What will happen to your collection when you're gone?

[mr2686]

Not to be morbid, but more out of curiosity...what would you like to see done with your collection when you're dead and gone? Would you like it to remain intact with kids or family members? Would you like it to be auctioned off? Have you ever thought about future collectors and what they would think when buying a piece from the collection of the estate of long time collector Joe blow? Or, do you plan on being burried with it? Of course, that would be hard for some of you since it would take 100 coffins (with acid-free and archival top of course). Just something I was pondering on a kinda slow day.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Not to be morbid, but more out of curiosity...what would you like to see done with your collection when you're dead and gone? Would you like it to remain intact with kids or family members? Would you like it to be auctioned off? Have you ever thought about future collectors and what they would think when buying a piece from the collection of the estate of long time collector Joe blow? Or, do you plan on being burried with it? Of course, that would be hard for some of you since it would take 100 coffins (with acid-free and archival top of course). Just something I was pondering on a kinda slow day.

I actually just itemized all of my items 100 dollars or more(2009); marked down what I paid(rough date) and the current market value in my mind. I have scans of everything on a mini zip drive with corresponding numbers as they relate to my spreadsheet. Currently I have it all communicated and willed.
At least this will give a picture and dates associated to my collection's worth. I will try to update the "today's market" column yearly. I HOPE IT GOES WAY UP BEFORE I DIE.

[bigtrain]

Alan King used to do this bit about how it seems that when you read the obits no matter how long a guy has lived, he is survived by his wife. So my wife, from time to time asks me, "what do I do with this stuff when you're gone?" I reply "how do you know you won't go first?" and she laughs. I have put together a notebook catologing my collection, prices paid, where I bought it, estimated market value, etc. Fortunately, I live ten minutes away from REA so she has Rob's number and contact information for other hobby contacts I trust. Its a good idea to put this info. in one place just in case. I hope my sons will want to keep a few pieces to remind them of the old man but in any case, you can't take it with you. Anyway, where I'm going the cardboard would probably get scorched and the slabs melted.

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by Forever Young

I actually just itemized all of my items 100 dollars or more(2009); marked down what I paid(rough date) and the current market value in my mind. I have scans of everything on a mini zip drive with corresponding numbers as they relate to my spreadsheet. Currently I have it all communicated and willed.

Hey Ben...did you pencil me in for the Mick as a kid sitting on the pony snapshot?

Actually my sister and I started the process over the Holidays just several months ago. She is a paralegal/legal secretary and has been working on my will for the last couple of months. She and my oldest daughter will be the co-executors with instructions that a few of my friends will each get something from my collection that I have already selected and has a special meaning that connects me with the chosen friend as well as a letter I've written to each friend on why I chose that particular piece to go to him.

After that, my three children can each choose a couple of pieces (must be approved by the executors) to keep as family heirlooms.

The rest to auction with my two daughters getting the majority of the proceeds and my son receiving a small portion (the same will be for my life insurance, 401k and other investments). In my culture, the daughters are taken care of and since there is no family business to look out for, my son will have to do as his father did in order to succeed...work his ass off his entire life!

Sincerely, Jimmy

[Ladder7]

In spite of all my instructions, I just know where and when it's going.

[mr2686]

To throw in what I've been doing, I too have started itemizing. I keep a hard copy and computer spreadsheet based on catagories with photos. Team projects are seperated from individual players/hall of famers etc. This works out good because I can see how much I've spent total on a team project as well as the individual purchases. Also good for your Will, Insurance, etc.
For me, I don't have any kids and all nephews and nieces have no interest in Baseball (my sisters and brother obviously did drugs in their youth). I plan on making sure I have all info including auction house contacts etc available to my wife in case I go before her (she killing me slowly so I feel obligated to take her with me ) and if we go together I'm really not sure what I'm going to do. At this point, I think I'd rather have it auctioned off and given to some of our favorite charities. I've been tempted to have some fun on my matted and framed team projects. I'm toying with the idea of having a letter hidden in the back of the framing saying something to the effect that a curse will be brought upon anyone taking apart this project. That would ensure some of my stuff is around for awhile.

[slidekellyslide]

I would hope my son would want to keep the stuff...I thought about donating it to the Nebraska History museum, but I'm afraid the stuff will never be seen again. There is a Nebraska baseball museum in St Paul, NE (hometown of Grover Alexander) that is a possibility.

[springpin]

Great question, and one I have contemplated. I won't bore you with my analysis of the various options, but I will share something with you that shocked (and disturbed) me when I first learned of it.

One option is to donate your collection to a museum, such as The Smithsonian or Cooperstown. Your intent in doing so would be to keep your collection whole in recognition of all the sweat equity you put into amassing it, so future generations can enjoy looking at your favorite eye candy. Not necessarily so, for two reasons.

The charter of the museum dictates it actions regarding donations. Many museums have in their charter that they have the right to sell off any item they wish, at the sole discretion of the museum. The technical term for this is "deaccession". So you donate your prize X in the belief people will enjoy looking at it in perpetuity. If the museum doesn't hold your X in the highest regard, they can sell off your X to get funds for whatever purposes needed, e.g., maintenance and repair of the museum. There may be a limitation in the charter that the museum can't sell X to purchase a Y (another type of sports item). But if you think your donation will be the property of the museum in perpetuity, not necessarily so.

