9 Completely Worthless Collectibles . . .
f you stare at the Thomas Kinkade painting on your wall each day thinking "There's my retirement fund," prepare to pour skim lattes until you're 90 . . .
Collecting as a hobby can be a fun, worthwhile and potentially lucrative way to pass time. Amassing collectibles as investments, however, can be a disappointing endeavor yielding nothing but piles of devalued tchotchkes for the next of kin to sort through.
The founder of comic book industry bible Wizard , Gareb Shamus, said a year ago that the best advice a collector could heed was to buy what they liked and do their homework. Then again, he's also a Spider-Man collector who paid $1,700 for an issue with a cover drawn by artist Todd MacFarlane featuring the villain Sandman. The book's value jumped to between $30,000 and $40,000 when the Sandman appeared in the latest Spider-Man film:
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A lot does depend on the economy; and, of course doing your homework is always a must. My wife and I collect musical instruments and have had good returns on those investments until the last 3 or 4 years...it's not bad right now, but nothing like it was say 15 years ago. We have now slimmed down and actually notice that the more quality (more expensive) instruments are better investments than average ones. It seems to me that people with enough money are still willing to spend, just more judiciously. The people who had to save to buy an instrument are the ones not buying.
i think that, generally speaking, hard times hit the middle and lower classes much more severely. Most of the wealthy, while they loose a percentage of their net worth, aren't hurt as much.
I think the economy is a factor. And another factor is what's trendy-- certain schools of art for example ,rise and fall in popularity over time.
That is true too...I have had people who are willing to pay top dollar for a guitar just because "Cheryl Crow has one just like it..." or whatever. Funny how emotional folks can sometimes get about things; it out weighs there common sense a lot.
Talkin' about this, check out the picture on our front page and the article it links to .
Larry,
What are you saying... Every woman needs a hat from the 'Queen of Soul". R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!! Hee hee!
Here is an interesting collection.
LOL, good one Perrie!
:~)
That isinteresting!
I've had a great deal of success in the sports memorabilia arena. Autographs aren't really worth much; the most valuable are the game-used items. And while waiting for them to appreciate, they make great conversation pieces.
For example, I bought a pair of batting gloves that Derek Jeter used. Bought them about 5 years ago for $350. I haven't sold them yet, but the broker came around after he got his 3,000th hit with a $1,500 offer. When he retires, they'll go up. When he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, they'll rise in price again. Right now, I'm looking around at some Willie Mays items. He's in his 80s, and when he passes, the memorabilia will spike. But that's expensive stuff. If you're looking for some more moderately priced items, you can look at Ken Griffey Jr. items. He's between retirement and the Hall of Fame.
High end in baseball stuff has never sagged. Not even in this environment.
Some of those old toasters were pretty amazing!
That is pretty much true in ever area of collecting, from high end art to thimbles.
I have a client that just spent close to 750,000 for a uniform, can you believe that?
Wait... what kind of uniform and from what war? That is a ton of money for a uniform.
Check out this collection that was on "Sunday Morning" Super fun!
I have tried numerous times to get that video to work w/o success .
I had it working and then it stopped. Here is the link
...
OK, I just tested and this link works.
Fascinating video!
Too bad page 2 of this article has disappeared. Weird Yahoo.
I was told about one collector of plates. He had I think thousands of those dog breed plates, which he thought he could sell at dog shows and the like. He wanted to sell some to a dealer, but he wouldn't even take them. It might take the guy decades to sell off what he had, and then there are issues of storage. Oh well, I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time...
I find Gold, Silver, and Copper to be quite collectible!
DON'T LET GRUMP SEE THAT VIDEO!!!!! He LOVES his toaster!