For What It's Worth......

Ben,

My view is thus:

- Built models are worthless.  At least mine are, unless I hide a $10 bill inside.

- Unbuilt kits are MSRP value.  Rare kits don’t really give me fleabay glee.  Of the few rare OOP kits I have sold, I never asked for more than the retail price.  It is always my hope that the buyer wants to build them, not flip them.

- If something happened and all my kits were gone (747 crashes into my house, giant earthquake opens up the ground and swallows house, or something mundane like a fire or burglary), I would be sad but not devastated.  I can buy all new stuff!

- As for all that money I spent on the hobby, the less I know the happier I am.  Ignorance is bliss.  I think that means ignorant people get blisters right?

- But regarding the money I did spend, I have always been fiscally conservative and never buy more than I can afford.

- What is priceless is the joy the models brought me.

Hi Ben

Yes your questions may be relevant to some, but for me the hobby is not about a $ balance sheet; it is about the joy of building and researching the model at hand.  The finished models?  I like looking at them as do visitors to my hobby room.  I will eventually give away the finished models - I have already to some admiring 5 yesar olds, which was a pleasure in itself.  Your time well spent is priceless.  If you're consumed with the spending/revenue balance sheet, take up another hobby.

Alan

Well Ben, I do have an up to date list of my kits, purely for insurance purposes. How much have I spent on the hobby? I have no idea, but with paints, tools, reference materials and kits, I should think it would run into the thousands. Just recently I spent $700 on paints and finishing products alone. I have a stash of some 430 kits,but many of these are figures and so do not take up a lot of room. How much are they worth? I have no idea. I guess that it will be whatever someone is willing to pay for them as a job lot when I'm dead.

I have a small number of built kits and references from a deceased estate. I didn't know the bloke, but it is all 50's and early 60's stuff, unpainted OOB. I love them and they have their own display case, because its the stuff of my childhood. But every time I look at those models that were once someone's pride and joy I also experience some sadness. That bloke is gone, his collection of models and references, once so precious, is scattered and lost. And that will eventually happen to all of us.

Its not a subject that I like to dwell on, because ocassionally I look at my stuff and wonder the same thing. Plus I have a significant collection of militaria and a 30 foot wooden cabin cruiser that I have recently restored. Both of these other hobbies have been pursued with passion and great enjoyment, and also at some considerable expense. Whilst the militaria would probably return a reasonable profit if sold, I will never get back what I have spent on the boat.

Do I care about the money and the financial value of these 3 hobbies? Not on your life. The pleasure they have given me over the years far outweighs any financial consideration. Am I sad that one day what means so much to me will mean nothing to whoever has to deal with my estate? Only a little bit if I allow myself to dwell on it, which I only do once in blue moon and then only for a few seconds.

The bottom line is that I have gained immeasureable joy out of these hobbies and thats all that matters.

Rob F

No,I won't do it.I don't want to think about it.To what end,I bought them,I built them,I enjoyed them,the money is spent and gone.

Would I want to count every dollar spent on eating out,going to ball games,taking vacations,each round of golf,every movie,or concert.No,I spent my recreation dollars and enjoyed it all,made us happy,so I have no desire to add up all those dollars spent.

If i did it and came up with the fact that I spend a few thousand dollars or more on models,really what difference would it make now

I have given a passing thought to the $$ involved, and shrugged it off.  What I bought didn't take away from the necessities of life.  Things are a little tighter now so I doubt I'll buy much more for modeling, except for expendables like paint and such.  As to how much value there is in all of it.....don't know or care.

The other thing I spend on is mining gear and just recently spent about $1200 on a new pump and highbanker unit to process more material.  Doubt it will pay for itself in my time, but it gets me out of the house once in awhile.

goldhammer

I have given a passing thought to the $$ involved, and shrugged it off.  What I bought didn't take away from the necessities of life.  Things are a little tighter now so I doubt I'll buy much more for modeling, except for expendables like paint and such.  As to how much value there is in all of it.....don't know or care.

The other thing I spend on is mining gear and just recently spent about $1200 on a new pump and highbanker unit to process more material.  Doubt it will pay for itself in my time, but it gets me out of the house once in awhile.

 

Side note: I do own about $ 50K or so of model railroad stuff. I'll never have another layout so I will sell it.

