This isn't Photoshop, this is insanity 😃

[manayunkman]

There is more here than meets the eye.

[Ysr_racer]

11 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

There is more here than meets the eye.

 

Six days does not a week make.

[ShibaLegend]

On 4/11/2025 at 5:41 PM, Ysr_racer said:

 

Please don't bring logic and reason into an internet discussion 😃

........

 

Yeah honestly other members that's a troll-like response. OP has gotten enough advice on their current situation, probably time to stop giving a complainer more attention.

 

OP I hope you take the advice we've given you, you've gotten a good amount of good options from us for your situation.

[cutiger83]

I just saw this post and have read from beginning to end. It appears the OP was immediately jumped on (second post) for calling the collection of knives "crap". I hate to break it to everyone but people who don't collect a certain item (whether military or not) consider the collection just a bunch of crap. Even within the military collection community, I have heard collectors call each other's items crap. For instance, I saw people jump on someone who collected challenge coins. 

 

There have been many posts on here of people downsizing their collection as they age so their families don't have to deal with it. There have been posts of collectors helping families of a deceased fellow collector sell their items. In the non military collecting world, I know of a close friend having to deal with her mother's basic hoarding of collections. Two years later she is still dealing with it.   

 

Bottom line is that not everyone loves everything you collect. To some people, especially families having to deal with the loss of a loved one, dealing with a found large collection can be very hard. As we all age, we need to prioritize and basically clean up so that our families don't have to deal with so much when we are gone.  I have started doing just that. Downsizing and cleaning house.  I don't want my family to have to go thru what I have seen others dealing with in their lives. 

 

...Kat

[Steve Brannan]

I agree with Cutiger83. We need to get our collections down to manageable size as we age, and then leave a record/ list of what we have and what it is worth in our opinion Retail. Then let our family know if they want it all gone at one time, they can expect at best to get 50% of retail. They should take cash only, no checks. 

[The Rooster]

Hi everyone.... Im having a big sale... Its all crap,

maybe you'd like to buy something?

🤣

[SGT Wade]

I'll take some if your grandkids don't want them 😂

[cutiger83]

28 minutes ago, The Rooster said:

Hi everyone.... Im having a big sale... Its all crap,

maybe you'd like to buy something?

🤣

No thanks. The crap you are trying to peddle is worthless. 

[Ysr_racer]

38 minutes ago, SGT Wade said:

I'll take some if your grandkids don't want them 😂

 

Ok, you wore me down. Fly out to Southern California with $7500 bucks and you can have all the knives in the picture.

 

No haggling, no cherry picking. I'll even throw in a few bankers boxes of books.

 

When can I expect you?

[Ysr_racer]

56 minutes ago, Steve Brannan said:

I agree with Cutiger83. We need to get our collections down to manageable size as we age, and then leave a record/ list of what we have and what it is worth in our opinion Retail. Then let our family know if they want it all gone at one time, they can expect at best to get 50% of retail. They should take cash only, no checks. 

 

Steve, thanks. But your missing the point. Why should your family be saddled with selling your collection for any amount of money?

 

Buy it, enjoy it, have a plan to dispose of it BEFORE you croak.

 

For me, if I make it to 70 (I'm 67 now) I'm going to ask my grandkids if they any rifles, pistols, or shotguns I have. If not I'll sell them and give them the money.

 

Same thing happens at 75, then 99% of it goes of I make it to 80.

 

But hey, you guys hang on to your treasures until they pry them from your cold dead hands :)

[Wharfmaster]

Perhaps my collection should be sent to the auction house upon my demise. The proceeds can go to the local animal shelter.

 

The lazy ungrateful will not be happy.

 

 

W

[The Rooster]

2 hours ago, cutiger83 said:

No thanks. The crap you are trying to peddle is worthless. 

When I get ready to sell my crap, I'l avoid you.

Not peddling right now. You wouldnt want my crap anyway.....

🤣

[Ysr_racer]

1 hour ago, Wharfmaster said:

Perhaps my collection should be sent to the auction house upon my demise. The proceeds can go to the local animal shelter.

 

The lazy ungrateful will not be happy.

