Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

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tim1999
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Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by tim1999 »

Is it me, or are certain collectible/memorabilia items pretty much worthless now?

My great uncle is in his late 80s and not doing well health-wise currently. He was a 747 Captain for Pan Am, and retired a couple of years before they went bust. He collected anything and everything, but his main collections involved:
-Airline memorabilia (particularly timetables and promotional items) 1940s-1980s
-Original Hardy Boys books from the 1920s/1930s
-Automobile sales brochures, 1950s-1980s

He is not internet savy and I am basically his best friend.
In 1999, I helped him sell about 1/4 of his collection on ebay, and he netted about $15,000, which he thought was far more than it was worth, and I agreed. Big win! We also set up a table at a NYC area airline memorabilia show and took in another $3,000 in one day.
In 2005, I helped him sell about another 1/4 of his collection on ebay, he netted about $5,000, which he thought was "okay" but not great.
Nearing his deathbed recently, he enlisted me to sell the remaining half. I am finding that based upon "sold" prices on ebay, etc. most of this stuff is worthless.

The airline stuff now only goes for a couple of bucks, and that's only if it's pre-1960s. We used to sell 1940s/1950s timetables for $20-$30+. He has a lot of 1970s/1980s stuff that used to go for maybe $5 each but seems worthless now.
The car stuff only seems to go for a couple of bucks if it's 1960s or earlier. 1970s stuff we sold for $10 back then gets no interest for $1 now.
The Hardy Boys books didn't sell quickly back then but we could get $10 or so after awhile. Zero interest now.

He has about a small dumpster worth of stuff that appears to be near worthless. Is it worth selling? Has this market really declined this much? Should we just trash it? Today's generation has no use for this stuff I guess? Out of probably 2,000 remaining pieces, he only really cares about 10 pieces. So if the 1,990 pieces are truly worthless we will probably trash them.
rec7
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by rec7 »

I am not an expert but this has happened to a lot of stuff since 1999. I used to sell on ebay many years ago. Times got bad and it seemed everybody went to ebay to sell their stuff driving the prices down.
Last edited by rec7 on Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
RobInCT
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by RobInCT »

Internet penetration in 1999 was something like 30%. It's now something like 90%. You were among the first to discover that an elderly relative had a dumpster's worth of "junk" that people on the internet would pay money for, and you profited from early incursion into the marketplace. Now everyone else has caught on, and you are far from the only one with an elderly relative who didn't throw things away. Supply and demand, unfortunately.
Last edited by RobInCT on Sat Aug 23, 2014 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
letsgobobby
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by letsgobobby »

And as a result of the above factors, while there are still markets for collectibles, the items in question fare better if they are complete sets and in pristine condition. For instance unopened pristine Star Wars action figures still have a decent market, whereas your childhood toy junked up with a broken light saber are worth about zilch.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Someone much smarter than I am can probably explain why it's the case, but I think that you're right. More than a decade ago, I sold some Pan Am memorabilia on consignment on eBay and got decent money for them. I'm no longer in that business, but if I were, I would not take on those items today.

If nothing else, the internet has shown collectors that what might have been rare in their neck of the woods isn't really so rare when you include all of the attics and basements in the world, and if its only claim to value was its rarity, well ...
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jridger2011
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by jridger2011 »

I think with eBay and other sites, there are more of these items than before. The items are still rare since not everyone has it lying around the house, but there are more advertised sellers. As a result, most collectibles do not generate the profit people think they might.
rec7
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by rec7 »

I tried to sell some books that were so rare their was only one other seller and still could not get $25 for the book. The book was about 100 years old.
Hypersion
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Hypersion »

Ebay has shinned the light on collectibles that people thought were very rare but in reality everybody dad or grandfather had a huge collection in their attic or basement.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Christine_NM »

Antiques Roadshow is running a series on updates of 1999 values. A lot of their valuations have gone down. Only the really good quality, rare stuff seems to have appreciated.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Rob5TCP »

Hummels and LLaydro were collectibles years ago. Before EBay I think they were sold by clubs, through ads and commanded a fair amount of money.
Today Llaydros selling for a fraction of what they once did (for some reason an Aunt left me 5 of them when she moved to Florida).
Had I sold them right away I would have gotten a fair sum. I sold all 5 for about $150 (far less than 1/2 of what I would have gotten earlier).
But, earlier it would have been a lot more work. It was not hard to list it on Ebay. I just undercut the prices there by about 10% and they went
pretty quickly.
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Watty
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Watty »

I caught part of a car collector TV show where they were talking about how car collector prices of popular cars tend to follow the ages of of the people that were young when the cars came out.