Second (and slightly less offensive to me), a museum may accept your donation (most museums have an accessions committee that decides what items they will accept), but there is no guarantee the museum will ever put your item on display. It could wind up in what is called the "archives". In one museum I visited I got permission to enter the archives. I'm not a bat collector, but I saw hundreds of bats (of the game-used variety), that were placed in tubes (not sealed in any way) that were stacked horizontally. It looked like a bat mauseleum. I wondered how heartbroken the donors of these bats would have been if they saw their repository within the museum.

It is not the fault of the museum that they don't display all their items. There are permanent displays and rotating displays. If your X isn't a sufficient stunner to become part of a permanent display, it must either wait its turn for its "at bat", or forever be banished to "riding the bench". Museum management is a science, and museums have their own stats, just like in baseball. One set of them pertain to percentage of items in their holdings that never get off the bench. For a museum like The Smithsonian, the number is staggering. Over the decades people have donated far more items than the museum can ever reasonably hope to display. And a big portion of the items are stored in satellite warehouses. I read somewhere that the percentage of unaccounted for items in some libraries and museums (as Presidentials) can be enormous. I believe I read it was the Reagan Library that is missing about 1,000,000 items of the approximately 5,000,000 that were originally indexed. The items may not necessarily be lost or stolen, but their whereabouts are unaccounted for.

My take on all this is the museum option is not high on my list. If the museum is going to sell it off, I can sell it off just as efficiently, and maybe even donate the proceeds to the museum. If the museum isn't going to display my donation, what is the point of making the donation? I have considered donating a portion of my collection to museums, but I fully understand what might be the ultimate fate of my donation.

[Forever Young]

Originally Posted by thekingofclout

Hey Ben...did you pencil me in for the Mick as a kid sitting on the pony snapshot? Sincerely, Jimmy

!


If your Babe Ruth Conlon is willed to me, you have a deal buddy

[ChiefBenderForever]

If I keep collecting Chief Bender like I plan to and my son or daughter has no interest in the collection and money isn't really a dire issue I may donate everything to the Crow Wing County museum, or new Target Field, someplace a nice display would be apprieciated and seen by a lot of people. On the other hand I might sell everything in 15-20 years and take my wife to Italy like I have always promised we would do. With a 3 and 5 year old collecting is the only vacation I really get so who knows. The future is always tough to predict, if I die with it my wife would probably just throw it in the trash or sell it to some lucky bum for 1000.00.

[HexsHeroes]

.

. . . I'm in the process of doing something similar as Forever You (Ben) has done. I've even considering typing up brief descriptions for use with eBay-like listings, in case my beneficiary decides to listen to me (after the fact) and enlist young, tech-savvy family members to run the listings for a percentage of the gross sales. Without the help, the collection is likely to be sold to a dealer at a fraction of market value

[hcv123]

Originally Posted by thekingofclout

Hey Ben...did you pencil me in for the Mick as a kid sitting on the pony snapshot?

Actually my sister and I started the process over the Holidays just several months ago. She is a paralegal/legal secretary and has been working on my will for the last couple of months. She and my oldest daughter will be the co-executors with instructions that a few of my friends will each get something from my collection that I have already selected and has a special meaning that connects me with the chosen friend as well as a letter I've written to each friend on why I chose that particular piece to go to him.

After that, my three children can each choose a couple of pieces (must be approved by the executors) to keep as family heirlooms.

The rest to auction with my two daughters getting the majority of the proceeds and my son receiving a small portion (the same will be for my life insurance, 401k and other investments). In my culture, the daughters are taken care of and since there is no family business to look out for, my son will have to do as his father did in order to succeed...work his ass off his entire life!

Also, any special request offers from board members can be made at anytime and sent along to thekingofclout@yahoo.com. Don't forget to include your contact info (your email as phone numbers tend to change far too often) and specific item/items you are interested in. All requests will be logged, filed and stored with my executors.

I am completely serious about this. Although it may sound morbid or even a bit humorous, getting my will done right is a top-priority for me.

And to answer the questions that just might be on minds of a few of you guys... my health!

I already have one heart attack in the book, so along with having heart disease, I still need to drop 30 pounds. I don't smoke or drink, nor do I do drugs. Cancer claimed both of my parents and my grandfather succumbed to diabetes. My brother also has it.

Other then that, I feel pretty good and will turn 52 this July. I think that just now, more than a few of your ears shot up like a German Sheppard when he hears something that goes bump in the middle of the night!

Alright fellow board members, that's what I have planned for how my estate will unfold once the inevitable happens.

Marshall and Henry will serve as advisers to the executors on which offers to accept/decline or to counter-offer. Auction Houses have all ready been preselected as well.

Sincerely, Jimmy

Hey Jimmy,

Write me down for the Clemente photo used on his 1956 card. Would be a true highlight in a pretty incredible Clemente collection. That said, I'd prefer that I get to read about it and see it from time to time on these boards for a long time to come.

-Howard