Sell everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Torch]

Hi Lowboy,good question,not sure exactly but if my family was in trouble I certainly wouldn't hold off too long,but as Jas said there would definately be an order to sell in ...my collection is a great investment for me and every year I'm surprised to see the jump in price of items I hold. But I guess as a proper answer to your question it would take a crisis for me to sell at this point in time.

[tempelhof]

for better or for worse, i make my living from investments and have for 25 years exclusively.

two thoughts immediately come to mind.

the first is that i can't answer the question without knowing the investment because answering the question requires the investment be analyzed.

the second is that, by definition, return has a direct and positive correlation with risk. therefore, regardless of what you are being told, the truth will likely be that if the return is extreme, so too will be the risk. therefore, as profit of 200% (ending up with triple what you started with) is extreme, the risk will also be extreme.

risk is often not apparent on the surface. and this is how it is so often underestimated. but it is there. and it will manifest itself in the end and to the unfortunate in ways that they did not envisage until it is in their face. of course, by then, the damage has been done.

i am not telling anyone what to do. i'm just talking about the nature of risk in investments. it is ALWAYS present and the greater the return, the greater the risk.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

for better or for worse, i make my living from investments and have for 25 years exclusively.

two thoughts immediately come to mind.

the first is that i can't answer the question without knowing the investment because answering the question requires the investment be analyzed.

the second is that, by definition, return has a direct and positive correlation with risk. therefore, regardless of what you are being told, the truth will likely be that if the return is extreme, so too will be the risk. therefore, as profit a 200% (ending up with triple what you started with) is extreme, the risk will also be extreme.

well said.

[ObKrieger]

This thread reminds me of how much I hate money. Let's get back to militaria.

[sandgroper]

I agree Mo, I'm prepared to accept the burden of yours just to help you out, send it to me and I'll do my best hold up under the strain!lol

[tempelhof]

don't fret. sandgroper and i will be there directly with a couple of wheelbarrows to help you out.

we're saints like that.

[Wot no sugar]

Everything in my collection could be had at a flea market, so a sizeable wad of cash would allow me to part with it. Though I doubt that will be true in a few years. I have a favorite pair of Miralto shoes, utterly ridiculous looking things, that I got for $1.25. Yeah, a little more than a 2 liter of soda. Well I turned down an offer of $20 on them because they are near non replaceable. Looked and looked never found another pair. So it just depends how attached. If you have any doubt, and the only interest in this is money for money's sake, don't do it. Or if you really need the money see if you can pull just those favorite items out and sell the rest. Trust a veteran haggler, there is always an unspoken alternative to any deal.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

IMG00330-20120601-1440.jpgIMG00329-20120506-1221.jpgIMG00321-20120504-2156.jpgIMG00320-20120504-2155.jpgIMG00119-20110715-1710.jpgRD072611-101.jpgcatalog x2.jpgcatalog x2 1.jpgcatalog .jpgcatalog x2.jpgcatalog x2.jpgI sold my entire collection in 1981 and by the middle 1990s, spent much more money to buy it back. I made a profit in 1981, of course, but the sale today would take more effort. The putting a price tag on everything is pretty hateful, but such is our peculiar age.
Seller's remorse is a feature of all of this, for, indeed, certain things go the way of things mortal, and the pain of memory has its price, as well. These imponderables have to be thrown into the measure.....

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I never considered Nazi regalia an investment per se, but something intangible and of value beyond the measure assigned to conventional numerations of scarce things, desirable objects, etc.
That is, I can well understand that the Facebook stock is over valued, whereas I assign great value to these Klamotten, which my guest family in Germany forty years ago really did think to be junk and unpleasant things that reminded them of much misfortune and privation.
Those who engage this material solely as a speculative investment without any passion for the past, as well as rely on the expertise of third parties to make significant purchases are just hostages to a cruel fortune, i.e. fortuna.

[MottlakeSOT]

Sell it all....yes, why not. My Father has always quipped that with all I spent on storage, that I could throw it all away and buy replacements. Okay, maybe not that easy..... I have collected since 1972, and been hooked on military things even before....it surely is my Mother's fault, for she got me a bag of toy soldiers when I was down with the mumps in kindergarten. However, when my Father's uncle gave me a fallschrimjaeger helmet (size 62), zeltbahn, WH officer's dagger, and a box of medals in the summer of 72, then the bug hit. Have a spot in the barracks and no bills whilst in the Army 5 years later put it into high gear. However, with that, 28 years of Army time, 10K in student loans, and a new marriage looming, it is an easy choice. There is no fire sale rush, but I have found that I do not do so many displays as when I was a recruiter or worked for a museum where most of the German stuff and decent US gear was mine, and if not using it, it is hidden away in nice controlled storage. I used to never think that I would sell things that were so dear, but I also never thought that I had too many things. One of my favorite lines was "canteens, you can never have enough German canteens!" ...US for that matter (ooooooo, stainless, aluminum, orange plastic, and enamelled....and that is just 1940 to 45!!!). Too many things leads to hoarding. Not for all, but it seems my mother and brother are, and surprise, so was I . It grew, like the collections over the years, until I had no space, and no life. Again, more jokes, and self delusion. Finding the right woman was the start of self-realization, and that I could unload the burdens I have lived with without knowing. No nirvana and kumbaya's overnight though. Pronouncements of ultimatums and resistance on my part marked the last year and a half, but it was doing my senior project in college on hoarding that brought me into full realization of the complexity of the situation. Throwing stuff out is the hardest part, and selling the collection became the easiest. She enjoys going to WWII and Civil War (..no good Rev War events in Fl!!!) events, and that makes for a good woman indeed. So everyone has a reason for selling or keeping things, and my ugly secret has much easier to talk about now. I am not getting rid of family pass downs(or the WL panzer assualt badge!), nor the reenacting uniforms and gear, so plenty of toys remain, but the original things( collected back when Janke uniforms cost more than originals!) now go on to new and veteran collectors. Like sending a child out into the world there are pangs of regret, but it is good knowing that they go to like minded individuals. WWII German, WWI&II and Vietnam US...it all is up for adoption. Having a reason makes it somewhat painless.
When she queries the need for so many books...not a place to venture!! I will keep the guns too....