As I recall they were talking about common 1950's cars that were dropping in prices since few people that were young then were still looking to buy one and many people of that age were looking to sell, or were passing away and the cars were being sold from their estate. Cars from later decades were doing better because of the demographics of the potential buyers.

I'm also thinking that you might have also sold a lot of the better, or easier to sell, stuff in your prior sales which is why most of the remaining stuff does not look real salable.

I wouldn't trash it though, a better thing to do would be to bundle it up into lots of related things and try selling it that way. It could be that while one timetable might not be salable at most any price that a box of 200 timetables might sell for a modest price.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by dgdevil »

At least he didn't collect stamps.

We just tossed a whole bunch of "collectibles" that were coveted by my late grandmother. As my buddy says to me, "It will all get thrown out when you die." We are a throwaway society.
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sometimesinvestor
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by sometimesinvestor »

dgdevil wrote:At least he didn't collect stamps.

We just tossed a whole bunch of "collectibles" that were coveted by my late grandmother. As my buddy says to me, "It will all get thrown out when you die." We are a throwaway society.
Stamps are ok if you paid a good deal of money for them The stuff you purchased at the Post Office is indeed worth little
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by john94549 »

We had a funny thread on stamps some time ago. Turns out, many early Boomers (myself included) were avid stamp collectors. Ahem, ever try to fit an appropriate number of Ramon Magsaysay 8 cent stamps on an envelope while still leaving room for the address, not to mention the return address? Kids don't collect stamps these days, they don't fit as ordinary postage, so all those early Boomer collections are collecting dust.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by slick_dealer_05 »

Near our home, an antique shop closed down and it's been remodeled to a Yoga studio.
I think people are moving away from hoarding stuff to enjoying life experiences instead.
One of my boomer relatives have a house with over 5000 books and can't figure out how to move all of it before selling their house.
Who needs to collect books, CDs, vinyl etc. when you can fit everything in your ipad?
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Mudpuppy »

As odd as it might sound, eBay is not a good site for selling collections. It has a wide audience, but not a specialized audience. When you have specialized collectibles, you'll have better luck in specialized environments. See if there is a website/forum for airline memorabilia, books, etc. You might have better luck there, much like you were able to net decent profits at an airline memorabilia show. You need to hit the niche that might have some enthusiasm for the products, not the general market.

As an aside, I recall reading that the younger generations are trending towards accumulating less physical "stuff" (although one could argue they have the digital equivalent of "stuff" with all the photos, blogs, etc). Whether this is just a reflection of the recent bad economy most of them have entered adulthood under (hard to collect when one is struggling to eat and pay rent) or an actual overall trend could be debated.
DireWolf
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by DireWolf »

Baseball cards have really taken a nose dive over the past decade. Many people have thousands of cards from the 1980s and 1990s that are literally worthless.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

DireWolf wrote:Baseball cards have really taken a nose dive over the past decade. Many people have thousands of cards from the 1980s and 1990s that are literally worthless.
One of my saddest memories of consignment selling is of having to explain to a mother who had been sold "collectible" baseball cards as an investment to pay for her son's college that they were worth a small fraction of what she had paid. She thought that I was low-balling her, but I explained that the selling price would be public information and that I had no reason to want a low selling price, but that I wanted her to know that she was going to have to find another source for the money.

You know how some memories are burned into your brain, so you remember the weather, where you were sitting, etc.? Well, I remember all of that, but I mostly remember the look in her eyes as she realized how big a mistake she had made.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by eucalyptus »

Many car auctions include "automobilia." Some brochures can be very valuable; pretty much anything original relating to 1950s Ferraris, for example.
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Zabar
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Zabar »

Most collectibles are a "greater fool theory" type of investment.
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bertie wooster
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by bertie wooster »

Zabar wrote:Most collectibles are a "greater fool theory" type of investment.
+1000

When I was a kid I spent all kinds of money on cards and comics, my Dad thought it was utterly idiotic when I went on about how much money they would be worth. "If you want to invest, then buy some stocks," was his reply. Smart man.

