal all in the captivating comments section, Criv-ite chums.
32 comments:
A good few years back I embraced a minimalist lifestyle and got rid of all the unimportant objects in my life.
It was easy enough and in the back of my mind,I knew I had made it easier for my family to clear my home in the event of my death.(I lived alone at the time)
My life has changed since then,I have kids now and a partner and as I look around my man-loft,I see I have again gathered a lot of 'stuff'.
I have retrieved boxes from my mothers loft that are filled with memories for me.
No one else will have the same memories that are triggered by these comics and comic-book panels as I do.
Its all really personal.
In answer to your question,I have looked around and I do not see anything that I value in a nostalgic fashion.
I think about you and your collection sometimes and think it would be pretty sad if (after your demise)someone were to donate all of your 'stuff' to a charity shop or dump the comic-books in the bin reserved for paper and cardboard.
My brother died a while back and my sister was determined to store all of his belongings.
I have some of his bits and pieces as well as larger items,because she did not have the space.
I wish she had just taken a small reminder and dumped the majority.
Its dead simple,as far as we know,you cannot take anything with you from this place when you leave.
Hopefully, memories and the emotions associated will be transferable.
My wife and daughters are quite clear that my immense mound of comics must go before I do or they'll be upset that I left it to them to handle. I've been selling some stuff off here and there (almost always at a loss) but I have boxes and boxes and boxes to unload and a marginal market to do it in. For the most part my stuff is reading copy worthy, as I'm a reader and less a collector. But I do know that some few boxes (Charltons, Avengers, a few others) will be around when I drop off as I never want to part ways. I read trades almost exclusively now so getting rid of back issues is no hard thing really save for finding a market. Getting rid of the trades will be easier for my heirs as lots of places will buy books if not comic books.
Rip Shuffling Off (But not quite yet.)
H'mm, that's in interesting and thought-provoking response, Baab. I occasionally feel 'trapped' by my possessions, but mostly get a warm glow from the familiarity of their presence which I'd be reluctant to give up. Like you, I once got rid of most of my things (or never kept them at the time), but I eventually found that I missed them and wanted them as part of my life again. Take the Yogi Bear toy that illustrates the post; I had two of them as a kid and it took me well over 40 years to obtain a replacement. The connection it provides to that earlier time in my life is far more tangible for having the actual item, than a memory on its own could deliver. Every time I look through my comic boxes with a view to reducing my collection, I get swamped by memories of where and when I bought each of them, and it would be like jettisoning periods of my life were I to get rid of them. Obviously there are some aspects of my life that I forget until reminded of them, but once reminded, I'm reluctant to abandon the memories to oblivion again.
I really must see about getting a Lottery grant.
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One of the things I've considered, Rip, is taking good quality photos of my comic covers and toys, and putting them on a disc or three. Then, if I ever have to make space, at least I'll have the comfort of being able to look at them and not forget them. It's second-best I know, but it's better than nothing I suppose.
However, having said that, I recently bought the Dr. Strange Omnibus, and it reprints the covers of 7 issues of Strange Tales that I originally bought in the '70s and later acquired replacements for. Now that I have the actual stories and covers (the original and '70s versions) in one single volume, you'd think I'd be able to dispose of the '70s mags, but I find myself unable to do so. I think that's because there's some kind of subtle difference between having an image of something and the thing itself, but in the meantime, my collection just grows and grows. What's a guy to do?
In the meantime, let's just hope that both of us are around for a good long time yet.
I'm now splitting my collection into three - the deluxe collection (my No1s etc), the personal collection (those well worn ones that mean a lot to me and no one else), and the bulk collection of many, many issues that I intend to sell (with a fair chance of getting the cover price back
I was visiting a friend recently, CN, and his collection possibly eclipses even mine in terms of quantity - and even quality in some cases. I'll have to ask him what he'd like to see happen to it all after his eventual demise. (Which, hopefully, won't be for many, many years yet - as with us all.
I no longer collect. The comic book collection was sold to comic book specialty shops years ago. Hopefully, the comics will be bought by collectors who will take good care of them. Or by people who want certain back issues for nostalgic reasons.
My toys that would be collectable now (Captain Action figures, Fireball XL5 MPC set, Man From U.N.C.L.E. figures) were all donated to charities, and the 1960's Big Little Books and other Whitman hardback kids' books (Space Eagle, The Monkees, Tarzan) were donated to a library.
I gave my Doc Savage and Shadow paperbacks to an elderly neighbor who had read the original pulp magazines. He said they brought back memories. I don't know what happened to them after he passed away. Maybe his heirs traded them (or sold them) to a second-hand book store. Which would make them available to collectors.
The few toys and children's books I have now are stored in a plastic container in a closet. They are not collector's items, and their only value is sentimental. My nieces and nephews are now grown and some of them have kids of their own. Those kids seem to be growing so fast that they may be parents themselves by the time I pop off. So my stuff will probably end up with my great-grand-nieces and nephews.