Most of my models in plastic I either give away or throw away when I finish them.

I don't run a museum- I have a house that has a hobby bench that has a chair in which I sit when I model. Beats a bar stool.

And as my footer on this forum says- modeling is an excuse to (research, compare notes, collect images, write papers) buy books.

Bill

My unbuilt kits are worth several thousand dollars. I do have some highly collectable kits. Twenty years ago, I won the 1/16 scale Tamiya full RC Tiger I kit. It was worth $750-1000 back then. I also have their King Tiger tank too.

I think if I just tried to get a decent price for my unbuilt kits, conservatively, I could make $4000 if I needed to liquidate quickly. Probably $5000 if I put serious effort into getting the maximum amount of money.

My built kits might be worth a little bit, but not worth what the cost of shipping them. Some of my older built kits might be considered collectable and have more value, but might be worth the cost of shipping.

Hi Drum501;

    Interesting conundrum isn't it? What is it all worth? Well, I really don't know. I do know I have spent many years building a stash. Let's see, this is stash number four. Stuff happens and the stash is the least of my worries. Do I enjoy it? YES ! Do I think it will make what I leave behind more valuable? NO.

   I don't buy astronomically priced old kits. Some have evaded me and maybe that is good. I have seen four from my childhood. Can I afford them? NO. So, I plod on with what I have, breaking out a new one when the one I am working on is built and given away.

 I work in many media from Paper to Plastic, Metal and yes, occassionally Resin, now that I found which Resin bothers me, so of course I stay away from those. When it comes down to it, Retail I have about $4.500.00 worth of kits Unbuilt. About the same in tools. Mostly older, better made tools.

     I figure, in a garage sale my landlady will get about one tenth of what they are worth. The models now, go to Disabled Veterans at two facilities. Everything Else, if she can use it My landlady get to keep. What she does after that is anyone's guess. So-Build on!

I had been out of the game for quite a while, so my stash, between the ones started and the unstarted ones, amounts to about eight (8) kits . So, no great investment there.

A year back when I started the 1/12 scale PCF (canc'ed for now) and then the 'Tango' boat (at 85% now) I had also started a cost and expenditures file. When that sum reached a certain point, the tracking of the cost started taking away the entertainment value of the build; so I stopped counting.

I had never intended this project to be a profit making venture. In fact, outside of the joy (and frustration, and several other emotions in between) of the build, I fully expected this whole thing to chalk up as a loss.

I still do not know what I'm going to do with it (long term) when I'm done! 

A few years ago, when better at building models, I was commissioned to build and sell a new kits.  I made several thousand dollars on them.   Now, I'm retired, both from my career and I only build for R&R.  The cost of the collection is beyond estimation, maybe, several hundred thousand dollars.  Or $15 or $25.....

Well everyone, I tossed as much stuff in my initial message as I could to get as  many different reactions and responses as possible and you did not let me down. I know that many of you in both forums have yet to reply, but so far, using parts from all of your existing responses here are the answers to the questions:

(Everything below is pulled directly from two forums, as of this date and time, all names withheld)

What is it all worth? Well, I really don't know. I had also started a cost and expenditures file. When that sum reached a certain point, the tracking of the cost started taking away the entertainment value of the build; so I stopped counting. I had never intended this project to be a profit making venture.

I do know I have spent many years building a stash. Do I enjoy it? YES ! If something happened and all my kits were gone I would be sad but not devastated. I can buy all new stuff! 

No,I won't do it.I don't want to think about it.To what end,I bought them,I built them,I enjoyed them,the money is spent and gone. I spent my recreation dollars and enjoyed it all,made me happy, so I have no desire to add up all those dollars spent. For me the hobby is not about a $ balance sheet; it is about the joy of building and researching the model at hand. 

This helps keep me sane and I'm grateful for it. What is priceless is the joy the models brought me.

The finished models? To me there is no time cost as i cannot put a price on my sanity. I build for the enjoyment (and frustration when a part won't fit), to relieve stress, escape, to quieten my mind and to challenge myself to get better. 

I don't run a museum- I have a house that has a hobby bench that has a chair in which I sit when I model. Beats a bar stool. I like looking at them as do visitors to my hobby room.  I will eventually give away the finished models. Your time well spent is priceless. 

