[DrMitchJ]

Think of stepping away..getting the inventory to where I have to a reasonable level and selling off everything else.
Have 100,000s of cards to remove before I leave this Earth and do not want to burden my kids etc with the massive amount of collection.
As I am retired Navy, have a private practice to control with 4 partners and associates (senior guy), it is a tough road ahead. Will be selling my practice shortly.
Getting old is no fun.

Wow! As a trading partner and fellow Bonds guy I am sorry to hear your thinking of stepping away. As a fellow Centrum Silver qualifier I understand completely.
My son is the one that brought me into the hobby and I have been attempting to get things organized to a point of lessening the burden of my collection (some would argue the term burden here..but if you are not the collector it well can be)
A recent cardiac event has made me start to think about things in a different light in many aspects of my life and one of the things I never want to be is dependent or a burden.

Guys, I'm basically in the same boat, or just about to board ship ... permission to come aboard? LOL

I've been looking at my Man Cave, or what my daughters call my Messy Room .. filled with tons of baseball cards and comic books and artwork and guitars and records, CDs and etc, etc... And realize that there are more days behind me than ahead. I only have daughters that only show moderate interest in any of my hobbies (except art & music) and my wife who would order a dumpster right now if I were to tell her to get rid of my stuff.

A good buddy of mine (3 years older) just had a successful quad-bipass and I've been lucky not to have lost any of my close friends ... but we are all Men of a Certain Age and sadly, but inevitably, we will all come to our demise sooner than later.
I don't own my collectibles, I'm just their caretaker and they will hopefully pass into the hands of younger collectors of historical ephemera and I see it as my duty to my daughters not to burden them with all my stuff and empty out as much as I can and leave them with money, not cards and comic books.

My purchasing of stuff has started to slow down, my selling on eBay has been increasing. It may take me the next 20 years to redistribute my decades of collecting ... but now is a good time to start.

I'm going to re-subscribe to Beckett because I enjoy the camaraderie but my purchasing will be greatly reduced. Heck, I might even start trading again ... who knows ....

[kerryandbeth]

Last year or perhaps two years ago I posted a thread asking everybody what will happen to your collection when you are no longer the caretaker. I am in the same boat as far as no offspring is interested in taking my cards and my wife does not want to deal with them, either. Hopefully, at 56, I have 20+ years to figure it out.

In the meantime, I keep trying to be generous with trades or sales with very little response from the Beckett community (other than Zeprock and garrisc) to downsize my collection. At this rate it will take the rest of my life so I keep toying with the idea of putting a large batch on eBay or CraigsList as a fire sale. Hmmm...

[zeprock]

I hate to think about the end of my collecting days but it's coming whether I am ready for it or not. This year I found out I had cancer and had surgery to remove it although they didn't get it all and now I will be starting radiation treatments to try to kill off the cells that they missed. It's an ordeal and it has put things in perspective.

Last summer I sold my record album collection. More than 6500 albums, all gone but one. My wife has claimed my custom made shelving units for all her stuff and I used the money I got for a new riding lawn mower, a mini 3-day vacation and a down payment on a new (to me) truck and plow package. I still have about 2800 45rpm records I'd like to unload (if anyone reading this is interested).

The cards I'm keeping for now. 2020 will be my 50th year of collecting them and I've never taken a break but I know I can't take them with me (except for my 1970 Kellogg's McCovey) and I have no one to leave them to. Just this past year I didn't receive my cards from a member here on Beckett only to find out that he passed away. One of his relatives contacted me after finding our correspondence and she didn't have any clue about his cards. I don't want that to happen to my loved ones but I am so passionate about my collection that I can't see myself giving it up any time soon. I even taught myself basic html code so I could design my website to showcase my collection. Check it out at Zeprock.com. I have Gallery pages of each Hall of Fame player and other stars that I collect showcasing many of my favorite cards, many obtained here through Beckett. For me it's been half a century labor of love and I don't know how nor do I have the desire to end it.

[kerryandbeth]

I hate to think about the end of my collecting days but it's coming whether I am ready for it or not. This year I found out I had cancer and had surgery to remove it although they didn't get it all and now I will be starting radiation treatments to try to kill off the cells that they missed. It's an ordeal and it has put things in perspective.

My thoughts and wishes will be with you for a full and problem-free recovery.

