After you are gone!!

[Lee]

Most people give very little thought about what tomorrow is going to bring. Has anyone given any thought to what will happen to their model collection that they spent so much time on and money gathering after they leave this life? Most of their collection probably is not really rare, but there are some models, especially those done by top drawer modelers which should be saved for future generations to admire and enjoy.

Is there such a thing as a museum that has a collection of 1/87th models on permenant display? If not, I wonder if any museum would be interested in starting one. Such a display could be done in a hallway with wall display cases taking up little room.

[stanhas87]

Dear Lee:

Model Auto Review magazine has articles on the subject at times,and they also gives advice what to do on a such situation.I am myself thinking to do a comprehensive will very shortly;this way I will know that the collection will be handled to my wishes.
Other thing that this magazine points out is the fact that today's youth are not this interested at this hobby (quote-this is an old man's hobby) so it may be problematic to assume what the family will gonna do with it after you are gone.I heard of cases when everything was either donated,thrown away,sold at ridicolous prices....or given to the little children!
One case that comes to my mind was Toby Halliki,the original director of 'Gone in Sixty Seconds'.He died on a stunt while producing a movie and had a collection of 100,000 articles and he did not left a will.For the next ten years or so it was a battle between the relatives and the Court System;in the end,his collection was sold at a ridicolous price.
In all,as Model Auto Review states,one have to think which is the best alternative how to pass the collection after one is gone;I can not tell-neither them-what is it.A British Individual was lucky:a museum got his collection after he was gone but everyone knows about that:this will happen very seldom.
Museums,I heard,are losing money lately.Look at Peteresen's-it is not attracting this many people as they wanted and they are displaying Hot Whells cars in there! (It is the general assumption:why I should pay $7.00 to see..................)
The Europeans may have a museum of 1/87 models;if not,they should because these are masterpieces even if the models is 30 or 40 years old!
Matchbox has a museum in Connecticut;that pratically has all the pieces that the manufacturer molded.Its creator wrote several books about the Brand.Likewise,since I collect 1/64 car,I would like to see a museum on these.
There are several toy museums in the US.So does Andorra,and that is a small country,plus several other around the world.

[cfesmire]

We all have to consider the inevitable although I try to avoid the subject as much as possible. Not that I fear it so much as I have much to do and it will be a time with little to do. But what happens to what and who one leaves behind is a subject that responsibilty forces us to deal with. My vehicle collection (I'm sure not valued at any great fortune) will be dealt with as all of my personal assets will. Make plans today to ease the decisions placed on your family in tomorrows events. I don't know if any of my family wants any of my collection (I have two sons I'm sure will want some of their old trucks back) but the rest may be dealt with in any fashion they deem fit.
I also am reminded of someone with a large 1:87 collection who passed away and his son tried to donate it to a youth organization like the Boy Scouts but there were no takers. There it sits in his basement and he refuses to sell any of it as if it would be some kind of desecration of his fathers memory. A good son.
A 1:87 museum? A nice idea but I doubt if you could get enough visitors to pay the heating bills. Perhaps notifying an existing automobile museum would be more appropriate. They may have a corner for just such an exhibit.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

Granted,it is a big responsability to oversee what will happen to your collections and museums are partically becoming a forbidden alternative.In all-the way I see it-any collection-any-has historical significance because one bought the items from,say,Tonka,Wiking,Herpa,Matchbox and so on.And,be it simple made or a piece of art someone designed these and someone else did manufactured it and toys or models are,on a specific sense,part of history.Further,archeologists,when they find a civilization,they try to look for the toys first in order to determine how advanced the latter was.
It is right to say that if these are to be preserved,a good amount of planning should be done in order to make sure that the collection is protected.

I favor a 1/87 scale museum.And one on 1/64,too.These are the greatest scales. ( Sorry,but.....train models included).

[Albert]

A good question.
I have heard cases of widows who have been offered a ridiculous sum of money compared with the prices the collection was resold later.
Unfortunately not always the museums are interested in the collections donated, but the worst is that they accept the collection. Then what happens? The item/s donated are abandoned into the museum. That happened in my family when my oncle donated an old tin train from the 30´s . Nobody took care of it in the museum and now it is nothing but rust.

Maybe Nürnberg would be the best city in Europe to place a toys museum with a large room to the 1/87 scale.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

As of 2006 I already intend to make my will so my models do not get displaced to a place or another. Of course,I will listen what my conselour has to say so I add which one is the best choice for them.

Not matter what,a collection,to be properly assembled,has to have lots of planning and effort put into it and is ridicolous to have dissasembled because this or other party wants it so, and no matter what,generally,its historic value is the last one to be taken is consideration.

One of the reasons why I want to do it.

[Lee]

A classic example of a collection going bad was the Harris Auto Museum in Sparks, Nevada.

I stopped there one morning back in the late 60's and thought I would just spend a couple of hours before moving on. The next thing I knew they were closing for the day. I have never in my life seen such a collection of real vehicles. There were Packards and Lincolns for every year they were made. The collection of fire engines made him something like the fifth biggest fire department in the US. They had one of the most complete paper archives assembled on vehicles. For a small fee you could write to them giving the make and registration number of your vehicle and Harris would respond with when that vehicle came off the assembly line and what accessories it had. And it went on and on and on.

Mr. Harris didn't leave a detailed plan in his will, so the heirs decided it was a money loser and sold it off... Piece by piece.

[stanhas87]

lee said:

A classic example of a collection going bad was the Harris Auto Museum in Sparks, Nevada.

I stopped there one morning back in the late 60's and thought I would just spend a couple of hours before moving on. The next thing I knew they were closing for the day. I have never in my life seen such a collection of real vehicles. There were Packards and Lincolns for every year they were made. The collection of fire engines made him something like the fifth biggest fire department in the US. They had one of the most complete paper archives assembled on vehicles. For a small fee you could write to them giving the make and registration number of your vehicle and Harris would respond with when that vehicle came off the assembly line and what accessories it had. And it went on and on and on.

Mr. Harris didn't leave a detailed plan in his will, so the heirs decided it was a money loser and sold it off... Piece by piece.

Dear Sirs:

The Harris collection was considered the largest in the Earth by the 1970's. Today,this honor goes to the Sultan of Brunei,who assembled a 5000 plus vehicle collection.

Nowadays,collections or 200 cars are considered large. Harris was in the neighbourood of 2500,the most interesting item (which was destroyed) being the Jeep Ferrarri.

One of the amazing features of this place was when one walked at the Plymouth display,would see pratically all kinds of this vehicle make,shown year by year,virtually. And did not stopped there;other kind of vehicles were displayed as well.

This book I have gives all the details how the collection came to be,details about its creator and how this death actually dissolved this fantastic collection.

There is an entry at this book which states that when its creator was close to death,one of this associates wondered what would happen. He decided to protect his family at its will,because he knew that battles would ensue if he would favor the collection and its desintegration would be unavoidable any way one sees it.

What amazes me is the fact that the State of Nevada was asked to avoid the collection split-up,but claimed that they could not do it because of lack of budget. In Australia, there was this museum of Australian cars which was facing the same problem but the Goverment did not allowed this to happen.

This was one great collection.It was a shame it ended like this.