9 Completely Worthless Collectibles

http://finance.yahoo.com ^ | October 29, 2011 | Jason Notte

[lowbridge]

If 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.

-snip

"Collectibles" investors, however, are beholden to a very subjective, eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - News)-driven market in which their precious knick-knack can be worth $800 or less than $50. While sites such as Kovels.com offer some guidance, "collectibles" and the companies that make them are slaves to demand and market forces — and the realization that their mass-produced product is only worth as much as a buyer will pay for it.

"I tell people that keeping collectibles is like storing money under your mattress," says Lou Kahn, head of the Bakerstowne Collectibles appraisal and consignment service in West Hempstead, N.Y. "You're going to have the same amount of money next year, but it's going to be worth a lot less."

[duckman]

Record collecting could produce enjoyment and be profitable. I concentrated on 45 and 78 RPM records, sung by obscure black groups from 1946 thru 1962. They were called DOOWOPs. I started as a kid in the 50’s and 60’s not realizing the music would still be desirable in the 2000’s. Sold most of them on Ebay and were very profitable.

[Fresh Wind]

Soul is the hot market right now. Some of the real obscurities are bringing insane amounts of money.

[bannie]

I’ve used it...it gets the expected attention. :D

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I had collected a trunk full of late 1940s and 1950s comics that I knew would be valuable someday.
My mom threw them out when we moved back to the states. She needed room for “occupied Japan” pieces...

[duckman]

“Some of the real obscurities are bringing insane amounts of money.”

I know, many of the records I picked up on record buying trips, for 5 cents sold for hundreds of dollars on Ebay. Back in the old days the black music was not played on the major white stations, that's probably why they became obscure. If you wanted to listen to them they were on the very end of the AM band. Being from the NJ/NY area, we had a nice selection of stations.

[A_perfect_lady]

anything that has a strange appeal to you and you alone and you don’t know why, anything that evokes nostalgia and will never be made again . . .

Keanu Reeves movies?

[SeaHawkFan]

Surprised no one has mentioned “National Geographic” magazines.

[A_perfect_lady]

Then again, the only thing I collect is dustballs under the couch. (’tis a bachelor’s life for me!)

Invest in some cats and watch those dustballs grow! The secret ingredient is cat hair. It's like protein for dust bunnies.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Here's a novel idea. When considering tangible investments why not consider the first and foremost collectible - one that hasn't been made since it's first creation and first production run: land. Once you've got a nice place, consider it's multiple utilities as hedges against any kind of financial downturn:

1. Grow food.
2. Build shelter - often with materials at hand.
3. Heat.
4. Animal protein - domestic and wild.
5. Capital production capabilities - sell your produce or...
6. Strategic protection - rural property has a built-in free fire zone.

On top of that, peripheral investments are low in price manipulation. These include:

1. Low-scale ag implements - tillers, shovels, etc.
2. Raw processing equipment - shellers, grinders, etc.
3. Food processing equipment - pressure canners, dehydrators, etc.
4. Utilities - PV panels, woodstoves, handpumps, generators, etc.
5. Material and supplies - spare parts, hardware, etc.
6. Infrastructure - greenhouse, barn, etc.

Well, Sir, there you go. A genuine inflation proof series of investments to be gotten today at low, low prices and certain in rise in value commensurate to the financial storms outside your hedge fund. As a bonus, as a purchaser, you'll be the fund manager and the usual percentage fee will go right back to you. This is no ordinary “win-win” fund or recommendation. This is a end-of-the-line ‘win-win-win-win-and-continue-to-win-no-matter-ho-bad-it-gets’ kind of fund.

Dump the beanie babies and get thee to a homestead - today!

[W. W. SMITH]

I had collected oil company road maps, all fifty states, the provinces of Canada, many of the larger cities and from as many different companies as possible, over 500 maps. When I was in basic training my mother cleaned house and burned all of them. Had all the Louis L’Amour books in paperback, not worth anything, they went up in smoke also.

[reformedliberal]

anything that evokes nostalgia and will never be made again . . .