[animie67]

My thoughts and prayers are with you Zeprock for a healthy recovery...

[jbissell]

Man oh man, what a sobering thread.

Zeprock: Best wishes for a full recovery!

Kerryandbeth: Ive always very much admired your generosity with your cards! So much so that I did pay it forward to another member here, and it felt great to do so! If I had more room in my dwelling, Id definitely take you up on your offers!

It sounds as though Im younger than many of the regular posters on here, but not by much. Am definitely glad I dipped my toe in the trading waters this year. Its been very enjoyable.

[kerryandbeth]

Kerryandbeth: Ive always very much admired your generosity with your cards! So much so that I did pay it forward to another member here, and it felt great to do so! If I had more room in my dwelling, Id definitely take you up on your offers!

Very nice! I love hearing about these kinds of things like paying it forward, especially with all the crap that takes place in this world that makes me cringe!!

If shipping wasn't so high on 500-count boxes, I would be sending out free cards at a record pace for those willing to take them.

By the way, I looked at 3 different Puckett autos online last night that were supposedly on sale but just couldn't justify paying $450-$750. I suppose they will never be $300 again.

[mgruber2]

I hate to think about the end of my collecting days but it's coming whether I am ready for it or not. This year I found out I had cancer and had surgery to remove it although they didn't get it all and now I will be starting radiation treatments to try to kill off the cells that they missed. It's an ordeal and it has put things in perspective.

Mark: Good luck with the treatments! I hope they are able to give you a clean bill of health very soon!


I can relate to most everyone here. With the exception of a 3-4 year hiatus in the mid 90's I have been collecting for about 33 years. I've amassed a fairly nice collection of cards and memorabilia, mostly of my Tigers.

I too have had some recent unexpected health issues. Back in April of this year I suffered a heart attack at the ripe old age of 44. Quite a surprise to say the least. As I'm typing this I have my left arm in a sling (it takes a while to type one handed, lol) due to shoulder surgery I had almost 3 weeks ago.

So, as some of you have, I've found myself thinking of what might lay in store for my collection when I am no longer here. I too have no one to pass it on to and I know it would be an ordeal for my wife to have to deal with. But I also don"t want to stop collecting. It is one of the few things I really enjoy, and on those rough days, it helps to keep me sane

Hopefully I and all of you will have many more years ahead of us to figure out what to do with our collections!

[mistral38]

Guys, I'm basically in the same boat, or just about to board ship ... permission to come aboard? LOL

I've been looking at my Man Cave, or what my daughters call my Messy Room .. filled with tons of baseball cards and comic books and artwork and guitars and records, CDs and etc, etc... And realize that there are more days behind me than ahead. I only have daughters that only show moderate interest in any of my hobbies (except art & music) and my wife who would order a dumpster right now if I were to tell her to get rid of my stuff.

A good buddy of mine (3 years older) just had a successful quad-bipass and I've been lucky not to have lost any of my close friends ... but we are all Men of a Certain Age and sadly, but inevitably, we will all come to our demise sooner than later.
I don't own my collectibles, I'm just their caretaker and they will hopefully pass into the hands of younger collectors of historical ephemera and I see it as my duty to my daughters not to burden them with all my stuff and empty out as much as I can and leave them with money, not cards and comic books.

My purchasing of stuff has started, my selling on eBay has been increasing. It may take me the next 20 years to redistribute my decades of collecting ... but now is a good time to start.

I'm going to re-subscribe to Beckett because I enjoy the camaraderie but my purchasing will be greatly reduced. Heck, I might even start trading again ... who knows ....

Well...Welcome aboard....at 58 and still a working carpenter including framing I thought I was in decent shape other then a few extra pounds (ok it was 25 plus) and a bit of type 2 diagnosed 3 years ago and let's not forget that extremely moronic pack and half a day habit (day 6 on giving that up)
My point is we all think we have plenty of time...but just maybe a guy should give a few moments pause, I enjoy my work and my hobbies and think someone would be overwhelmed sorting my mess out (everything is organized with an inventory list except for my 27 years worth of Bonds collecting I should be ashamed to say 75 plus super shoe boxes) Procrastination is my strong suite.

[garrisc]

Mark - Good luck with the treatments. You are right, cancer is an ordeal. I went through it in 2002 - My doctors youngest patient ever. Staying positive got me through it.

Scott