Do I care about the money and the financial value of the hobby? Not on your life. As for all that money I spent on the hobby, the less I know the happier I am. If you're consumed with the spending/revenue balance sheet, take up another hobby.

The pleasure they have given me over the years far outweighs any financial consideration. My thinking is it is all worth every dollar to keep you sane in a crazy stressful world I would rather build or make something and be creative than worry about the $, insurance etc. 

The bottom line is that I have gained immeasureable joy out of these hobbies and thats all that matters. 

For those of you who have or will reponse, thanks for participating. Those of you still preparing a response, please continue to share your thoughts on this topic.....

Ben 

There is way to much satisfaction, joy, and sentimental value to put a price tag on it.  But just curious how much money are you willing to pay for it?

Well, my stash is always in a state of flux. I buy a couple (no high priced kits) and I win a couple at shows and I build them. I even give them to kids to build. I don't know how many I have on hand and I really don't care. Been building for almost 74 years. 

I have some built that I keep in a curio cabinet and on shelves in my loft. I keep a couple of sailing ships in the living room until I get tired of them and replace with another one. I have some completed models on display in a local WWII museum and I repair their older display models. I give away some completed models to some people who have expressed a desire to have them.

I don't know how much I've spent on hobbies but it has always been what I could afford without putting myself in trouble. What is my stash worth now? Don't know and don't really care. My WWII built models will go to the museum. The guys in the club will get first shot at the stash and all the paints and tools. After that, my wife can do whatever she wants with the rest. I won't be in any shape to do anything about it anyway. 

I've had quite a list of jobs in my lifetime. Luckily most of them were with the same company. Some were great and some were a PITA. My model building served as a tool to unwind at the end of a stressful day. I enjoyed it and it served its purpose. I still enjoy it.

Jim 

Stay Safe.

The way I see it, this hobby is for my enjoyment.  If I was to focus a lot on the $$ I'm spending, that would probably throw a wet blanket over my enjoyment.

I am currently unemployed, so there is no budget for any additions to the stash, although I have snuck in a few purchases for paint when I absolutely needed it.

I am in my early 50s, so the word "retirement" is not yet a regular part of my vocabulary. But the wife and I have been discussing in very general terms what we might want to do in our latter years, and these discussions have led me to the realization that this hobby is eventually going to wither away for me.  Whether because our lives change, or my health deteriorates, who knows, but to this end, I've come to terms with the idea that all of my completed builds will either be donated to a museum that will take them, or put into the nearest trash.  Completed builds are virtually worthless in a financial sense, but for me, they give me great satisfaction to simply look at them in the display case.

Whatever I have in my stash will certainly have some value, but that value is determined only by what someone will agree to pay for it.  That Fine Molds Millennium Falcon was quite an expensive kit, the most I've ever paid for a box of plastic, but there is no guarantee that I could sell it for any particular amount.

One thing I've done in recent months is to ensure that I have a big library of digital photographs of everything I've built.  I have also made certain to store those digital images in multiple locations, including fixed media (CD).  My screen saver currently includes a few shots of most of the kits I've built since the turn of the century, along with family photos and pictures taken on various vacations, mostly Disney World.  I get a lot of satisfaction in looking at these pictures as they come on both of my monitors. In fact, the digital photos will actually hold more value to me than the actual built kits, given that I know the builds will eventually go away.

- What do you think the fair market value is for all of it?  

I have an idea of a fair market value for everything the question is would I get it? I sold of all of my fathers collection after he died along with three hundred built models and it wasn’t a lot of money in the end. A few years ago when I had to liquidate my stash of a couple hundred kits I probably ended up getting half the amount of MSRP. My built models I can’t see getting much out of and would cost more to ship. 

- What do you think the emotional value is for all of it?

For kits not built I’d be sad for a time if something happened to them as I’ve got the majority of models I’ve always wanted. I’d get over it pretty quickly. I’d actually be more upset at losing a few of my built models that I put a lot of hard work into. 

What do you think your total investment is, all-in, kits, equipment, labor (built), etc.?

 Do you have a spreadsheet of your full inventory?

Do you have insurance that will cover some or all of its loss (and does it matter)?