Sadly, I didn't heed his advice until some years later.
MnD
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by MnD »

Downsizing boomers are dumping their "collectibles" and subsequent generations have no interest in accumulating that junk.
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ClevrChico
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by ClevrChico »

My observations are the same. As an ebay seller, I have to be extremely careful on what to buy to resell. A lot of old things one would think would be worth money, are completely worthless.

I wonder if the same thing will happen to classic cars as boomers die. Will gen-x and younger want to buy the 1920's - 1970's cars that boomers collected? I don't see it happening.
ASUGrad
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by ASUGrad »

Worst story I've heard was the guy who spent over 100k on Beanie babies thinking they would keep going up in value.
I wonder if the same thing will happen to classic cars as boomers die. Will gen-x and younger want to buy the 1920's - 1970's cars that boomers collected? I don't see it happening.
Depends on the car. Anything late 60s with the words Shelby or Ferrari are going to fetch a pretty penny. However all the old cars I see at classic car shows(as I'm passing them) are probably not worth very much.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by mhalley »

Collectibles sometimes seem to run in cycles. Some things are classic tho.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by daffyd »

I think the financial crisis and recession were a shock to many collectible markets. I was collecting poker chip sets at the time and there definitely seemed a discrete crash in prices and liquidity. Suddenly a lot of folks discretionary income became less discretionary...
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by island »

TomatoTomahto wrote:
DireWolf wrote:Baseball cards have really taken a nose dive over the past decade. Many people have thousands of cards from the 1980s and 1990s that are literally worthless.
One of my saddest memories of consignment selling is of having to explain to a mother who had been sold "collectible" baseball cards as an investment to pay for her son's college that they were worth a small fraction of what she had paid. She thought that I was low-balling her, but I explained that the selling price would be public information and that I had no reason to want a low selling price, but that I wanted her to know that she was going to have to find another source for the money.

You know how some memories are burned into your brain, so you remember the weather, where you were sitting, etc.? Well, I remember all of that, but I mostly remember the look in her eyes as she realized how big a mistake she had made.
You mention baseball cards. Saw this piece on the news just a few days ago. What a find. You might find it interesting.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/antique ... e-24972120
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by grayfox »

Cherokee8215 wrote:Is it me, or are certain collectible/memorabilia items pretty much worthless now?

<snip>
I don't know anything about collectibles, but I have had similar experience as yours selling other things in eBay.

In 2004/2005 I was selling a lot of stuff on eBay. Mostly used camera equipment, but also old computers, DVDs, books, all kinds of stuff. No collectibles, just stuff. For about 6 months I was selling 1-3 items every day. Every day I would pack up the items and bring them to UPS or Fedex. Everything got good bids, everything sold. EVERYTHING. And at good prices.

Unfortunately, I had to move and put everything that was left into storage. Well in 2012, seven years later, I took the stuff out of storage and tried selling it on eBay. I did not get a single bid. NOTHING SOLD. I think I even put some things up with a starting bid of 1 cent and no reserve. Not a single bid.

Something happened between 2005 an 2012 that ruined eBay. What, I don't know. I just know that people used to bid in 2005 and in 2012 they didn't bid.

I don't know the value of your collectibles, but I doubt that they are worthless. Maybe worth less, but not worthless.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by DaleMaley »

As someone already posted, it is surprising to watch Road Show Antiques TV show, where they re-run a 1999 show, then show the 2012 prices.

I would have expected most antiques to at least hold their value ove 13 years, but this is not the case. It seems like the majority of items go down in value, with a few holding their own. Very few actually have gone up in value.

