Planning for Tragedy with Comics and Family

[mlovest]

All,

 

I'm curious about how some of you have prepared for the future and personal tragedy? Specifically, what have you set up in case something happens to you and your spouse and loved ones are "stuck" with a large collection of comics to deal with? Do you have insurance for your collectibles? Do you have your valuable comics inventoried and does your family know how to find the good stuff? And what should they do with your comics in case of disaster for you? Do they know where to go for help?

 

Personally, I have collectibles insuruance, and insurance on myself. However, my wife would be clueless on what's of value and what's junk. I'm looking for good ideas to help amke it easier in case something happens to me. I don't want my family to have a burden of dealing with several thousand comics with no idea of how to handle them.

 

Thoughts? Thank you...

 

V/R,

Mike

[excelsior1986]

If you have a will made out, maybe include in the will a list of your comics and what theyre worth. Or just a list of the ones that are worth alot of money. I know some people have like a "master copy" or something like that of their will hidden away in a bank or with the insurance company, so include the list with that.

 

Heres another idea that i do with my own collection. I buy address label stickers, stick them on the back of the sleeve the comic is in and write down all the information of the comic. Heres an example of a random comic i pulled out of my box.

 

(The comic book is From Beyond the Unknown #7)

 

"From Beyond the Unknown

#7

1970

-64 pgs.

-Intro. Col. Glenn Merrit

FN

$12.00"

 

That way when they go through your collection, they wont have to look at a list and then try to find that comic, all the info(title, issue number, year, notes, condition and value) is already with the comic.

 

That's my

[Ghost Town]

That's something I've thought about a few times. I think the trick is figuring out which dealer you trust the most. Then leave instructions for your family to contact that dealer if something happens to you. Unfortunately, the dealer you trust the most might not be the same guy with the most marketing muscle. And that could complicate the choice a bit.

 

It would probably also help to explain the options of selling on a commission site or selling your collection outright to a dealer. And that probably depends on what type of books you own and how quickly your family might want or need the money.

 

Or if you have a close friend who's a collector too, that might be an ideal situation. Just tell your wife if something happens, have Bill/Dave/Frank/ or whoever figure it out.

 

 

 

 

[shadroch]

I simply put the info on the backing board of the comic. Date bought, price paid and approx book value as of purchase date. Comics I have not bagged and boarded will be of little value and not worth worrying about.

I can't imagine any circumstance where my family will be desperate for money, so they can explore the options open to them.

[Comicopolis]

My wife will throw away all my comics so she can have more room for her clothes, bags, shoes & jewelery.

[MR SigS]

Interesting question. Is it a coincidence it's post #9-1-1?

[kdoginohio]

After watching Pawn Stars, I cringe at the thought of my "good stuff" being sold for just pennies on the dollar.

[Trev]

Interesting that I've seen 2 or 3 threads on this topic over the last few months. And it's the only board I've been on where the topic comes up -- though I have thought about it, so I guess I'm at the right place.

 

My will has specific guidance about what to do with the collection, which is to sell anything the kids do not want to keep via an established auction house -- heritage, etc. I doubt my kids would want to keep anything, but too soon to tell for sure.

 

My books are organized so that the gold/silver/bronze is in one location and the modern in another. Though that will change as my modern collection reduces in size (or my gold/silver/bronze grows -- :: ).

 

I bag my books according to value, anything worth more than $20 gets mylar and everything else gets poly or not bagged.

 

I may start a process of slabbing everything worth more than $100 to make it even easier, but not sure.

 

And I make sure my wife knows how it is setup -- that way she doesn't have to learn every book, just know how to differentiate between care/don't care. Also helps her know how much to freak out if our toddlers manage to get a hold of a book sometime.

[Dr. Balls]

I have instructions to sell the slabbed books, and take my non-slabbed books and give it to an old comic book-collecting friend. My wife doesn't need to worry about that stuff - it's just comic books. I love 'em, and she could care less - and in the grand scheme of things, not really a big deal.

 

Not to mention, I won't care - because I'll be dead!

[smithdatura]

Interesting that I've seen 2 or 3 threads on this topic over the last few months. And it's the only board I've been on where the topic comes up -- though I have thought about it, so I guess I'm at the right place.

