My Predator collection will be going up for sale... need advice.

[Reinhardt]

Hey Dan,

I'm really really sorry to hear about your situation. Really really sucks. You seem like the nicest guy. I can't imagine what your daughter is going through as well.

As other people have mentioned, ebay is a pain, and takes a good chunk of your money. However, sometimes you can get a bigger sale on ebay than on the boards. I normally start on the boards and see what I can unload, and then move the rest to ebay, unless I know for sure I can get more from it on ebay.

You can try to sell it as one big chunk but I imagine you will have an easier time finding a seller on ebay.

Good luck bro. Sorry again to hear about your troubles.

 

[Lucky]

Salut Dan

prend le temps d'y penser mon ami une fois vendu... tu vas p-ê le regretter

sinon je vais essyaer de t'aider

take care and good luck body

 

[holtrax]

Hey guys...

I know many of you have been PMing me and emailing me wondering where the hell I've been lately and the truth is I have been facing some personal problems that have now come to head. As a result, it looks like I will be selling pretty much my entire collection, which most of you know features some very rare pieces and some amazing kits painted by Joe Dunaway from modelzone.com. I have roughly $65,000 in items that will be sold.

So the question is, do I even bother trying to find a single buyer for the entire lot, or should I break it up? I'd be willing to take a single buyout of say $50k, but I doubt anyone will have that kind of scratch. So should I just post everything on the forums and see what sells for a month and move the rest to eBay?

This breaks my heart, but I need as much liquid cash as possible... I will still run Predatorstuff and review stuff as I can, but my collecting days have come to an end for the time being.

I'll post a video and more info on this shortly, I need to do inventory first, but in the meantime would really like suggestions on what I should do here.

man thats very sad to hear. I was enjoying your review vids on youtube. One of the best on youtube. But i guess this global recession is hitting people hard. I notice a lot of collectors on youtube accounts have gone awful quiet recently and i guess this is the reason why in a lot of cases. Sorry to hear about the personal issues. Such is life unfortunately.

I'd just say i'd second the advice that the best bet is ebay. You will more then likely be able to sell for a lot more of your collection for a much higher price and make the money easier then on collectors forums where people do tend to haggle on price. I would imagine your collection items would sell pretty well on ebay even in the current market downturn.

 

[Boba Ben]

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation Faken. It saddens me to hear that you're going through this.

If it means anything to you, I'll always remember you as the big beefy guy that gave me the courage to buy a Cinemaquette Predator. I'll be forever in your debt.

 

[wookster]

Sorry to hear about your situation Faken, it's a sad day when these impressive, and lets face it, in their own way 'important' collections have to be broken up! But it's cool you can see your priorities, and it sounds like that little girl is your biggest.

Good luck in getting the best price for everything, you deserve it!

 

[Nacho]

Sorry to hear the bad news Dan.
Good luck with your sale and hopefully you wont have to
sell all your stuff.
Hope all works out for you mate.

 

[Faken]

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the well wishes and in Ben's case, the chuckles. I will still try to do reviews and stuff, but I will have to sell any items I get for reviews rather than keep them.

Basically I don't absolutely HAVE to sell my collection, but my daughter is the absolute priority and I am trying to disrupt her life as little as possible by staying in the same area. If I keep my collection, I will likely have to rent a small apartment, get rid of the family dog and figure out how to unload all my tools etc etc and my daughter will be completely freaked out. So I would rather try and come up with enough money to get a down payment on a house and be debt free rather than not affording a pot to piss in and be surrounded by polystone and a devastated child. It certainly breaks my heart to sell this collection, but I think my choice is pretty clear at this point.

So now it's inventory time... ugh.

 

[The_Darkness_Predator]

I read the first post yesterday when it had no replies and was in shock and deeply saddened. I don’t post much so thought it wise to see what others had to say before replying. This is extremely sad news. I actually considered trying to figure out a way to help, but unfortunately I do not have the room for another massive collection. My wife and I are trying to find a bigger place already.

I’ve been a collector for a very long time (I am old). I may be a “noob” to this board, but I’ve purchased from Dan/ read / watched reviews/e-mailed/ etc. He is a great, honest person to work with. I remember he couldn’t bring himself to sell some kits that were inferior to today’s modern resin model standards and if memory serves he sold them for approximately $50, absorbing a loss. They were about the quality of the kits I built in the early 1990’s,. I would have purchased one but the ones he was reviewing were already sold out.

Dan,

Please keep me on any kind of inventory list of items you are selling if you start selling things individually.

There are a few things that I haven’t added to my collection yet, i.e. Fewture Takeya Alien Bust …..

