magic hoard

[pauljameswatt]

Hi my dad has recently passed away and I have inherited a huge amount of magic props and magazines going back to 1980's I would like it to go to a good home were it will be valued by the right people, I have no idear what the amount would be worth but I appreciate if anyone in the no could maybe help or perhaps point me in the right direction, many thanks.

[Dustin Stinett]

Hi Paul,

First, my condolences for your loss.
Second, thanks for coming to the Genii Forum for your inquiry.

There are several ways to handle your situation, and it really depends on how much time you want to spend dealing with the research.

Searching eBay, which has a dedicated category for magic apparatus and ephemera is a good way to see what the value of various items are.

Knowing what your Dad had will be important and hopefully he kept instructions for any apparatus he had so you can see their names (this presumes that you do not have the magical foundation to already know). Obviously book titles are self-evident.

If you do not know what a particular piece is, post a photo (or photos) in our "General" forum and ask. Someone here will be happy to help if they can. Don't let our resident trolls scare you away. The vast majority of our members are really good about these types of things.

Google will be a big help for pieces that you cannot find on eBay, but the value might be more difficult to find out.

There are several "collectable" manufacturers in case your dad had any of these. Those are companies from the past like "P&L," "Thayer," and a few others.

And like anything, condition is king.

So good luck on your quest and thanks again for asking for our help here.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Dustin Stinett
Genii Forum Moderator

[Leonard Hevia]

Hi Paul--PM sent.

[pauljameswatt]

Thanks dustin, he has a big variety of props from chair suspension to zig zag lady, vanishing stereo arm guilateens and alot more, change bags linking rings coin magic card tricks and a hoard of over 500 abracadabra magizines and old magic books, he atended blackpools magic convention every year and was a member of the magic circle, id like some one with a passion for magic to end up with these. Maybe I can take some advice from some wise people on here and maybe help me in selling them. Thanks for your message.

[Q. Kumber]

Paul,

Where do you live?
There may be someone in your area you could reliably give you an idea of what you have and its worth.

There are two kinds of values to be expected in an average estate sale

One, where you try and sell items individually which will usually yield more money, especially if items are rare and collectible.
Two, where someone buys the whole lot from you. Generally less money but saves you a ton of time and hassle.

[Brad Henderson]

the Austin magic club has an auction each year. they move a lot of stuff. Prices for moderate range to low end props tend to realize HIGH. I've seen 10 dollar props from India sell for nearly 100.

the higher end material tends to pull lower prices. Although collectors workshop and the like sells well.

they also sell illusions - which is a bit of a crap shoot as I've seen high and low prices realized on everything.

this may be a good option if there are not many high end collectibles. You will be better served listing those with potter and potter. But for many magic items the Austin auction may be a good resource.