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HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
Wow. I just looked like 2 min ago and it was not up. Lettered Green Mile. Looks very nice. I hope it ends up in a nice home.
This may be a personal questions for David...But I will ask it here. I am a small time collector with a modest collection. However would you take on consignment items for sale upon my demise? I am updating my will and would like to provide for an option in the paperwork. I'm guessing the answer is Yes however I do not know if there are any specifics I should include in the documents. I would like to ensure my family receives a proper opportunity for the sale of these items.
I recently discussed something similar with my solicitor when setting up my will. I was advised that it shouldn't be included in the will itself, but to add a letter of recommendation that a knowledgable assessment of the collection should be made before the books are sold. I also included a couple of references to be used as first contacts. (I included Betts, VFB and this site as initial places to seek advice).
"A real limited edition, far from being an expensive autograph stapled to a novel, is a treasure. And like all treasures do, it transforms the responsible owner into a caretaker, and being a caretaker of something as fragile and easily destroyed as ideas and images is not a bad thing but a good one...and so is the re-evaluation of what books are and what they do that necessarily follows." - Stephen King
I don’t think this is an inappropriate question at all. If someone has the time to scroll back in this thread. David posted a very nice response to all of us stating he would do just that. He recommended our families to contact him and he would treat our heirs very fairly and respect our wishes upon our demise.
I think the question is appropriate to answer publicly....the answer is YES. I would be more than happy to work with family members in the event of the demise of a collector. Let's face it, the King collecting passion is likely not shared by other members in a household, so unless the collector keeps updated current market values for the items in his/her collection, it is unlikely family members have a clue what these items are worth, and it is a real concern of us collectors that these items are valued at what they are really worth. We certainly don't want these items just to get donated as just "books."
I will be happy to work with family members so that your estate gets the best possible treatment of your King items.
One might ask what MY own personal plan is? Other than my daughter (who has a "general" idea as to value of certain items in my collection), my family is pretty much in the dark as to specific value for specific items. I have a spreadsheet of all my items, with description, price paid and what I think they are worth. Now, this list obviously needs to be kept up to date (which I am NOT good at doing). My daughter helped me inventory my own collection about 18 months ago, but certainly many things have been added to the list (and a few to be deleted). So, in addition to my spreadsheet (not up to date), my wife has a list of a few people to contact that I think would be helpful in valuing items in my collection. Were I to pass on, I feel reasonably confident that my family would realize a good chunk of what my collection is worth, both through my spreadsheet and the help/advice of others.
So sorry for the long-winded answer, but I firmly believe EVERY COLLECTOR, no matter how big or small, should have a contingency plan regarding sale of their collection. I am happy to assist....even if it does not mean selling/consigning your collection, I would be happy to help family with values at the very least.
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Final note...I'm no "spring chicken" anymore as I will be turning 59 in September. As you know, Betts is NOT my main job, but I am planning Betts to be my sole job in my retirement years (my guess is I will "retire"---what does that even mean anymore?--around age 65). I cannot take my collection with me, so my long-term plan is to sell off most of my collection while a) I am still alive, b) while I can still make good decisions and c) Betts is the BEST place for me to sell my personal collection as I already have an "audience." Who knows when that will take place....guess it depends on my health going forward but hoping it is 10+ years in the future.
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Thank you, David. Coincidentally I recently discussed this with my wife so she knows about your consignment service. In hindsight I might have been wiser to leave a note with my books. If she ever contacts you trying to sell my collection and you still see me actively participating here on TDT, let me know will ya?
Looking for Mister Slaughter S/L #78
Thank you for the reply, David.
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
Agreed! That's very generous of David to offer.
David, do you have any plans as far as the business of Betts itself once the time comes?
You don't know my kind.....You don't my mind.....Dark necessities are part of my design.....
Betts? No plan when comes time for selling it. Stu sold to me in late 2009 and was comforted because I was already a pretty big collector and also because he knew I already knew a lot of the collectors out there, so building my customer base would prove easier than someone who did not know King as well. As I said, I have every intention of keeping Betts going for at least 10 years more...who knows, I may live into my 90s like my grandparents!
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I have provided David's contact info to my wife for valuation and sale of "the Whopper" (my daughter's nickname for the Centipede Deluxe edition 'Salem's Lot), Centipede 'Salem's Lot Limited, and Second Coming prototypes upon my demise.