I wish you the best and good luck.

 

[EndIessRAlN]

This freakin' blows dude. Good luck on sorting it all out. Sucks to see some of the best on the boards here go down like that.

 

[Faken]

If you are actually going to go through a divorce soon, I would take it slow. Slow and steady. You didn't build the collection in a month. You won't dissolve a collection in a month.

Esp, if you have kids, you have to consider that elevating your standard of living or the perception of it ( big deposits from sales of your collection) may not work in your favor during and right before a divorce proceeding. If you are the primary breadwinner, it's in your interests to lend the appearance of lowering your standard of living. It will be in her interests to try to raise it right before a divorce.

Moving a collection of that magnitude is basically a large financial move on your part. If you know you will divorce soon, I would find a divorce attorney you feel is suitable for you, retain them, and discuss the issue with them before you go further.

Something to consider in terms of your collection is divorce is typically a series of trade offs. If you want to keep the kids, you usually have to concede something else. If you want to keep the house, you usually have to concede something else. If you want to keep your collection, you might have to concede that you can walk with 20 percent of it and lose 80 percent of it and maybe the best you can do is pick which 20 percent stays with you.

Basically the key trigger is when the "nagging" and "b*tching" stops. It doesn't mean she's placated. It means shes given up on the marriage and she's approaching her best case exit strategy. When women stop nagging, it doesn't mean they accept you for you, it means they have moved on emotionally. If she's consulted a divorce attorney, she has or will soon make as many copies of all of your financial records as possible. Having a huge trail of PayPal or bank account or any other kind of traceable financial transactions in moving a big chunk of your collection will not work in your favor.

If there are financial records pertaining to your collection and their worth, along with other financial records, I would start slow and steady to isolate them away from her grasp/reach.

Some things you should consider doing right now to save your collection

- Get a PO Box she doesn't know about
- Get a non contract/prepaid phone she doesn't know about
- Replace all your hard drives on yours and shared computers in the house. ( After you replace it, don't use those computers to deal with your banking, finances, etc as much as possible. Don't watch porn on it, don't visit any controversial sites, etc, etc)
- Get a free email address she doesn't know about
- Slowly, I mean slowly, move your most valued pieces in your collection, other things you really value as well, out of the marital home and into a safe neutral location she doesn't know about. You won't be able to save everything, but you can save your grails.
- Search your house. If she's seen a divorce attorney, good chance he's already advised her to start hiding some money slowly. Also there may be documentation hidden that will indicate to you that time is short before she files.

Most of all, start documenting her negative and any illegal behavior. If it comes to it, you can use it to leverage it in trade for your collection if you get divorced.

The person you marry isn't the same person you divorce

If you can accept that hard to swallow truth, then you have a chance to save your collection.

If you can't, if you can't emotionally detach yourself from what you want to see and what's probably there, then you probably won't.

If you are sure the marriage is over, go into marriage counseling anyway. It will buy you time to prepare and best consider how to save your collection. You might be able to squeeze out a year even. ( If it's any consolation, a divorce attorney will also probably advise her to go into counseling to A) buy herself time to ammo up B) sooth her conscience that she tried everything but that it's your fault and C) pick the right time to blindside you when she files. It's in her interests to stall as well, if you aren't prepared that is)

Not my business, hard talk, but at least it's straight up,

Good luck, sorry to hear it, for what it's worth, for what it's worth man.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Gekko

Thank you for all the sound advice however we won't be using lawyers at all and we both have zero interest in each other finances. I am a stay at home dad that runs a business on the side and she works, our finances have been completely separate from day 1. We will be using a free government mediator to draw the paperwork and involve a lawyer only for the final signing. In fact lastnight we were writing down who will take what once the house is sold and neither of us want anything from the house. My wife and I have fought like cats for years... for once we're not fighting, we're actually seeing eye to eye on how this all should happen. My father and mother went through a horrible, bitter divorce and fought each other for 7 years in court and blew ridiculous amounts on lawyers. We refuse to allow that to happen, we just want to focus on our daughter and do this centered on avoiding affecting her as much as possible. We don't care about who has what money and we have no assets to fight over.

 

[INFECDEAD]

I broke up with my ex a three years ago and went through the financial insolvency as well as selling things off to make ends meet on a mortgage I couldn't afford...It sucks and I understand what you are going through.
The best advice I can give you is to pick a couple of the pieces that mean the most to you and keep them.
No matter what.
They may not be the most expensive or whatever but whatever it is that draws you to the ones you can't let go you should hang on to them. They can keep you company and remind you of better times and of what you once had.
Don't let one lost passion cause you to totally lose others.
Cheers mate

 

[draekus]

Sorry to hear Faken. I wish you the best of luck. Sorry I can't offer much advice on how to sell your collection, as I wouldn't know where to start myself. However, keep us updated on what you decide to do. I'm sure alot of us would be willing to help out by buying some pieces.