Unfortunately most of my collection is for sale by weight. I have a full run of Thor/ journey into mystery. One short box of Flash. One long box of early Avengers and Adam Strange. A large newspaper Spirit insert of the Sand Saref Story signed by Eisner. A Jack Kirby original art page. The rest is all 70s 80s and 90s junk you line your shoe with. The good news is when I croak my son gets it all.
I definitely have a minimalist lifestyle, you could even call it Spartan, so I only have the things I need other than a few books and even those have been reduced recently. But that's an interesting point, Kid, about being trapped by possesions because I used to have a lot of stuff like CD's, DVD's and books but getting rid of it all made me feel liberated. Sometimes I think fondly of something I once owned and briefly wish I still had it but then I realise I did the right thing. My handful of books will go to a charity shop I suppose.
Does it bother you at all, TC, that if your sentimental toys go your great-grand-nieces and nephews, they'll probably be played with, broken and discarded? I'd prefer mine to be kept in their present condition forever.
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That J.I.M./Thor run is sure to be worth a lot, PS. Does it go right up to the present day?
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I, too, felt sort of 'liberated' when I first discarded my earliest possessions, CJ, but it was a relatively short-lived feeling. I now wish I hadn't, and have spent around four decades trying to re-acquire replacements for most of them - including toys, comics, records and books. There are probably some that I'll never be able to replace.
" ...if your sentimental toys go your great-grand-nieces and nephews, they'll probably be played with...."
Kids playing with toys, what will they think of next?
If I dropped dead tomorrow, I suspect my other half would ring a collector friend of mine and tell him to drop by and help himself....much to *his* wife's chagrin :-)
IIRC, one of the Toy Story movies dealt with the question of playing with toys (and risking them getting damaged) vs. preserving them mint-in-box.
My stuff survived my childhood, and it appears that the younger kids have inherited what seems to be a family trait: handling things with reasonable care, and saving them. So, hopefully, my things will last for a while after I'm gone. But nothing lasts forever.
I don't mind kids playing with their own toys, BS - as in ones bought for them to play with - but I don't want them getting their grubby wee hands on mine. Over the years, friends have occasionally asked me if they could bring their kids 'round to see my collection - the answer has always been an emphatic NO!
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Nothing lasts forever - very often one of the saddest facts of human existence, TC. These Toy Story movies were excellent, weren't they?
Kid, you could let kids come and see your collection but tell them no touching. It seems a bit strange that you want to turn your collection into a museum but you discourage any kids from coming to look. But I could never just replace things the way you do - in my opinion if something is gone then it's gone and a replacement is not the original thing so I'd have no interest in it.
Not strange at all, CJ. Things aren't in glass cases in my house, and kids always want to look with their hands, not their eyes. In a museum (after I'm gone) kids wouldn't be able to get their grubby hands on the exhibits. And here's a bit of magic that I could never fully convey to you, CJ, but when you replace an item with a genuine 'twin' from the same period, it mysteriously, magically, mystically becomes the actual item (in your mind at least) that you once possessed. True!
It was up to the first time Thor was cancelled. I think that was the 90s.
But fortunately the collection goes to my son who knows his comics. He can decide what stays and goes. I hope he keeps one comic at least and gets everything else in reprints. I foolishly got Journey into Mystery signed to me by Stan and Jack so I don't want to sell it till I kick the bucket. The agony of collecting. All my toys are my own, none bought as collectibles. My greatest regret was giving away all my Action Man stuff. How was I to know they would stop making it and it would be worth money? It seemed like the toy that would go on forever.
Action Man, as I'm sure you'll know, was simply a renamed (and repackaged) G.I. Joe. Palitoy (who sold A.M.) announced around 1983/'84 that they were discontinuing the line, so I rushed out and bought one of the last few still available, which I've still got. Hasbro (the original makers of G.I. Joe) acquired the copyright to the name and brought Action Man back in the early '90s and, once again, he was just a renamed (and repackaged) G.I. Joe, but with a new body. Another company revived the original figure and costumes around 2006, and they're just about as expensive to purchase on the collectors' market as the originals.
Which ish of J.I.M. did Stan and Jack autograph for you?
JIM 83........ Oh well.
The great thing about Action Man was he got the American outfits as well as the exclusive British outfits. So I had the astronaut, the British soldier, the German soldier. The life raft! The deep sea diver!
A classic. I've got it, but not autographed.
The deep sea diver outfit was great. On the British version, the G.I. Joe name on the chest-plate was left blank. In 1971, I bought an Action Man knock-off (same face, but without the scar), which was almost as articulated as the real one. It came in a deep sea diver's outfit, which was just a knock-off of Joe's and A.M's. My brother had the A.M. outfit in 1966, but he used it on Pedigree's Tommy Gunn figure, which was a high-quality rival of Action Man.
This is a question often asked of me by 'er indoors and the truth is, if a younger serious collector made himself known to me in my twilight years, I would gladly GIVE him my stuff, if he promised to keep it. Though, I doubt very much this will happen by chance, so I suppose I'll have to put the word on the net when the time is right, given the chance?