 

 

W

 

I hope to hell you're joking. I hope you've got a will, your real estate is in a trust, and your investment accounts have beneficiaries.

 

Conversely, think about giving your priceless valuables to your loved ones while you're alive. They'll love you for it, and you'll get to enjoy them enjoying it.

 

Whoever said, he who dies with the most toys wins, never cleaned out four storage units worth of crap.

 

[SKIPH]

Ysr-racer- I would not want anything sold, but at some point one of my grand kids or great grand kids may have a need or desire to sell. One cannot control much after they have passed. In the near future my collection is secure. Families do at some point dispose of heirlooms, or die off.  SKIP

[Ysr_racer]

1 minute ago, SKIPH said:

Ysr-racer- I would not want anything sold, but at some point one of my grand kids or great grand kids may have a need or desire to sell. One cannot control much after they have passed. In the near future my collection is secure. Families do at some point dispose of heirlooms, or die off.  SKIP

 

Skip, is that you in the picture? My brother-in-law was in the 7th Special Forces Group, Charlie company, when they were stationed in Puerto Rico.

 

The silent professionals.

[The Rooster]

Its a tricky situation... for a collector.....  ysr racer does not mention Grandpas age, whether he was a vet,

or

if he died suddenly or lingered slowly. If you die suddenly,

not much you can do about settling things before you go.

If you linger, you prob are not thinking about your collection or

what to do with it.

My Dad passed recently. About 10 years ago he moved into a retirement home.

He got rid of most of his things. He told me at the time that its just stuff.

All in all it does not matter. Like Skip said......Going through ones collection

and tagging each item, what it is and estimated or known worth,

makes sense. Otherwise when you pass, if you have not liquidated it first.... it could all end up in

someone else's eyes as just so much crap to get rid of.

[Ysr_racer]

2 minutes ago, The Rooster said:

Its a tricky situation... ysr racer does not mention Grandpas age, wether he was a vet,

or

if he died suddenly or lingered slowly. If you die suddenly,

not much you can do about settling things before you go.

If you linger, you prob are not thinking about your collection or

what to do with it.

My Dad passed recently. About 10 years ago he moved into a retirement home.

He got rid of most of his things. He told me at the time that its just stuff.

All in all it does not matter. Going through ones collection

and tagging each item, what it is and estimated or known worth,

makes sense. Otherwise when you pass, it could all end up in

someone elses eyes as just so much crap.

 

Finally, the voice of reason. Thank you

[The Rooster]

1 minute ago, Ysr_racer said:

 

Finally, the voice of reason. Thank you

No sweat pardner... I was only ribbing on the term you used for the collection...

Crap..... lol because if you want to sell things, you never refer to the items as crap.

🤣 Its not gold or silver, but from the cash youre going to make and already made, you sure could buy some!

Good Luck!

Cheers!

[SKIPH]

Ysr_racer- I was in 5th, and 7th SFGA. I was in "C" 1/7, but retired before they moved 3rd Bn out of Panama to Puerto Rico. I did know folks who were there.  Skip

[GAZOO]

Keeps reminding me of this song

Molly Hatchet - One Man's Pleasure

 I want you all to know
about whats got me down, and got me feeling low
Started off one day, and I took off down the road
Seeking my fame and fortune, and trying to tow the load

One man loss is another man's gain, oh, yeah
One man's pleasure is another man's pain

[Ysr_racer]

5 minutes ago, GAZOO said:

Keeps reminding me of this song

Molly Hatchet - One Man's Pleasure

 I want you all to know
about whats got me down, and got me feeling low
Started off one day, and I took off down the road
Seeking my fame and fortune, and trying to tow the load

One man loss is another man's gain, oh, yeah
One man's pleasure is another man's pain

 

It's a hard world to get a break in
All the good things have been taken
But girl, there are ways to make certain things pay
Though I'm dressed in these rags, I'll wear sable, someday...

 

 

[kfields]

I have a personal rule - no hoarding! If I can't use it or hang it on the wall or display it on a shelf to enjoy it, I sell it. Some people might think I have too much "crap" but my "crap" all fits tastefully displayed on the walls in 2 spare bedrooms.

