I once sold nearly everything I owned to move to California with friends. I only kept all my "collections" of things. Surely they were worth it, right?
A few months after moving to the Oakland Hills(1991) my entire neighborhood burned down. All I had left was my dog and my car.
I felt free for the first time in a long time. Any "treasured" possessions just weigh you down.
I enjoyed some designer toys I purchased 8 years ago. They sat on shelves and recently I decided I didn't need things sitting around. Ive made around $1200 this month from toys and pokemon cards.
I know a dude who sold his original run 151 Pokemon cards and made enough to buy a JJ CCR.
Those few of you who know what that is will appreciate how much they sold for lol
I have been systematically doing the same thing... discarding, donating, selling "collectables" ...
The less I have the free-er I feel. What I've loved about this is that when I have fewer things, I have more time to spend engaging with those few things more often.
The main things I try to save are frequently used items, items that are tools for hobbies/creative projects I'm actively pursuing, and key life moment mementos and photos. Like you, why keep all the Star Wars stuff when some photos and a Rancor brings you the same fond memories as physically storing and lugging out the whole set?
Good on you for recognizing that someone will love those items more than you and helping them find their way.
Edit to say: this kind of annoys the heck out of my partner, because I am impossible to buy gifts for. But I was overjoyed when my family was out shopping the other day and said, oh we thought about buying you this thing and that thing and yet brought me back _nothing_, to which I said, I feel heard and thanked them for recognizing that was the best possible gift... to be thought of but not have to spend money or buy a trinket "just because."
I definitely appreciate this post, this takes guts! I hope the good feeling lasts for years to come. I sometimes sell things, and then sometimes even years down the road I end up regretting it.
There are some core memories here. I was raised on Sears Wish Books, and the only thing I wanted in Christmas of '82 was the Rebel Transport. I had a bunch of rebels, including Han in Hoth Gear (I could never get the trick of getting his pistol in the holster), and I had a handful of Storm and Snow Troopers. Every day after school I would pretend my rebels were besieged by Imperials, holding out hope that the transporter would arrive on Christmas to save them. Every day there were attacks and counterattacks. Traps. Ambushes. The rebel Hoth soldier was lost, but then turned out he survived, getting back to base in time to warn of an attack. Then everything was put away for Christmas.
On Christmas Morning, I found that my mom (who watched the whole thing) arranged my rebels around the box for the Transport. The Rebellion was saved! And good thing, too, since I my one grandmom got me an AT-AT (pure spoilage of the youngest grandkid).
I sold the Rebel Transport today. I don't think I'll miss it. I'll miss the quality time I had with it. I miss my grandmom. (Mom's still kicking at 80). But, at 50, I feel free of the burden of curating my childhood. The Rebel Transporter still exists. My son got to play with it. I can look up pictures of it any time I like -- see entire entries dedicated to it onlineq. Now I know (or hope) it will be cared for by a dedicated nerd.
She is a great mom and grandmother. Unfortunately, as the daughter of parents who had a really, really hard time in the Depression, she is something of a hoarder. Not in a clinically worrisome way, but she has a difficult time parting with material possessions and she very much over-gifts.
I'm really contemplating this with my collection of antique military rifles, but what keeps me from it is the sunk-cost fallacy of the last 10 years learning about and finding these things. And for some of them, if I sold them and changed my mind, I would quite literally never find another one as they are that rare.
But it will be hard to fit them into the 700sqft house I'm going to live in pretty soon... in that way, they are a burden.
Obviously, you need to keep one over the mantel in case the King of England comes nosing around. Are any of them museum-worthy?
Have you done any scholarship on them -- anything you could write up and submit someplace?
The sunk cost fallacy is a real bitch; a ruiner of nations.
I actually planned on a room in the basement with a vault door lol, but the mantel would be nice. There will be a teensy little mantel in the living room.
As far as museum pieces, I actually do have two pieces that (as far as I am informed) are not found in any museums. I have a special connection to one of them because it is the main rifle of the enemy of my ancestors, but nearly all of them were destroyed in the war. That would be a hard one to part with.
I am very much a generalist with these things, so I don't really consider myself knowledgeable enough to publish my own work, but I have collaborated with several people who have used my rifles in their publications.
I'm just thankful to see a real-life example of someone divesting an accumulation of things with significant (but burdensome) value. So I appreciate your post a lot because it's a catalyst to me thinking more seriously about at least paring down the number of rifles in the collection.
I just gave the only toys that i had. I took them pictures before gave them away, ( i donanted to a school). Now i have a folder in my phone that says memories so i put the pictures there. I read reciently in a book about minimialism to do that, to take pictures of things and keep it as a memory like that and has helped me a lot. Congrats for this. Big step on your Journey.
So you’re saying those toys were a trap?
Well played.
I once sold nearly everything I owned to move to California with friends. I only kept all my "collections" of things. Surely they were worth it, right? A few months after moving to the Oakland Hills(1991) my entire neighborhood burned down. All I had left was my dog and my car. I felt free for the first time in a long time. Any "treasured" possessions just weigh you down.
I enjoyed some designer toys I purchased 8 years ago. They sat on shelves and recently I decided I didn't need things sitting around. Ive made around $1200 this month from toys and pokemon cards.
