Can't seem to sell cars...

[Shodog]

The issue for me is that they are worth more to me than they are on eBay. Eventually I will refine my collection and sell off most of my stuff. I really think it's only worth something to people our age anyway. I would hate for my son to have to take on the task of liquidating my collection.

[Mad Ax]

Unless you need the money then why sell them? If space is an issue then rotate your display, box one up and put something else on show for a while.

I actually did this on Tuesday. Odd that I haven't thought about it before, as it was something I was saying to my wife. She has a lot of random collectibles - crystals, photos, painted tiles, little sculptures, things she's made. They're all on display in a glass cabinet, but it's so over-stuffed it looks messy. "Put half of it in a box." I said. "Make the rest look nice. Then, in a few months, switch them around."

It was only Tuesday when I realised I could do this with my cars. Lots of cars have been sat randomly on shelves for ages, they got boxed up and put in the garage so my runners could go on the shelves where I remember I own them, instead of boxed up and ready to go in the garage where I forget to grab them for a play

I think I ponder selling them out of guilt sometimes. I try to lead a simple life and buy as little "stuff" as possible. I don't want to be a typical materialistic American fixed on the acquisition of "stuff" and "things". I'm sentimental about the memories some possessions carry though and that makes parting with things harder.

I often wonder if I could achieve a higher state of existence, as proposed by people who shun materialistic possessions and live a much simpler life.

Problem is I just love stuff so much.

[Saito2]

It's a balance. Some stuff is good but too much can bury you, both literally and figuratively.

[moffman]

My problem is I love tamiya and I never get sick of looking and if funds permit buying tamiya all my life from a small school kid up to my old man age tamiya has been part of my life some times in the background but always their!

[Mad Ax]

It's a balance. Some stuff is good but too much can bury you, both literally and figuratively.

I've long had a philosophy that anything I own requires an emotional commitment. I'm sure, with enough thought, I could even come up with the rough workings of a formula for working out the exact commitment value of everything I own. The basic outcome being, if I spread my commitment across too many things, I don't have enough commitment in my commitment bank to pay for some of them, and some things will suffer. Ultimately I can (and have in the past) not had enough commitment left to give to the really important things in life, like my family and my writing.

This philosophy evolved from my previous idea that all stuff is an anchor - some anchors are heavier than others but lots of small anchors can weight a person down just as heavily as one large one. I tried to tell my wife that tying herself to many small anchors wouldn't make her happy, but the same applies to me and my Tamiyas.

These days I much prefer the commitment bank analogy, since it's easy to dismiss the anchor analogy as being overly metaphorical but it's hard to ignore the logic behind the commitment bank.

Sometimes the act of taking a car off the shelf, boxing it safely and storing it out of the way in the garage is enough to significantly reduce its commitment value, because the only things relevant to its commitment value are the space it takes up, damage or decay it may suffer while stored, and the residual value that it loses over time. (Indeed, some things will gain residual value if they are stored for a time and not allowed to decay - this results in a lower commitment value.)

...I may need to start a whole new thought train all about this...

[Nitomor]

Please do, it's very good and entertaining! I love literature and metaphors and analysis of the human psyche.

[IBIFTKH]

Really enjoying this discussion, very open and honest and thought-provoking.

My cars are my little luxury. They're a personal treat but also something I can share with my children, which is something that means a lot to me. There is a definite emotional attachment in that I enjoy the whole process from planning a purchase to building, modifying, running and displaying each car. But also, and perhaps more importantly, they are my hobby - my escape from the difficulties of everyday life, a distraction maybe, but valued greatly.

I have sold cars and probably will again. Sometimes it's been because I have just lost enthusiasm for that particular model and so sold it to fund a different car. Sometimes life has intruded and I've needed the money. A few times I've sold cars in the run-up to Christmas to put a little extra in the kitty for my kids. It's just the way life is, sometimes.

Some sales I have regretted, others not. But I think if circumstances had allowed me to keep the all, I probably would!!

[taliesin]

Great discussion!

Particularly with hobby gear and RC stuff, I tend towards the philosophy that if a little is good, a lot must be better - problem is though, that this really runs contrary to my life philosophy in general. I believe everything you own occupies a little bit of space in your mind and subconscious and that it is always a question of whether you own it or it owns you.

I suppose the question is really one of whether the things you own make you happy or cause you stress and where the balance is.

Personally, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately and have been trying to sell stuff. Seems like there is a bit more interest in buying some new models now that I've thinned the collection somewhat and maybe my focus has shifted to different areas of interest.

Some of the issue is the frustration over not being able to sell some things that I know have value but just seem to fall flat or generate zero interest. In some cases, I've just decided to box things up for long term storage and put them in the attic to revisit again in twenty years if I'm still alive. Maybe they will spark some enthusiasm when I rediscover them, so I'm being careful to only keep nice stuff and not basket cases or projects that I've gotten frustrated with.

