Before I pull the trigger I though I 'd post here and see what you's folks think about this. I know somebody else very local to me who has had to do this and I figger it's probably not all that rare.
The regrettable subject today is...
selling off your collection to help get the financial situation in order.
Things have got pretty tough and I'm really fatigued about stressing to catch up. It isn't that bad in total, or at least it doesn't seem like it should be, but I just can't seem to make
any headway after more than a year of trying, and medical bill collectors are becoming pretty aggressive lately. (total bastards.
Don't get me started on that one - I could go on for hours)
I have 7 games all together, and they are in various stages of condition.
One has been pretty well restored (DE "Secret Service") so it could be sold at any time, though really it's one of the funnest of the collection.
The Twilight Zone is the most valuable of the collection, and it's is also fun of course but in different ways (less adrenalin and more synapses I guess). I have some parts that would make it very nice - NOS set of plastics and re-manufactured translite, cabinet decals and clock housing. But I'm kind of thinking maybe just re-do the crogged cabinet and apply new decals and leave the other stuff as an option to the next owner, and if they don't want to mess with it I could sell the parts separately... anyways... I won't really miss it that much once it's gone. It's a great game, but no nostalgia with it for me.
Another is "on loan" at a family member's house and likely will not be sold, mainly because it's worth more in fun than it ever would be in money.
The remaining 4 are EMs which all need a little TLC to make them worth more for selling - just cleaning and basic shop job I'm thinking.
Well selling these games would ease up the stress for at least 4 to 6 months, and maybe for good if things turn around just a little.
Maybe a little background is in order here. I'm not really a pessimist, but I
am a realist and I can read between the lines usually better than most, and I don't see things turning around to the good side ever again. I was hopeful that our new administration would move the right way, but honestly I think they are just a shinier version of the same machine. I don't think any good will come of this, and actually I feel that things will actually accelerate in a downward spiral.
So considering this gloomy perspective anyways, it seems that owning my own pinball collection is an unimportant thing. I hope I am wrong, and I'm willing to let other folks bet on a better future and be the steward of my pinball machines.
Funny thing is, I quit smoking a few weeks back and I'm in a generally much improved state of mind. Much more positive and seem to have an excess of energy compared to before. So I'm glad I kicked the habit otherwise I might be in a
dismally gloomy state of mind regarding the future.
So anyways... I'm getting ready to put a couple machines on the market pretty soon, and while I'm waiting on phone calls for those I'll be cleaning up at least four others to get them ready to sell too. This will clean me out of pinball but give me some much needed financial stress relief. Has anybody else here done this, and what are your thoughts on it? Any regrets? Do you have any thoughts on a "balanced" outcome? I don't feel that I'll miss the machines all that much (not like a kidney or something) and
if things turn around someday it seems like I could collect several in pretty short order if I wanted - they seem to be up for sale around here often enough, and for fair prices.
Any opinions on either side are welcome.