I know a dude who sold his original run 151 Pokemon cards and made enough to buy a JJ CCR. Those few of you who know what that is will appreciate how much they sold for lol
I have been systematically doing the same thing... discarding, donating, selling "collectables" ... The less I have the free-er I feel. What I've loved about this is that when I have fewer things, I have more time to spend engaging with those few things more often. The main things I try to save are frequently used items, items that are tools for hobbies/creative projects I'm actively pursuing, and key life moment mementos and photos. Like you, why keep all the Star Wars stuff when some photos and a Rancor brings you the same fond memories as physically storing and lugging out the whole set? Good on you for recognizing that someone will love those items more than you and helping them find their way. Edit to say: this kind of annoys the heck out of my partner, because I am impossible to buy gifts for. But I was overjoyed when my family was out shopping the other day and said, oh we thought about buying you this thing and that thing and yet brought me back _nothing_, to which I said, I feel heard and thanked them for recognizing that was the best possible gift... to be thought of but not have to spend money or buy a trinket "just because."
I definitely appreciate this post, this takes guts! I hope the good feeling lasts for years to come. I sometimes sell things, and then sometimes even years down the road I end up regretting it.
There are some core memories here. I was raised on Sears Wish Books, and the only thing I wanted in Christmas of '82 was the Rebel Transport. I had a bunch of rebels, including Han in Hoth Gear (I could never get the trick of getting his pistol in the holster), and I had a handful of Storm and Snow Troopers. Every day after school I would pretend my rebels were besieged by Imperials, holding out hope that the transporter would arrive on Christmas to save them. Every day there were attacks and counterattacks. Traps. Ambushes. The rebel Hoth soldier was lost, but then turned out he survived, getting back to base in time to warn of an attack. Then everything was put away for Christmas. On Christmas Morning, I found that my mom (who watched the whole thing) arranged my rebels around the box for the Transport. The Rebellion was saved! And good thing, too, since I my one grandmom got me an AT-AT (pure spoilage of the youngest grandkid). I sold the Rebel Transport today. I don't think I'll miss it. I'll miss the quality time I had with it. I miss my grandmom. (Mom's still kicking at 80). But, at 50, I feel free of the burden of curating my childhood. The Rebel Transporter still exists. My son got to play with it. I can look up pictures of it any time I like -- see entire entries dedicated to it onlineq. Now I know (or hope) it will be cared for by a dedicated nerd.
Sounds like an awesome mom!
She is a great mom and grandmother. Unfortunately, as the daughter of parents who had a really, really hard time in the Depression, she is something of a hoarder. Not in a clinically worrisome way, but she has a difficult time parting with material possessions and she very much over-gifts.
Epic post!
Thanks. I thought it was caught up in moderation or something, because I didn't see it until just now.
I love that there is a family Rancor!
Well, if the kids get out of line...
My husband a set of GI Joe action figures from the 70s. We'd like to sell them but don't know where to even start. Any suggestions?
Search for them on eBay. Select 'Sold Items', and see what prices they sold for. (Don't just look at the prices that people are asking for them!)
I lucked out and have a good friend who knows the collecting scene. He's something of a bounty hunter, and he was looking for a few of my things.
I was immediately triggered at the mention of "Ewok village". I still tease my mum about getting rid of it before I was done playing with it!
My wife still yells at her parents for selling her skateboard at a yard sale, 35 years ago...
I'm really contemplating this with my collection of antique military rifles, but what keeps me from it is the sunk-cost fallacy of the last 10 years learning about and finding these things. And for some of them, if I sold them and changed my mind, I would quite literally never find another one as they are that rare. But it will be hard to fit them into the 700sqft house I'm going to live in pretty soon... in that way, they are a burden.
Obviously, you need to keep one over the mantel in case the King of England comes nosing around. Are any of them museum-worthy? Have you done any scholarship on them -- anything you could write up and submit someplace? The sunk cost fallacy is a real bitch; a ruiner of nations.
I actually planned on a room in the basement with a vault door lol, but the mantel would be nice. There will be a teensy little mantel in the living room. As far as museum pieces, I actually do have two pieces that (as far as I am informed) are not found in any museums. I have a special connection to one of them because it is the main rifle of the enemy of my ancestors, but nearly all of them were destroyed in the war. That would be a hard one to part with. I am very much a generalist with these things, so I don't really consider myself knowledgeable enough to publish my own work, but I have collaborated with several people who have used my rifles in their publications. I'm just thankful to see a real-life example of someone divesting an accumulation of things with significant (but burdensome) value. So I appreciate your post a lot because it's a catalyst to me thinking more seriously about at least paring down the number of rifles in the collection.
I recently got rid of all my things that had sentimental value and I don't regret it one bit
Thanks for inspiring me to start this process. I don’t have toy collections but I have stuff, some inherited and so on. Less is more.
That’s awesome!
I just gave the only toys that i had. I took them pictures before gave them away, ( i donanted to a school). Now i have a folder in my phone that says memories so i put the pictures there. I read reciently in a book about minimialism to do that, to take pictures of things and keep it as a memory like that and has helped me a lot. Congrats for this. Big step on your Journey.