My three items would probably be those first three Daleks Annuals!
Actually, it was a bit cheeky asking which three items, JP, because I don't think I could tie it down to that number. The Marx Yogi Bear on a scooter would have to be one of them 'though, because it's one of the earliest toys (if not THE earliest) I remember having.
Meant to ask, what did you think of the four '70s Dalek Annuals you acquired recently?
Well, I AM pleased to have them at long last, but, apart from the TV21 reprints, they pale in comparison to the 60's annuals, in my opinion.
The next one you should acquire, JP, is 'The Amazing World Of Dr. Who' Annual, which also has TV21 Dalek reprints.
I have been in the process of clearing out my comics and CDs for a few years now - sadly with CDs being so cheap and almost free in charity shops (50p)for every 3 CDs I throw out I pick up 2 new ones (but this week they all go except my favourites ie my blues collection, 70s and early 80s compilations, Bowie, Tom Waites, Led Zep etc) and I will just signed up to Spotify. For comics that's ongoing but like a previous poster noted I am putting these into 3 groups - 1: Comics I want to keep 2:comics I will sell cheaply (UK 60s, US 60s - to date) - the rest (80%) to friends , charity shops the bin etc) At present I have bundles of comics in boxes I have never seen in years so they are just going to waste when someone could enjoy them- I am however picking up more collections (Dr Strange collection etc) and getting rid of others that have these stories (ie most of my UK Avengers weeklies etc) that way I may actually enjoy the more limited collection I have - any new comics I buy (by new I mean brand new) I read and either bin or put in the charity pile and don't let them build up. I only have a handful of toys so they can be binned when the time comes. Like Colin I find getting rid of rubbish (rather than my full collection like Colin) very liberating I am aiming for a final collection of around 500 comics and 100 CDs (give or take). McSCOTTY (having major issues with Google at present)
Got it, Kid! Picked it up years ago for something ridiculous, like 50p or something, from a second-hand market stall, - plus it was in "as new" condition! Now, this IS a beautiful book!
I only have the first 4 issues of Avengers weekly, PM, so if you've got #5 upwards, in good condition, I might buy a dozen or so from you - maybe more. I know I've got far too much stuff, most of it acquired over the last 30 years or so, but I wouldn't even know where to begin as far as downsizing goes. Too many memories, too reluctant to consign them to oblivion, as, without the reminders, that's where those memories would go. Maybe I should just enjoy them while I'm here, and let someone else worry about separating the wheat from the chaff when I'm gone? Have you bought the Dr. Strange Omnibus yet? What do you think of it?
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Good show, JP. I was given my original copy by World Distributors as a 'gift', 'though I think it was really because I'd sent them 50p more for a Dalek Annual than they'd asked for. So, in effect, I also got my copy for 50p, same as you. (My replacement cost more 'though, but wasn't too dear.)
I'll check my Avengers weekly comics I certainly have a few if any of interest to you they're yours for nowt - If these things make you happy keep them and just enjoy them that's my plan I may be thinning them out but Im still buying stuff (comics I want) and keeping it, like my sofa, CD player, car, rocket boots (surely they'll be invented soon) etc when the time comes someone can bin them etc. I was on holiday last week and got some crackers at very reasonable prices Hulk 136/137 and 157 (ones with fond memories attached) SHAZAM 2, 5-9 ( I like CC Becks art) Action Comics 402, 405 and a few more (no more than £5 each some £3) I even got a copy of "MARVEL Firsts The 1970s" (VOL 3) for £6(new). Not got the Dr Strange book yt (skint from my holiday) but payday on Friday so plan to get it them - McScotty
Aha! So, PM, are you the 'unknown' that's commented before, or is that another unknown? Get the Alex Ross cover of the Omnibus, as the Ditko cover is just a 'flipped' image of an internal page from the last story, with a different background. That's a fair amount of bargains you got there, sure enough. You can let me know what Avengers weeklies you've got when time allows, my good man, and we'll work something out if I want 'em.
Yep that was me = for some reason my google account is "acting up". I'll look into it later - I'll be checking my comics in my loft later this weekend so will check what Avengers comics I have - I was thinking of getting the Alex Ross cover (it looks good - is that what you got). I can't recall a Ditko DrStrange cover other than this one ( did he do any others I can only recall Kirby and Adkins covers of Dr Strange at this time) McSCOTTY
Yup, I got the Alex Ross cover simply because it's so good. (It's included, sans logo, inside the back of the book as well.) I don't think Ditko ever drew Dr. Strange on the cover of Strange Tales, 'though a couple of small internal illos were pressed into service on occasion, if I remember correctly. You'll love your Omnibus volume, PM - guaranteed!
Forgot to tell you, the other 2 DW hardbacks (Zarbi & Crusaders) are going to be reprinted too! The 3 will make a very nice set!
I assumed you knew I already knew about them, JP. I've got all three on order from FP. Can't wait.
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