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What happens to your collection after you die?


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Since I can't find a taker for all the Apple II material I called Apple themselves. Even they weren't interested. So the 1-800-GOT-JUNK is likely where it'll go. I'm tired of trying to find a future home for it all.

 

You could always donate it to a thrift store or a store that specializes in retro stuff (I'm sure there will continue to be shops like that in the future). Or maybe just will it to some kid that's into retro computers.

 

It's a shame to see cool stuff thrown into the garbage. Maybe by then you'll have a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor™ and it can be recycled into energy.

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Maybe. It would need to be convenient like calling a phone number and having it kinda-sorta just disappear with minimal effort. Otherwise it is at risk of going to the dump. Most of the relatives are well to do and aren't going to bother with my "junk pile". They may even appease me in the here and now by saying they'll take care of it.

 

It is likely the wife will die before I, so that avenue of "protection for the collection" is not reliable. Hopefully another solution will present itself. I thought of the museum route but don't know which one is best or even willing to come pick it up at a moment's notice. But that is the most promising route so far, maybe it will solidify into a plan.

 

Currently there is about 1/2 to 1 garage's worth, depending on how efficiently it packed. And I periodically accumulate small items to round everything out. Like a background task running on a computer. Currently I'm in the manual phase, like as in books. Rounding out what I may have missed or lost, or never got in the first place. Getting some duplicates to be used as daily readers. These Apple manuals are surprisingly well written and strengthen and illustrate the personality of the Apple II significantly - much like many other classic computers of the day.

 

What a macabre topic!

Edited by Keatah
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For the record, none of my Apple material has lived in a garage except for during remodeling and moves. And then it was all sealed in desiccant baggies and other air-tight containers and all that.

Then it should definitely go to a museum.

 

Let's face it, only a small fraction of the old hardware and software out there has been well cared for.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Rough topic. My wife knows that my collection isn't just a jumble of "cheap old junk." I'm a little older than she is, and have a few issues (managed thanks to modern medicine)...but statistically speaking, outside factors not contributing...I'm likely to be on the chopping block first. Hoping that by that time, either things will have skyrocketed in price (because why not? Lol), or that any children we have would be old enough to appreciate dad's "kooky game shit."

 

My collection, is my collection, is my collection. Period.

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Turnabout: An alternate question may be "If my spouse dies before I do, what will I do with all these collectible dolls [or what have you]?" I'm saying this rhetorically only.

 

But to address the topical question, I would say it depends on the age of our kid and their interest at that time. At present age, it is hard to say.

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Maybe. It would need to be convenient like calling a phone number and having it kinda-sorta just disappear with minimal effort. Otherwise it is at risk of going to the dump. Most of the relatives are well to do and aren't going to bother with my "junk pile". They may even appease me in the here and now by saying they'll take care of it.

 

As a member of a train collecting organization, various auction houses advertise in one of our publications for just this purpose, for model rail collections. On that note, I wouldn't doubt auction houses will do the same for other collections as well, as long as time is taken to look for same.

Edited by AceHart
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  • 3 months later...

Touchy and dark subject for sure. For one Divorce is not an option for either me and my wife or me and my collection. Now where it all goes I got 3 problems. All my kids will get some of it or all of it and that is the 3 problems of who gets what. I honestly think they should pick a game from each system and play for high score and who ever gets it keeps that in whole.

 

Otherwise my gaming buddies would get the remainder of everything and find it good homes but they are also more likely to divorce so there will have to be a pre nup bro agreement before they get anything. No mad ass wife is going to sell off my Sears Telegames or Atari Jaguar.

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If I died, I have a feeling my wife would want to keep some of the things in my collection that she knows mean something to me, or that she just remembers me using a lot.

 

The rest I'm sure she'd sell, and that's fine. I don't have any problem with somebody else getting use out of my stuff once I'm gone, and my wife getting some money in return.

 

As for divorce, I'd get it all. It's mine. She's got her own stuff too that she'd keep. It's not like a house that we'd sell and split down the middle.

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I'm a little surprised at the number of people saying things like, "what a dark subject." It's totally realistic -- especially since none of us are getting any younger. It makes a ton of sense to talk about this kind of thing with your family so they know what you would have wanted -- especially if there's financial value that could help them when you're gone. We know what each others' stuff is worth and would not want all of it to just go to the dump. This is a big part of why I'm not hoarding bulky stuff like vintage arcade cabinets, CRTs, or magnetic media. I think my games would be a fine donation to someplace like PAX or the National Videogame Museum.

 

As the great Shat said, live life like you're gonna die, because you are!

 

 

As for divorce? If you came into the partnership with stuff, and you paid for it along the way with your own money (couples should always have at least some financial separation), it's still yours when you split, no question about it in the state where I live. I suppose you could try to saddle your ex with nasty old Channel F crap or something if you wanted to be vindictive. :-)

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(couples should always have at least some financial separation)

 

Couples should give each other a private fun fund to do whatever they want with but those funds should come from a household budget which includes all the funds that come in.

 

My only other thought though is making a will when you get the chance to before it gets to late. Deciding on where everything goes is a real ease on the mind.

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My boys will each get a heavy sixer. They will also keep a 7800 so they can play their most favorite games, 7800 Robotron, Astroblaster and 7800 Centipede TB (for my wife). They have favorite controllers and would hold onto a few of my favorite games.

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My GF and brother will get most all of this stuff when I finally go, to either use or liquidate and make some bucks on. I've already started giving/donating certain things around town that isn't selling here or on eBay. Thought it would be nice to let someone else find something cool in the wild once in a while, just like I used to. And not always at a GoodWill or Salvation Army either. Found another place or three that can stand to make a buck here and there, like the local mens shelter and hospital thrifts.

 

Donated a handful of Intellivision games recently to the shelter, including a loose Thunder Castle. :)

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A good realistic topic. All the replies with stuff ending up on yard sales means awesome videogame pickup vids on youtube or whatever replaces it in the future.

 

What about digital accounts, i.e. Xbox/PSN/Steam gamertags? In some way, those will become a memorium of sorts, the achievements, games played, etc., assuming they remain accessible.

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Unless a vampire happens to bite me, my stuff will probably go to auction. That is mostly what happens with the belongings of all the old country folk around here that have been dying off. Hard to believe that many people want iron skillets and crockery but it sells. I guess some people will collect anything.

Edited by SIO2
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What about digital accounts, i.e. Xbox/PSN/Steam gamertags? In some way, those will become a memorium of sorts, the achievements, games played, etc., assuming they remain accessible.

 

I like the Google Inactive Account Manager ... after two months of no activity, my Google account turns over to my spouse. That's the key to opening up most if not all of my digital accounts, assuming anyone would care to use them.

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