klompton what do you purport to have in these underground vaults? I'm calling your bluff that you have anything special that most fans would even want all that badly. Also, hypothetical for you: what if somebody out there had everything you have and then some, and upon being diagnosed with some terminal illness left the whole batch to his grandkids who love boxing...who then in turn uploaded every single fight on to YouTube? In one fell swoop all of that arbitrary "value" that you have assigned your collection (or that "supply & demand" has assigned it within the infinitessimally small vacuum that is the fraction of a percent of the boxing fan polulation - itself a sliver of a percent of the world population - that participates in the rare boxing film trade hobby). What then, eh? All of a sudden Greb vs. Walker is plastered all over the internet, same as Ruiz vs. Valuev...so what then? Are you going to shake your fist at the heavens and stamp your feet bemoaning the unfairness of it all? That your collection has been stripped of its value by the actions of a fellow collector and his sharing-inclined kin? You do realize that in this scenario none of these parties has in any way wronged you, ethically or legally, right? So then what would your feelings be on the supposed "value" of your stuff, literally plummeting overnight? Point is, EVENTUALLY, klompton, everything will either be digitized/widely available (whether for free or a rental/subscription viewing fee)...or destroyed. On a long enough timeline every single piece of film will belong in one of those two categories. That is the trajectory we're on. You do realize that, right? Maybe it'll be in your lifetime and maybe not but all you're doing sticking your heels in the ground is delaying the inevitable...and for what? So that in your lifetime you and the others in your circle can Pat yourselves on the back for sitting on what some may or may not consider a treasure trove of rarities (for now...until they either cease to be rarities or cease to exist)? You seem to be in denial about just how obsolete everything you do is in the face of changing technology and cultural norms regarding how media is consumed and archived.
:^( Such a shame there isnt footage from some of those figthers, on the other side it's great to know that Tunero, Chase and Lytell have some, have you seen that footage? If so, can you give us some description of how those figthers look? I always love to hear or read about this old school boxers i'm a great fan of the 40's era in boxing. It would be great if there existed some Criterion Collection type of company for boxing footage.
How much do you think it'd be for all of it? I do wonder if crowd funding would be the way to go, and that would solve that issue. Once you've got some that way, you could then use that footage to advertise for more donations. I wouldn't have the means for such a project myself, but I really think if people gave it a go, it could really be the way to go.
I dont see that happening. If you have an investment in something and it retains SOME value (regardless of Intentional Butt thinks) its unlikely that your heirs would just give it up for free. They might but I dont know. Hanks collection is a bad analogy because while it was a big collection of boxing data gathered over a lifetime its not like it was full of this super valuable stuff. Im sure it has some value, especially to people like me, but tons and tons and tons of it was stuff like notes, record information, clippings, correspondence, photocopies, etc. it had a lot of value as a research tool but I dont know many collectors that would have looked at that big pile of stuff and said “im going to pay a lot of money for that” in reality they would have thought to themselves: “Id like to pick out some choice items but I dont want to push around the rest of that ****”
I mean people do leave large charitable donations in their wills, if it was clearly stated as their wish I think the family would go through with it. Obviously it's their choice, but I think it's worth putting out as an option.
Nothing. I dont have anything of value in my collection. Its all been a big bluff and all those stills I post here and on boxrec and facebook from time to time are really just drawings my son does. Hes really talented. Im more concerned that the Easter Bunny will murder me in my sleep... Ok, I guess Ill just go and post my entire collection online. Hold your breath its coming in 5, 4, 3...
I havent seen the Chase and Lytell fights. I just know they exist. Tunero doesnt look good. Hes getting a beating by either Thil or McAvoy. I cant remember which. I posted stills from the film here a year ago. I agree, there should be a boxing netflix.
When I die, I will be buried at sea on a Viking funeral barge filled with Greb's fight collection. My thronging mourners will set the films on fire, to light my way to Valhalla.
That is the perfect analogy. It was heartbreaking but life goes on. We lose ties to our past that tell us more about ourselves everyday.
Since everybody seems to be talking about what will happen when the End of History As We Know It rolls around, and boxing collections are worthless, I'll deal you in to the epic: "I met a traveller from an antique forum, Who said—“Two vast and tangled skeins of film Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk an old Greb bio lies, whose author's face, And wrinkled lip, sneer of cold command, Tell that the forumites well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on the dust jacket; The keyboard that typed it, and the eyes that read; And on the pile of film, these words appear: My name is Klompymandias, Collector of Collectors; Look on my Films, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
When you are 80 years old, wrapped in a blanket and comfy in your rocking chair by an open fire, surrounded by your great-grandchildren; you can tell the spellbound youngsters about the time you saw Sir John Ruiz retire from boxing after choking against a trash talker and part time boxer which has never won any worth silverware of note in its history, and winning the lineal belt against the mighty 38 year old Holyfield. The fire crackles as the children gasp in awe. Snow begins to fall outside the window as your tale comes to an end, but the youngsters are still thirsty for more. 'Tell us about the wars he had against Sugar Nikolay Valuev, The Brown Bomber Hasim Rahman and such, again Grandpapa' one child begs. 'No, no! The legendary battle vs the North Preston Cobra Kirk Johnson,!' implores another. The oldest boy pipes up: 'Be quiet you two, Grandad tells those ones all the time. Go on, tell us the one you promised us last time - the triumphant effort vs The West Palm Beach Tornado Jameel McCline...Grandad..G-Grandad?' The rocking chair creaks to a halt. A serene expression is on your face and all of Ruiz clinches flash before your eyes in your final moments as the children embrace you. His one round war agaisnt Two Ton David Tua, the legendary no decision in Madison Square Garden against the Old Mongoose James Toney, that jab-clinch clinic against The Real Deal Andrew Golota. They know what's happening and are scared, but calm. The last thing you hear as you slide into the black warmth of death is the youngest boy - old beyond his years, a Sweet Science fanatic who spends every free moment shadow boxing and hitting his battered heavy bag 'Dont be sad, he lived a hell of a life...in the age of The Quiet Man.'
A propos the last line of your post, i. e., about sharing publicly after death, and the previous postings about the late Hank Kaplan's gift to posterity via the Brooklyn Public Library, I have some insight. It is true Hank entrusted his archive to a library for the public good after he died, but while he was alive he gave none of his collection away. I accompanied a well-regarded dealer of boxing memorabilia to Hank's home in Florida. We visited him five days in a row. My dealer friend hoped to cajole some items from Hank (not films, he didn't concentrate on films) with cool, hard cash, but he came away empty-handed, purchasing just a few low-end fliers of which Hank had duplicates. I was able to purchase a few photos by offering Hank more money than he could hope to obtain from anyone else, eg, a squareoff photo of Jock Malone and Mickey Walker for $150 (a vintage second generation of the original photo -- not even the original), two publicity photos of Lee Savold with the Baer brothers for $150 total, and a few other things. I had to run to Kinko's to make good copies of those photos for Hank before he would let them go. He said he was keeping his collection intact until he died and then willing them to a library, which as we all know he did. The point is that Hank, like Mr. Compton, knew the value of what he had and wasn't going to give it away. He was going to enjoy his collection to the end. That said, Hank was generous in sharing information, but not the memorabilia itself until after he died, that is.