Of course it was a big boom time 1999 for the country, before the March of 2000 stock market tech wreck. Maybe supply and demand has come into play as well.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by FlamingoTime »

I would research the more unlikely things on Ebay "sold" and Amazon. I've recently started doing some selling of items on Ebay to decluttering and I'm amazed at what sells and what doesn't. A lot of random stuff from 70s, 80s.and 90s has crazy value, especially if new. So the treasures I had planned on selling for good money (antique English China,.silver plate, etc) has taken a back seat to the things you would walk right by at a yard sale. Crazy.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by rkhusky »

Is Ebay still the best place to sell things? I have friends who sell stuff on Craigslist.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by FrugalFrida »

I sold a small collection of antiques last year at a brick and mortar auction house. The starting bids has been about the same for ten years now and there were less bids. I'm happy to have the proceeds in my 60/40 portfolio right now.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by midareff »

I periodically empty my "hobby" closet on eBay. If they are current market goods or classic stuff .. ie: certain current brand camera lenses, cameras, certain old Minolta glass, etc., classic audio gear... a reasonable buck can be had. Other stuff can move but you may be lucky to get shipping cost. Old magazines and stuff.. forgetaboutit. A mint condition 25th anniversary Playboy, now about 20 years old itself did not bring a starting $1 bid. Down the trash chute it went.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by YttriumNitrate »

While I have no data to back it up, my general theory for collectables is that

A) New things sold as collectables never will be,
B) Toys that were "hot" become collectables 15-20 years and 45+ years after they were sold, and
C) The higher the breakage rate, the better the collectable.

Power Ranger dolls, Pogs, and Tickle Me Elmos would be good things to start collecting...Beyblades if you have a bit longer time horizon. :D
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by lululu »

CassieInVa wrote: So the treasures I had planned on selling for good money (antique English China,.silver plate, etc) has taken a back seat to the things you would walk right by at a yard sale. Crazy.
Perhaps one of those replacement websites that sell stuff people need to fill out their dinnerware sets would be interested.

As to "classic cars," my early Mustang spends most of its time in my garage, but I would say 25% of the time when I have it out and about just running normal errands, someone asks me if I'm interested in selling it.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Rich Cape Cod »

"Worst story I've heard was the guy who spent over 100k on Beanie babies thinking they would keep going up in value...."

Ah, Beanie Babies! I have a dear friend. Smart guy, his wife is an attny. Some years ago I'm at their home and see their "collection" of Beanie Babies. I questioned the "investment." The pair patiently explained why these brand new and currently manufactured dolls, made in a third world country in great numbers, would in fact appreciate in value.

I simply will never understand people's degree of self delusion.

Rich
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by jackholloway »

Boomers and boomer parents are downsizing and moving to facilities respectively at the same time eBay has become more focussed on professional and corporate sellers. Not a good combo for cleaning out the hobby closet.
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tim1999
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by tim1999 »

dgdevil wrote:At least he didn't collect stamps.
This made me think of a funny anecdote. My uncle actually did collect a small amount of stamps in the 1980s. He would go to the post office and buy the new "special" issues. A couple of years ago we researched the value and found out they were worth zero over face value. He is now using them as postage when he pays his bills. Sometimes he has to use a glue stick to make sure they stay on the envelope due to age. So, I hope the folks at the gas company, etc. enjoy seeing the vintage stamps...
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by am »

I aquired some baseball card wax boxes from 1982-1985 years back mostly for nostalgic purposes. Love to see them sitting on my shelf. Brings back memories and also makes me feel kinda old. They ranged from about 50 dollars for 82 Fleer to about 200 for 84 donruss. Seems like they have appreciated a bit as I see auctions for them on EBAY going slightly higher. Individual cards from that era seem to be doing poorly with few/no bids on many offerings. I do not think kids collect baseball cards like they did during that time.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Rich Cape Cod wrote:"Worst story I've heard was the guy who spent over 100k on Beanie babies thinking they would keep going up in value...."

Ah, Beanie Babies! I have a dear friend. Smart guy, his wife is an attny. Some years ago I'm at their home and see their "collection" of Beanie Babies. I questioned the "investment." The pair patiently explained why these brand new and currently manufactured dolls, made in a third world country in great numbers, would in fact appreciate in value.

I simply will never understand people's degree of self delusion.

Rich
When I still had my consignment shop, people would drop by with their Beanie Baby collections thinking I was going to get excited. I told them, if they weren't so darned heavy, I'd buy them to use as packing material since they cushioned things pretty well. That never went over well.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by MathWizard »

Collecibles are pure speculation.
They have no intrinsic value.
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Kenkat
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Kenkat »

DireWolf wrote:Baseball cards have really taken a nose dive over the past decade. Many people have thousands of cards from the 1980s and 1990s that are literally worthless.
I bought 2 boxes of 1980's and 1990's era cards from my neighbor at a street sale for $10. There must be 10,000 cards in those boxes. Crazy. I bought them mainly because I like baseball and it is neat to look through each of the players. He begged me to take them.

