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The story
Over on 5ch’s “Live: Anything Goes” board, a thread blew up over a granddaughter’s dilemma: she’s been left with her late grandfather’s plastic model kit collection and can’t find anyone willing to take it off her hands. The kits are lined up neatly and look impressive at a glance, but posters quickly pointed out that once a model has been assembled, it’s practically worthless on the resale market. Some suggested listing them on Yahoo! Auctions or donating them to a museum, but most agreed that between the hassle of packing and shipping, tossing them out is ultimately the only realistic option — reviving the age-old headache of sorting through a deceased relative’s belongings.
What people said
so demand's only going to keep shrinking
Probably headed the same way as stamps
but yeah, I think tossing it is the only option
Packaging sounds like a massive pain
not worth the trouble unless it sells for a seriously high price
it was about tokusatsu figures I think, but maybe right now really is about the peak for that stuff
But it's already built
factor in the time and effort, and tossing it really is the correct answer
I agree with this
since they seem well-off, tossing it is probably best
and if they're wealthy, they wouldn't collect worthless stuff, so it's probably worth money
People don't normally phrase it as "yuufukusou" (裕福層) like that
the standard term is "fuyuusou" (富裕層) — "the affluent class"
my own parents have started doing their end-of-life decluttering too
it's not like they've got that much junk, but they're from the generation that can't throw anything away
though if no buyer shows up, you end up tossing it anyway
When you factor in the effort, most of it ends up not being worth the work
this whole "otaku decluttering" thing has become a topic you hear about a lot lately
they really need to handle it themselves while they're still around
Ah yeah, that's exactly the hassle part
Since it's already assembled, packing it must be absolutely brutal
lots of tiny parts and it's fragile
In the end it comes down to how the family feels about it
personally I don't think they need to stress over it that much
Well even if you sell it, the question is how much you'd actually get
if it's only a few thousand yen, I wouldn't want to bother dealing with some collector type
the stuff I'll probably end up handling is my dad's ancient lamps and fishing gear
he seemed like the type who'd never throw anything out until he died
I get the same impression — once a Gunpla's built, it's worthless too
That's basically true of model kits in general
Um… somehow it's being sold though?
We're also just dumping stuff we don't want on them, so it's fine
I'm just grateful they don't say 'we don't want this'
If I can get rid of it for free, that's exactly what I'd hope for
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
As a general rule, plastic model kits only command a premium among collectors while still “unopened and unassembled” — once a kit has been built, it holds almost no resale value in practice. A few vintage kits that meticulously reproduce real-world hardware, like the Zero fighter plane or the battleship Yamato, came up in the thread as exceptions, but those are isolated cases. Some posters suggested listing items on flea-market apps or auction sites, but since finished models are fragile and a hassle to pack and ship, the dominant opinion was that it’s not worth the effort for just a few thousand yen. The discussion split between those who felt disposal should come down to “the family’s feelings” and those who argued it should be decided on “economic rationality” — highlighting a gap, common in sorting out a deceased relative’s belongings, between sentimental value and market value.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (“Live: Anything Goes” board) thread “Granddaughter: “My dead grandpa left behind model kits… and nobody wants them” — Experts: “Sadly, it’s just trash. Throw it away.”“.
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