Is it time to offload your Star Wars collection?

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

With the direction modern SW is going, I keep thinking about whether I should get rid of some of my collection now. I didn't collect for investment, but I can easily foresee in another 5-10 years that a lot of this stuff will be worthless. There are some things I would keep, but it's hard being a SW fan now!

 

[Captain Dunsel]

With the direction modern SW is going, I keep thinking about whether I should get rid of some of my collection now. I didn't collect for investment, but I can easily foresee in another 5-10 years that a lot of this stuff will be worthless. There are some things I would keep, but it's hard being a SW fan now!

My speculation is, if you have any OT collectibles, such as vintage Kenner items, it may be best to sell them now

These items are at their peak value and it really is only Gen X that is buying these items, right now.

Once we all begin to hit our retirement years, people are going to switch from “buying mode” to “selling mode” as we start offloading these items (or our families will) and the market value is going to crash.

Again…just my speculation.

 

[Clerval]

Your kids/grandkids/etc don't want your crap. This falls into that category. Sell, invest, shore things up, convert the cash to something worthwhile.

 

[drusselmeyer]

And if you have any trouble disposing of your old props, I'll be happy to help dispose of them for you...for a nominal fee of course since I don't work for free.

There was a Twilight Zone episode back in the 80s starring Mark Hamill where he meet this impish character that gives him a piece of advice:

Never sell the things you love.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

And if you have any trouble disposing of your old props, I'll be happy to get dispose of them for you...for a nominal fee of course since I don't work for free.

There was a Twilight Zone episode back in the 80s starring Mark Hamill where he meet this impish character that gives him a piece of advice:

Never sell the things you love.

It was an Amazing Stories episode:

 

[drusselmeyer]

Thanks, it's been a moment or so since I saw it.

 

[Psab keel]

Remember, your collection is only relevant to you. Your kids don't care about it. Your spouse doesn't care about it. The more eclectic and specific your collection is, the harder it will be to offload. Any money to be made off it can be made while you're still alive and it's sold while interest in Star Wars remains (what little there seems to be anymore). While none of us collects for investment/ value, the market for this stuff is still viable- even if it's dwindling in large part due to the lackluster content. There's also a lot to be said about the oversaturation of shows/ movies which in turn hurts the collector market because people get bored of the same old thing over and over.

I've experienced losing enough loved ones to know that as well intentioned as it is to bequeath items to family, or to hope they can sell your valuables and keep the money, the reality is that this stuff becomes worthless as we age. The people who grew up with Star Wars will die out, and the market will fade away because there will be no one there to buy it. I think of the mounds of junk that meant something to the people I've lost, all of which got thrown away because there was never enough time to find all the right people to sell it to. Even in the rare cases where some things got sold, they either went for pennies, or the prospects dried up quick and people got indecisive about purchasing. No one has the time to sift through our junk to decide how to best sell it because once we're gone, the market/ interest has gone with it.

Think about the millions of POTF2 Figures from the mid to late 1990's. They only ever held value when they were sold at retail and have never climbed in value since. They still go for pennies on Ebay. Now consider all of the other official merchandise, then the props we make/ sell/ collect. While they may command a high ticket price now, they'll be nearly worthless by the time we're well past retirement. I don't know too many people in nursing homes who cruise the internet to buy collectibles.

My suggestion would be that if your gut is telling you to sell some things, think it over carefully about what matters most to your collection, and then sell all that you can handle.

 

[drusselmeyer]

I was recently at a convention...my first in years and there was a panel on custom figures. One of the audience asked the question: When do you let go?

He reasoned that in the end, it is just stuff and you will eventually have to let it go.

On one hand, this is technically correct. On the other, he was speaking to artists who put their efforts into their creations.

They had devoted portions of their lives to making something that never existed before, but he was so oblivious to this fact that he reduced the panel to junk collectors.

As I thought about what he said, I became increasingly angry at his ignorance. He did not belong. He was a dull witted consumer thinking like a consumer.

He probably has never created a thing in his life and never would. Neither a creator nor a producer. Just another mindless, tasteless consumer.

Do what enriches your soul. Don't listen to the people that want to drag you down to their level.

"That way is the dark path."

 

[Ron]

If it's things you grew up with or made, I would say keep it. The sentimental value alone is worth it. Everything else? Just let it go. The last year or so I've been mulling over how much I really cherish the collection I have. I can tell you I've come to accept I could do without most of it (even all of it if I had to).

The older I get, the less I care about possessions that don't have a personal significance for me. Sure, there are things I would never let go of, but the rest is feeling more like hoarding as time moves along.