Sorry for the wait (I am so far behind it is embarrassing) on pictures of my recently framed artwork....but here is what I recently got framed through Audrey Price (Whelan).
This first one nobody has seen....For months, Ned Dameron has promised me first pick of the illustrations that he did for The Stand (yet to be published by Cemetery Dance). I chose Mother Abigail (you will see a Randall Flagg below by Alex McVey).
These are not in any particular order, but since I just showed Mother, I need to show her "opposite" Randall Flagg. I got this directly from artist Alex McVey maybe a couple years ago. He painted it in 2009 and he had it for a long time.
Ok this one is small, but qualifies as one of my many Pride & Joys and has a good story behind it....most of us like a good story, yes? This illustration I've also had for 3 years actually...since August 1, 2015. I was visiting the Whelans on that day because George Beahm was on town and there and he had proof copies of his new book (with an interview with me) and Michael was signing copies. We were sitting around the kitchen table and Michael had one of his sketch books that he was showing me and flipping through the pages. He sort of hurried over this image and I said WHOA! Hold on! He went back to this image and told me "This was the first ever image I had of the Crimson King. I woke up from a dream of this, and keeping my sketch book by my bedside table, I made this sketch of the Crimson King." So, this is Michael's first ever vision of the Crimson King. I told him how cool it was and we finished looking at the sketch book. A few hours later it was time for me to say goodbye (George Beahm was staying the night). I said my goodbyes and Michael said to me privately to hold on a second. He went up into his studio and came down about 10 minutes later and gave me this sketch. He told me he cut it out of his sketch book with an exacto knife and he inscribed it to Donald Callahan (me) and told me not to let Auds see this because she HATES it when Michael gives stuff away for free...so I kept this under wraps for three years...Audrey did not say a word about this image when I took it up a couple months ago for framing, so either Michael told her what he did or Audrey did not realize the significance of this piece....either way, I am beyond THRILLED to own this...the first ever image of the Crimson King.
This image is the prelim of Roland and Aunt Talitha in River Crossing....Bob Jackson owns the original (my all-time favorite Dark Tower piece of art). Years ago, I told Ned how much I loved the original and he found this small prelim sketch that he did and sent it my way. I've owned this for years but as I kept it in a Waste Lands book remarqued by Ned with the same scene, I never remembered to get it out to be framed. Now I have.
This piece is a prelim done by Don Maitz...the full-scale original (somewhat different) appeared in Cemetery Dance's The Shining.
I actually bought this next one off eBay. It is Jae Lee's depiction of Susan, lovely girl in the window. This was Audrey's favorite as the frame she/I picked actually accents Susan's braid beautifully. Quite striking.
You have seen this before as I posted images quite a ways back....This was a freebie that Alex McVey did for me which I kept....while I like Michael Whelan's Oy depiction better, I like this one quite a bit and I am a sucker for blue (no idea why, just am).
Finally, this is not a framed print, but a Glen Chadbourne remarque done in a Deluxe Salem's Lot from Cemetery Dance....and it is a remarque of ME as Father Callahan...a few years ago, I commissioned Glen to do a painting of me as Father Callahan since I already owned Michael Whelan's original and had one that Ned Dameron did in a DOLSO traycase. Well, Glen must have kept the image in his head for later, because I saw this book /remarque on eBay just about a month ago and about shit my pants and told myself that I needed to own that book.
Show and tell is over for the moment. Thanks for looking.
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Very gorgeous pieces.
Wow!!!
Fantastic artworks!
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Very nice, David!
That's one pissed-off looking Oy!
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
Thank you for sharing. I love the backstories on the pieces and they all look great framed. Congrats.
Beautiful artwork! Those look fantastic and Congratulations.
I am glad the question was asked about what our options are if we were to suddenly meet our demise. My mother gets it all and she is utterly clueless about this kind of thing. Whenever I go on a trip that involves a flight or a long drive I tell her that if anything happens to me that she NEEDS to contact David at Betts. She doesn't believe me when I tell her what some of these things are worth. She really won't believe it when the Misery S/L gets added!
I told her to sell anything through Betts because it will be a fair valuation and will be taken proper care of. I imagine David would drive on up to Maine to take care of it for her.
I don't plan to croak anytime soon but one never knows!