Again, good luck and stay strong!

 

[DinoLast]

This is sad news. Your collection was unique.
Speaking from experience, I'm hoping this part of your life is resolved quickly and amicably.

 

[Fremen]

I am so sorry that this is happening to you but so glad to hear that you guys have kept your finances seperate.

 

[Master Wayne]

Terrible news. I am sorry bud.

I know it must sound bad, but all the positive comments in here, none of which were directed at me, have helped me a little bit.

As a couple of you may know, I went through a very nasty breakup myself just shy of two months ago. I'm still far from well from it, and it doesn't help that I now have to go through the holidays alone and with all this emotional baggage. We were together for a long time, and could have nearly started a family at that. She left me to 'find herself', and has made no effort to keep me in her life to any measure at all. She simply turned her back on me, us, and made it all disappear. I've given up on trying to speak with and find closure with her, as she reacts violently whenever she does react at all. To the best of my knowledge she's out partying non-stop now, free of me, acting like a drunken child. I also suspect she already has, or is close to acquiring a new lover. It hurts but I, on the other hand, have been getting back to my basics, illustrating, writing, taking classes, and planning the next chapter of my life. I have to make my future a bright one, if for no reason other than to defy her and her bitter doubts in me.

Forgive me for venting in your thread Faken, it just seemed a forgivable place to do so. I suppose if I had a message to share, it would be to remain as true to yourself and what makes you you as possible, even through all the pain. All the best to you and your daughter.

Happy Thanksgiving to my freaks, one and all.

 

[Faken]

Terrible news. I am sorry bud.

I know it must sound bad, but all the positive comments in here, none of which were directed at me, have helped me a little bit.

As a couple of you may know, I went through a very nasty breakup myself just shy of two months ago. I'm still far from well from it, and it doesn't help that I now have to go through the holidays alone and with all this emotional baggage. We were together for a long time, and could have nearly started a family at that. She left me to 'find herself', and has made no effort to keep me in her life to any measure at all. She simply turned her back on me, us, and made it all disappear. I've given up on trying to speak with and find closure with her, as she reacts violently whenever she does react at all. To the best of my knowledge she's out partying non-stop now, free of me, acting like a drunken child. I also suspect she already has, or is close to acquiring a new lover. It hurts but I, on the other hand, have been getting back to my basics, illustrating, writing, taking classes, and planning the next chapter of my life. I have to make my future a bright one, if for no reason other than to defy her and her bitter doubts in me.

Forgive me for venting in your thread Faken, it just seemed a forgivable place to do so. I suppose if I had a message to share, it would be to remain as true to yourself and what makes you you as possible, even through all the pain. All the best to you and your daughter.

Happy Thanksgiving to my freaks, one and all.

No worries at all, please vent away, it's fine... and I am sorry to hear about all the pain your break up brought you and wish you all the best in the future and thanks for the well wishes.

Dan

 

[Faken]

By the way guys, please don't feel bad about contacting me about setting specific items aside for you for when I start moving stuff out. I'd rather it go out to fellow freaks if anyone at all...

Dan

 

[LuisCHG]

sorry to hear that bro. I always enjoy your reviews in youtube. I believe if you decide to sell the best way is to sell them individually on forums then try ebay (which I try to avoid as much as possible to due the fees and bidders). It would be hard for someone to single out 50k for a hobby and you might get more $ in the long run by selling them individually, altho more packing to do. Best Lucks bro!

 

[azurepred]

damn Dan, that sucks to hear man. Even though I have always wished to have a lot of things in your collection, it just doesnt feel right to have some of those things in these circumstances, and even though I have my own issues, I will defn try and help you out in anyway I can. Good luck with everything, and I hope you have a Happy Turkey Day! I'm sure you will here from me again...........

 

[draekus]

By the way guys, please don't feel bad about contacting me about setting specific items aside for you for when I start moving stuff out. I'd rather it go out to fellow freaks if anyone at all...

Dan

Faken, let us know if you have a list or online gallery of your collection. (if there's one aleady I'm not sure I've seen it.) Anyhow, I think this will give your sale a good start here on the forums. At the very least, I'm sure you can rest assured the pieces you sell will go to fellow collectors that will appreciate them.

Again, good luck and try to have a happy Thanksgiving dude.