David, Great post. I’m sure this resonates with many of us. Thanks for putting this together.
Sincerely, Dave Smith Reel Deals Sent from my iPhone On Jun 22, 2023, at 8:11 PM, David Kusumoto <davidmkusum...@hotmail.com> wrote: Bruce Hershenson won't retire until at least Dec. 2025 Bruce Hershenson commits to running eMoviePoster through 2025. (EDIT: While Bruce posted a portion of his announcement a little while ago - here's what I was drafting after getting eMoviePoster's latest comprehensive email that was sent separately to collectors and consignors about his operations. The following is just my opinion, not necessarily factual.) ---- For the first time, Bruce Hershenson, 70, has committed to a date that he says he'll continue to run the company he built 33 years ago. That date is 30 months from now (December 31, 2025). While his statement is not etched in stone and acknowledges that he could change his mind, in my view, the announcement does three (3) things, in no particular order: 1) It gives him the option to exit the business - depending upon how he feels at the end of 2025, when he will be 73 years old. 2) It reveals a strong marketing incentive to alert collectors / dealers of a certain age - that he plans to accept consignments over the next 2 1/2 years, barring health or other unforeseen emergencies - and - if they have plans to eventually sell their collections via his consignment schedules / operations - that they should think seriously about this sooner rather than later. (His company only accepts items which have an individual retail value at or above $30. Note: There is no longer any retail minimum $200-300 value requirement - per consignment "package / tube" received. Each item must simply carry a retail value at or above $30.) 3) It confirms all of the hints he's made during the past 5-7 years - via his newsletters and on social media - about fearing chronic burn-out - while desiring to write his book and taking more vacations with family members - which had been near impossible until recently - because of gigantic workloads associated with curating, assembling, invoicing, shipping and maintaining the pace of his company's auctions - which at their peak - had been held three times a week, every week - instead of his company's current schedule of three times a week, every four weeks. Salient quotes: * "After 12/31/25 . . . .I MAY continue longer, or I MAY turn the business over to the employees, or I MAY look for a buyer for it, or I MAY close it down." * "AFTER 30 months from now, do those of you with a house (or a warehouse) full of items have a "Plan B"? And please don't tell me that your plan is to let your heirs worry about how to deal with your stuff after you are gone. That often works out terribly, and sometimes whole collections are literally trashed." * "Over and over the past few years, very long time collectors with huge collections have told me that "we need to have a talk one of these days" because they need to make a plan on how they will deal with their collection. That time has now come." * "Maybe a new auction like ours will emerge down the line that offers a reasonable alternative to auctioning through us. I hope that occurs. But for right now, I feel that what I say above makes a massive amount of sense for those of you who are in an age bracket (or a point in your life or collecting) where you want and need to do something with your collection sooner than later." ---- Meanwhile, a personal note. While I never had a blue-chip collection of horror pieces or ultra-rare items - I once had a collection of very attractive titles - more than 99% of which I consigned to eMoviePoster. Many things go into the equation of deciding when is the "right time" to consign - including, in my case, advancing age and creeping health issues, intermittent cash flow concerns, aggravations over wildfire evacuations and the vulnerability of my collection going up in flames or drenched by burst pipes or floods - and - never wanting to leave anything on the table should I croak tomorrow. But another REAL concern (for me) - which I brought up publicly in the past - was Bruce's impending retirement - freeing him up to do the things he talks about a lot when he's not talking about posters, e.g., vacations and writing his book. When he survived heart surgery many years ago - I surveyed the landscape and thought - there are few places that will accept the low-to-mid-range material I used to own, not just posters - but also my once vast lobby card and press kit collection which I rarely bring up here. In the nearly 30 years since MoPo began, so many names have come and gone - and I didn't want to be among the names with big estates to liquidate - by beneficiaries who don't share the same sentiment for the things I own or used to own. This is why I no longer own the posters I used to say - that I would never relinquish. Other than one poster that isn't a five-figure blue-chipper that my wife remains irritated with me that I let out the door - I have no regrets. It's like a giant weight has been lifted off of my shoulders so I can relax. I still have a few "mid-range" items left, and Bruce will likely get those, but none of them are rare. ---- Right now I know a woman who has a collection of items which are NOT movie related - who is terminal. The swiftness of unwanted realities entering our lives is harshly breathtaking, esp. when you think you have more time. Now she is in a race against the clock with an undetermined end date that is nevertheless nearer to her than far - trying frantically to get her affairs in order so that her heirs won't have to. She knows she's not going to make it but she is mad at herself for "putting things off" for so long - about things she cannot take with her. She had hoped the currents would take her with fewer worries on her mind. But I know what's going to happen as I've seen this movie before. There is going to be a point when she will stop caring and will let her kids fight over what doesn't get done. And trust me, this is something her kids, whether they get along with each or not - are not looking forward to. -d. [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5738/PerREn.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3775/ytsVqs.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3719/9ARrTr.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2674/W7wpmO.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> <https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1>[https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7089/LAvVRb.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2443/wKDvEL.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/2589/cSmIiy.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> <https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1>[https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7085/L0itPy.jpg]<https://www.emovieposter.com/learnmore/?page=consign_major#2023augustP1> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