Now if you wanted to see an accumulation, you should have seen all the stuff my parents had at their farm (home & buildings) after they passed. Everything had to go including the real estate so we got a plan together.

It doesn't happen overnight. Kids & grandkids all had a pick of what they wanted; We sold some stuff on-line; we had a huge estate sale which the 5 of us handled; lots of paper burned (think mental image of a big part of an attic filled with personal tax records & cancelled checks from the 1950's thru current); lots went to the goodwill; real estate sold in parcels thru a realtor; finally the remaining bits & pieces of farm equipment & tools sold as no longer needed. Took 5 years!

Yeah I still have so-called family heirloom china and 2 complete sets of family silver that nobody in the family wanted but I didn't have the heart to get rid of so there it sits in a closet till it comes back in style 😂 😂 and somebody in the family wants it!

 

[pwcosol]

First off, the O.P. is unfamiliar with one of the key aspects of being (in this case)  a "dedicated" collector. Some guys are more hoarders than collectors. Others are what I refer to as "Noveau collectors". They do most of their buying by clicking a mouse to acquire items and have them shipped to their doorstep or licensed dealer. Based on what the OP has stated, undoubtedly the gentleman whom passed on was of the first category. He likely collected for decades. In doing so, traveled around, pressed a lot of shoe leather walking thru shows, swap meets, yard/estate sales, gun shops, etc. and was well known among his peers. (unless he was a so-called "closet collector", whom are very discrete in buying and associating with others).

 

Either way, as has been said, we are only caretakers for these historic items. Unless one opts for a Viking funeral, we won't be taking any of it with us when our time is up. However, most avid collectors have expended a good degree of life energy in our quest. One might call it "sweat equity". I started my search in the mid-1970s. Am pleased with the results but regret many of the items which passed thru my hands I might have held onto!  However, major items I can still recount  how they were acquired, when, from whom, etc. to this day. A number of them are from friends and fellow collectors whom are no longer with us, too. Because of these connections, it can often be difficult for one to initiate parting with their collectibles and why sometimes it ends up falling to their heirs. Imagine there being a "Book Of My Life"
( Judaeo-Christian theology believes there is one in the hands of The Lord). In such a tome you might expect a substantial chapter on  "My Time as a Collector". Well, when one begins to acknowledge their mortality and reluctantly considers breaking loose with what they took decades to build, it is as if someone opened their "Book Of My Life" and ripped out the entire chapter... as if it never were.  This is why some people tend to shy away from making such a decision and it gets handed to their family or designated friend(s) postmortem. Hopefully, the OP will be enlightened to some degree and perhaps view things in a different light...

 

[j. t. thompson]

Brad, I went into your Ebay listings, both past and present. It's obvious that you've put a lot of time and effort into this, and have done your research. I noticed that you have 100%, quite positive, feedback. Nice work.

If it's all becoming tiresome, I get that. But look at all the new friends you're making here on the Forum.

You might consider joining our sister site, the World Militaria Forum. You could start a thread over there concerning all of that foreign crap that you have.

[Ysr_racer]

47 minutes ago, j. t. thompson said:

But look at all the new friends you're making here on the Forum.

 

With friends like these guys, who needs enemas 😃

 

Yeah, we've sold 40 or 50 grand worth of junk on eBay in the last year or so. We haven't even touched the Nazi stuff yet.

 

My buddy that's in the militaria hobby said he figured it was a 100 grand worth of stuff, and offered 25 grand for the Nazi crap.

 

But here's the crazy part, my grandkids other grandpa spent about a grand a month on 4 storage units. That's 12 grand a year. For the 10 years he stored it, he spent $120,000.

 

He'd have been better off buying Krugerrands or Silver dollars, and just leaving that to them.

 

I had a full time job. I retired so I could hunt, fish, compete in sporting clays shotgun, and ICORE revolver, not clean out and sell storage units.

 

I've got my own crap, I don't need anybody else's 😃

 

You guys are in to it, enjoy yourself but don't delude yourself that you're leaving your family a treasure.

 

Me, I've got real estate and investments to leave my grandkids.