 

My will has specific guidance about what to do with the collection, which is to sell anything the kids do not want to keep via an established auction house -- heritage, etc. I doubt my kids would want to keep anything, but too soon to tell for sure.

 

My books are organized so that the gold/silver/bronze is in one location and the modern in another. Though that will change as my modern collection reduces in size (or my gold/silver/bronze grows -- :: ).

 

I bag my books according to value, anything worth more than $20 gets mylar and everything else gets poly or not bagged.

 

I may start a process of slabbing everything worth more than $100 to make it even easier, but not sure.

 

And I make sure my wife knows how it is setup -- that way she doesn't have to learn every book, just know how to differentiate between care/don't care. Also helps her know how much to freak out if our toddlers manage to get a hold of a book someone.

 

Funny - sounds almost identical to my system - Mylar for books over $20, sorting the copper from the silver/bronze, etc. And tell the wife about what CGC slabs are in mind-numbing detail, whether she wants to hear about them or not.

[MrBedrock]

If something happens to me I have left specific instructions for my family to contact the fine folks at Bedrock City Comic Co.

[Trev]

If something happens to me I have left specific instructions for my family to contact the fine folks at Bedrock City Comic Co.

 

[ComicConnoisseur]

Sadly what really happens is the person dies unexpectedly leaving his love ones with the burden of getting rid of thousands of bronze,copper or modern comics. The family gets overwhelmed and either sells for pennies on the dollar or throws the comic books out. A similar thing happened to a friend of the families,as their relative died and left them with thousands of 78 records. The family tried to Ebay them starting at 99 cents a bid and still couldn`t sell them. So they loaded up the truck and dumped the collection off at a dump yard. If I remember correctly the dump yard even charged them a fee for the dump.

[rodan57]

That's something I've thought about a few times. I think the trick is figuring out which dealer you trust the most. Then leave instructions for your family to contact that dealer if something happens to you.

 

I think this is a good idea. I also use an info sticker on the back, as mention earlier, but I record what I paid for it rather than it's worth. If it can sell for what I paid, or close to, then all's good.

 

 

[mlovest]

Now that's an interesting coincidence, but no! That would have been very clever if the answer was yes!

 

V/R

Mike

[mlovest]

I simply put the info on the backing board of the comic. Date bought, price paid and approx book value as of purchase date. Comics I have not bagged and boarded will be of little value and not worth worrying about.

I can't imagine any circumstance where my family will be desperate for money, so they can explore the options open to them.

 

I'm not worried about the money as much as the hassle of my wife having to deal with thousands of comic books. Just moving them would be a pain, and I only have about 30 short boxes total. When my sister passed away yerars ago, I was struck by how hard the funeral details were on my parents. In the middle of our grief, we had no idea what she wanted, so it was a very hard thing to plan out the details. I can only imagine what a painful and difficult experience it would be to clear out "dad's comics."

 

V/R,

Mike

[mlovest]

After watching Pawn Stars, I cringe at the thought of my "good stuff" being sold for just pennies on the dollar.

 

EXACTLY! I would prefer my family get some decent money to enjoy versus selling valuable comics for pennies on the dollar.

 

V/R,

Mike

[mlovest]

I have instructions to sell the slabbed books, and take my non-slabbed books and give it to an old comic book-collecting friend. My wife doesn't need to worry about that stuff - it's just comic books. I love 'em, and she could care less - and in the grand scheme of things, not really a big deal.

 

Not to mention, I won't care - because I'll be dead!

 

This sounds reasonable. I think the key for me is just having the conversation and laying out some simple instructions that can be followed by my family. These baoxs are basically junk, and these bboxes are treasure...

 

V/R,

Mike

[miraclemet]

wait am I the only one here being cremated on a funeral pyre of long boxes?

[Shark]

It specifies in my will that in the event of my death, ALL of my comics will be sold at auction and the proceeds from the sale will be distributed between my wife and my 2 sons. Considering I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 to 60,000 comics, it should be a fairly lengthy auction.

 

I've familiarized my wife with the process I use to price the comics and all comics that I've graded have a price sticker on them. Otherwise, she wouldn't know what's a dollar comic and what's a $100 comic. I still have thousands of books to bag, board and grade....another .