 

[chibobber]

I have reached the point that it all must go. I have been down this road before with various interests ie, Guns, motorcycles, cars, flight helmets and SW.
For me it is always the journey, the restoration and building and the whole process. Once completed, interest dies. Now I relieve the burden on my kids and send it off to auction. The journey, not the destination.

 

[Astyanax]

Interesting takes. Having been a much shorter time in the hobby, I would say that for me, it's not just about the "stuff", but that the collection itself can represent an artistic expression of its own.

Most of the things I have are worthless and will remain that way...but they look great together, and people "oooh" and "aaah", when they see them.

So for me, it's more about assembling something cool. Which is why I often spend as much creative time and effort on my display infrastructure as I do the props themselves. I'm building a "museum"!

So for me, the crappy stuff stays, because it compliments the good stuff.

 

[Psab keel]

What's motivating you to consider selling off some things?

 

[chibobber]

If this ? is for me. Old age. Lose of interest. Decided to go back to my roots and am restoring a 1971 BSA motorcycle.

 

[Psab keel]

I was posing it to everyone. It's always interesting to hear why people collect, why they collect what they do and prompts the consideration for selling.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Your kids/grandkids/etc don't want your crap. This falls into that category. Sell, invest, shore things up, convert the cash to something worthwhile.

My 21yo nephew will take possession of my real Sterling (deactivated) Stormtrooper rifle the minute I show a hint of old age. Along with any other SW props. I think my process is going to be just looking at stuff and if it doesn't immediately make me happy, it goes. I just don't feel the need to amass a big collection any more.

 

[Vader1]

I have to agree with some of the previous. When the sequel trilogy came out the majority of Gen X is in peak earning years which is why the prices have gone up so much. We want to recapture our childhood. This is the case with many of the Gen X toy lines. I do believe as we continue to age prices will start to drop significantly as the nostalgia wheres off. I think the original premium boxed/carded and graded items will hold a good value. The loose stuff will fall off to 90's equal prices adjusted for dollar value of course. I have been collecting Star Wars and other toys since the 90's. I've done major trimming of my collection 4 times. If there is no improvement in the economy in the future, I expect to see more vintage product on the market. I do believe we are at the peak of the bubble.

 

[Master Boda]

I agree with what most have said.I had been collecting for 28 years and have sold almost everything except a few items I plan on going to the grave with.As I get older I care less about material things and more about family, I can keep a prop or sell it and everyone can have fun whereas the prop only brings me happiness and no one else.Good luck on your decision and let us know,oh and remember the old "you must do what you feel is right".

 

[Psab keel]

Some of the items I collect I know full well that there's a good chance I won't keep permanently. I can enjoy them for a time and at some point they'll get sold after they've lost their luster. I almost consider those pieces as rentals.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

Dave Mandel touched a bit on the topic of why we are starting to see people offloading these pieces, now, in this video:

 

[VanPersie]

I was recently at a convention...my first in years and there was a panel on custom figures. One of the audience asked the question: When do you let go?

He reasoned that in the end, it is just stuff and you will eventually have to let it go.

On one hand, this is technically correct. On the other, he was speaking to artists who put their efforts into their creations.

They had devoted portions of their lives to making something that never existed before, but he was so oblivious to this fact that he reduced the panel to junk collectors.

As I thought about what he said, I became increasingly angry at his ignorance. He did not belong. He was a dull witted consumer thinking like a consumer.

He probably has never created a thing in his life and never would. Neither a creator nor a producer. Just another mindless, tasteless consumer.

Do what enriches your soul. Don't listen to the people that want to drag you down to their level.

"That way is the dark path."

I see where you are coming from, but don’t feel that he did anything that would make him seem like he didn’t belong.

Perhaps he himself has had a life of creating things, but has reached a point where he has come to the realisation that what he does, isn’t just who he is. He may have worded it clumsily though.

I mean, look at veterans who just cannot let their military service go. They let it be who they are, so just can’t really move on.

Other examples are like Harrison Ford. He helped create a character that has been loved for coming up to half a century, yet he was almost desperate for people to look past that when they saw him/talked to him. Or how about Roger Taylor from Queen, who is quite publicly sick of Bohemian Rhapsody as a song?

Some of the items I collect I know full well that there's a good chance I won't keep permanently. I can enjoy them for a time and at some point they'll get sold after they've lost their luster. I almost consider those pieces as rentals.

I think that’s the case for a lot of people in the custom saber hobby, but now that the hobby is flooded with TXQ/LGT etc, it’s depressed the second hand market to the point, that some now weigh up spending the money in the first place now.