Others I've either given away or just binned - particularly projects or models that have given me fits and spares for chassis that I don't have anymore. A few months ago I tossed an enormous lot of project cars and spares that were just laying about and that I couldn't sell or even give away after several attempts. A lot of used parts, and actually a lot of new stuff that I couldn't move and had no interest in, just got binned. It was painful to do and I actually felt bad doing it, but I got to say I don't miss any of them at all and now my hobby room is much tidier and I have more interest in building some new models.

One thing that really changed for me since then is that I'm beginning to view the whole purchase and lifespan of the model differently. I used to buy spares like crazy and generally to repair and refurb almost indefinitely and that gets dangerous and space consuming. Fun and challenging for sure, and it used to make me happy to bring cars back from the dead - there are a handful that I've refurbed so many times it would have been vastly cheaper to throw them away and just buy new ones, but the challenge was the thing that made it fun. I've got a Hornet, a Sand Viper and a Twin Detonator that really belong in the Undead Hall of Fame since they've been revived more times than most of the zombies in a George Romero film. I doubt I would ever sell them just because they make me grin every time I see one of the tattered little beauties. But they really need to be left to rest in pieces at some point. Maybe in a little display cabinet shaped like a coffin or a scale crusher. Now, I'm starting to think more about buying a model and upgrading as desired right from the beginning and then running it until breakage and then sending it down the line for someone else to repair and enjoy at a bargain price or just binning it after one sales attempt. Ebay may go out of business without me prowling constantly for spares and repair parts, plus projects and refurb candidates, but ... not my problem, right?

[Hibernaculum]

I have sold a lot in the past 2 years. Over 150 cars.

But I've kept many more.

My collection is a mix of sentimentality (for the cars I had growing up), and plain nostalgia (for the ones I didn't).

100% of what I own is vintage. And I am so sentimental and nostalgic that I still keep all used Tamiya packet header cards. As I write this, I am currently looking at little spare parts drawers containing used, worn-out parts, like an MSC that I replaced in 1992 (I even labelled the drawers). Having started out with nothing, there isn't a day that goes by when I'm not thankful for what I've been able to collect, drive, restore, or just enjoy.

My collection is also driven by a crazy desire to curate, research, and then try to relate why these toys were so special. And why were they special? If I had to sum it up, I would say it's because they were manufactured up to a standard (not down to a price), at a moment in time when they were new, innovative and beholden to realism.

As a result, they filled a million childhoods with imagination and happy memories. And became part of the zeitgeist of the 80s.

They're a piece of history that deserves to be remembered. Not just because it will never be repeated. But because technology is now killing off the tactile, toy-based fun and learning that kids used to experience when growing up. The children of today will one day be adults who look back at childhoods filled with half a dozen smartphones, and little else.

At the end of the day, I suppose I continue to accumulate cars (and waffle about them) in an effort to simply show that childhood used to be brilliant

H.

[Mad Ax]

They're a piece of history that deserves to be remembered. Not just because it will never be repeated. But because technology is now killing off the tactile, toy-based fun and learning that kids used to experience when growing up. The children of today will one day be adults who look back at childhoods filled with half a dozen smartphones, and little else.

I recently went into a "proper" toy store and was amazed at the variety of science-based kids toys that simply weren't around when I was growing up in the 80s. Or, if they were, they were too expensive for my parents.

Things like telescopes. I desperately, desperately wanted a telescope when I was younger. I was eventually loaned an old, broken one by an aunt. I never managed to focus it on anything more than the trees on the hill opposite. Now you can buy cheap telescopes with five times the magnifying power. Same with microscopes - my microscope was also loaned to me by the same aunt, it had been left somewhere greasy and all the lenses were filthy. Nowadays I'd know to clean them with a cotton swap and some spirit, but I didn't have that knowledge then.

But it's not just obvious stuff like microscopes and telescopes - there were robotic toys (actual proper robotic toys, not things that look like robots but don't actually do anything), solar-powered toys, build-your-own kits that had a function once built...

The quality doesn't seem as good now as it did back then, but that might just be rose-tinted lenses. Back then, any toy seemed to be made of military-grade plastic and aerospace aluminium, right up until it broke. I've since rediscovered some of the toys I had as a kid and they are really cheaply made.

[StrokerBoy]

Blimey, there's some deep thinking going on here. I look at it like this : I've got a few toy cars hanging up in the garage.

[taliesin]

Blimey, there's some deep thinking going on here. I look at it like this : I've got a few toy cars hanging up in the garage.

When you get to around 100 runners and too many NIB to think about without having a panic attack, and when you have an entire basement devoted to your sickness, you'll join us.