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I collect glass perfume bottles/presentations. Much of my collection is from 1920-30, some earlier,none after about 1955, all by noted glass artists, historically evocative brands, emphasis on the figural. I bought them carefully over 40 years. I limited myself to paying no more than 1/3 of *book*. In 2007, my collection was worth more than 2x what I had paid for it. Since 2008, it is worth about half, IF a buyer existed.

I see wonderful, rare, pristine, historically important pieces up for sale on eBay for 1/3 of their value and the pieces do not sell. It is a fantastic time to buy, of course, but fewer collectors have the extra money and they are savvy enough to wait until the seller is desperate.

These are real, irreplaceable antiques made by recognized masters and many are historical cultural icons, not manufactured *collectibles*.

However, a dedicated website I follow seems to have a better track record and is realizing prices which are closer to real value. That might be the best way to sell, rather than eBay, given good keywords and search engine visibility.

My husband inherited a set of Copenhagen plates from his mother. Next to worthless, from what I can tell.

[Future Snake Eater]

I guess not, but you’d think she’d wait for the knock at the door before giving away all your possessions without consulting you!

[jimtorr]

I used to know a guy who owned an art gallery on Union Square in San Francisco. He said that Kinkade was his biggest rival in picking up hot new artists work. Until, of course, Kinkade started turning out paintings by the truck load.

One fun bit from the gallery. One day, this scruffy, smelly bum came in to look around (in San Francisco you don’t turn anybody away). He came back the next day with several companions carrying suitcases. He said, “I’ll take everything on this wall, on this wall and on this wall!” Then his companions opened the suitcases, which were stuffed with hundred dollar bills.

It turned out that the scruffy bum was Jerry Garcia, and his Grateful Dead band roadies were carrying the cash. He bought over a million dollars of art that day.

[LizardQueen]

>anything that has a strange appeal to you and you alone and you don’t know why, anything that evokes nostalgia and will never be made again . . .

I collect Soviet and cold war stuff, medals, tea glasses, postcards, etc. A bunch went up for sale on Ebay, cheap, after the collapse over there.

I plan on leaving it to my nephews, who never knew what it was like to fear them and never had to duck and cover under their elementary school desks in preparation for the nuclear attack that thankfully never came.

[SMGFan]

a search suggests he bought the original artwork Spider-man versus Sandman cover , not a comic book.(1)
This story had another “life” concerning comics in 2009 (2)

(1) http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5191151

(2)http://www.mainstreet.com/article/lifestyle/beat-stocks-buying-comic-books

[A_perfect_lady]

Maybe in 100 years, Beanie Babies will be valuable again.

[Fresh Wind]

My rule of thumb: If the record is cheap and you’ve never seen it before, BUY IT! You get stuck with a lot of trash, but you also get some real gems.

There are plenty of white obscurities too. I always had a preference for rockabilly, hot country, and garage bands.

Back in those days, every kid (black or white) had a fantasy of being the next big star, and most of them never made it, but they certainly tried.

[W. W. SMITH]

I have a few LLadros purchased from the factory in Spain. No packing cartons.

[conservaterian]

Not always. Several decades ago I did a review of a stamp collection that'd been gathered from castoff envelopes ~ from the 1800s. The collector had been an ambassador from a South American country. He was posted to Washington DC. MY GAWD~~~~~~!!!!!! You know that stuff in the first few pages of just about every catalog book ever published? This collection had ALL THE LISTED variations in every type.

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Yeah, those are the finds that keep the treasure hunt interesting ...the stories I could tell of finds I have made! Collections of Civil War letters, diaries, etc. saved from attics, some of which were about to go in the trash.

[duckman]

“You get stuck with a lot of trash, but you also get some real gems.”
That didn't happen to me that often, I had several portable phonographs, I would take with me, that were battery operated, so you could hear the record first before you decided to buy. Also I went with several collector buddies that had the same phono’s. So if they were playing something different and I liked it I would grab one out of the stack. I never thought the music would be around that long else I would have picked up multiple copies.