If you've only got a few hanging in the garage, you haven't been fully infected yet.

Yet.

But you will be, very soon.

Resistance is futile.

[StrokerBoy]

I know where you're coming from really, there are also 3 1:1 cars and 12 motorbikes that all have things needing fixing. Less is more sometimes.

[Nobbi1977]

I know where you're coming from really, there are also 3 1:1 cars and 12 motorbikes that all have things needing fixing. Less is more sometimes.

I have just cut down to 3 motorbikes with the option of getting a 4th, I had to many to focus on getting them finished or riding them. RC takes up a lot less money and space so I am not tapped out yet but feel I will be soon...

[firefoxussr]

I'm keen on reselling my RCs. I like the evolution of improving my chassis collection. For example: I did finally sell my TA03R (converted to TA03R-S spec). That was because of TC... once I found out about converting a TA05 to 239mm wheelbase. The 03 was so ridiculously heavy.

I've also sold both of my Tamiyas that have been raced. The M05 because front-wheel-drive isn't my thing, although hilarious to watch burnouts. The F103 later due to its primitive solid-axle design. I did end up buying a 3Racing FGX to replace it, pushrod suspension all around is a revelation. The grip is unreal.... on narrower tires.

That said Tamiya bodies are forever, I have half-a-dozen which are painted! They are all too precious (OOP) to bash or race, so I will patiently learn how to make copies to provide runner bodies.

[Saito2]

Wow, I thought I was the only one who kept the bag's header cards! I also keep old sprues and spent grease tubes. Crazy, I know.

[Nitomor]

Me too lol!

[moffman]

And me! Plus I keep the empty bits in-between the decals after I cut them out!......GOD I need to get a life!!!

[Theibault]

If I don't see a few of you on the show Hoarders in a few years, I'll be shocked!!!

[Hibernaculum]

Yep, I keep the sprues and tubes too. Spent oil bottles. Worn out tyres, MSCs. Sometimes I put the used stuff from a particular car into a snap-lock bag, and label it as "Worn [part] from [car], replaced on [date]". Years later, they serve as a record of how quickly the years have flown by since "the other day" when I fitted some new part to a car.

For many years I even kept a little diary of the vintage parts I found in stores. Every part, even on those occasions when I found a hundred or more parts. I'd write them all down, and write some notes about the "find".

All of this was about the respect I had for all this stuff, after growing up and having access to such a limited amount of it.

[Hibernaculum]

But it's not just obvious stuff like microscopes and telescopes - there were robotic toys (actual proper robotic toys, not things that look like robots but don't actually do anything), solar-powered toys, build-your-own kits that had a function once built...

The quality doesn't seem as good now as it did back then, but that might just be rose-tinted lenses. Back then, any toy seemed to be made of military-grade plastic and aerospace aluminium, right up until it broke. I've since rediscovered some of the toys I had as a kid and they are really cheaply made.

It's true that there's some good stuff around today, even if most of it is made in China and is poor quality. A few non-Chinese manufacturers also survive, and still make amazing stuff (Tamiya being an obvious example). The problem is that fewer kids are playing with any physical toys, or at least not playing as often. The lure of touch-screen devices seems to be so strong, and they leave less time in the day to enjoy other toys.

When we were kids, we had no choice but to play with toys. TV and video games took a portion of our time in those days too. But things have advanced a million-fold since then and become a lot more sophisticated and absorbing. And it will never stop with VR and augmented reality products now hitting the market. It seems the age of toys being #1 priority in most kids lives, is over.

Recent news I have read/heard includes comments from teachers in Australian schools talking about how the nature of play has changed dramatically at schools in recent years. One teacher was quoted as saying that schoolyard games are on the way out, and kids mostly sit huddled in groups at lunchtime, looking at screens. Another said that many Kindergarten children are turning up at age 5, unable to socialize in a group environment due to having been plonked in front of screens for their first few years. This is all largely anecdotal, but I think we'll hear a lot more about these issues in the years ahead.

[acprc]

When I started collecting Tamiya again many years ago I used to buy anything and everything Tamiya and ended up with over 200 cars. As I have slowly got more and more into vintage nitro I thinned out around 40 cars to make room for more nitro kits. The cars I sold I didn't have a connection with other than the fact i had purchased and restored them. The cars that meant a little more I kept.

Nowadays I will struggle to get rid any of the nitro kits unless I have more than one example (Mad Bison's need not apply!) as I work towards owning one of every Tamiya nitro ever made.

I do sell cars regularly as I import nitro cars, kits, parts and bodies I see in Asia that are hard to get in Europe. The small profit goes towards my collection.

The only sad part of my collecting is that until we move house I can't display all my collection together.