I think what makes collectibles hold their value is two things - 1) a current interest in that collectible and 2) they were saved when no one really saved them or thought of them as collectibles. The stuff someone saved that no one else saved is what can really be worth a lot.

I have a 1973 Topps baseball card set that I collected as a kid. Bought the wax packs, ate the gum and traded the cards around. They ultimately ended up in a big box. Mine luckily did not get thrown out and I bought a few cards to complete the set 7 or 8 years ago. It's probably worth $800 or so but worth far more to me just because I lived and breathed baseball back then. They were just baseball cards back then, not collectibles tracked like a stock market index.

I also collect coins. The vintage, 50, 100, 150 or even 200 year old coins seem to hold their value. The modern coins from the mint like proof sets or mint sets are typically barely worth the price paid. Even 30 or 40 year old sets are only worth a few bucks over their original price. They make a million of them every year. They aren't scarce - I just like them because I like coins. But if you buy new thinking it is a collectible, it probably isn't.

In the case of airline memorabilia, it might just not be in favor. It might come back into favor or it might not. I'd keep at least the best of the lot and hold onto it for awhile. Stuff is constantly thrown out or lost forever and the older it gets, the more valuable it might become.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by cherijoh »

If it isn't sellable, he could see if a there are any local aviation museums to which he could donate the items. He might get a tax deduction and his stuff could find a new home.
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Valuethinker »

Cherokee8215 wrote:Is it me, or are certain collectible/memorabilia items pretty much worthless now?

My great uncle is in his late 80s and not doing well health-wise currently. He was a 747 Captain for Pan Am, and retired a couple of years before they went bust. He collected anything and everything, but his main collections involved:
-Airline memorabilia (particularly timetables and promotional items) 1940s-1980s
-Original Hardy Boys books from the 1920s/1930s
-Automobile sales brochures, 1950s-1980s
Part of the issue is the age of the collecting 'bulge'. I would say it is primarily male, and primarily 40-60. Old enough to have disposable income, not old enough (yet) to be downsizing.

So for example late 60s/ early 70s Dodge muscle cars go for amazing amounts of money.

Of the 3:

- aerospace try to find a museum that would want them-- maybe there is a tax deduction there (see the other poster who suggested this first)
- Hardy Boys books I am surprised someone like Powells has no interest? Have you tried antiquarian booksellers? One issue is being high acid paper (as most books were until the 1990s) they probably won't last that well. Another issue may be the sort of people who read Hardy Boys are now probably late 50s+
- auto sales brochures try enthusiasts magazines?

With anything you cannot sell, we give our old books to local used book store, trying to keep them in business. If they can find a market online they will.

Auto brochures I don't know but, again, perhaps you can find an enthusiast who will pay shipping?
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by Abe »

Back in the early days of eBay you could sell almost anything. I don't know why, but it's much harder to sell on eBay now. Another thing is the demand for collectibles runs in cycles. About 2 years ago, my wife had an item to sell on eBay, but she found they were not bringing much so she set it aside. Recently she checked and these items are now bringing good prices. I can tell you this, if you have good pictures and good descriptions, your items will bring more. Also, you can list your item for say seven days, if it doesn't sell you can lower the price a dollar or two and relist it. We have had good luck with that.
Last edited by Abe on Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dgdevil
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by dgdevil »

Cherokee8215 wrote: -Original Hardy Boys books from the 1920s/1930s
When you say original, do you mean first edition? If they are in the latter category they should have some value among Hardy Boys/book collectors. But they would need the original dust jacket. These would not be for reading. Otherwise you just have a pile of faintly smelly old books at a time when new paperback versions are basically free on Amazon. As they were all ghost-written, there is no market for autographed copies.

Now, if you have some Hitchcock-signed copies of "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" books (my favorite childhood reading), then you'd be in great shape.
MP173
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by MP173 »

Railroad geek here....I have a modest collection of paper stuff including timetables and Official Guides of the Railways. In the 1950s these Guides were 1500 pages and listed all railroads and their schedules. Prices on these have dropped dramatically on Ebay. I paid $50 for good 1940s Guides a few years ago. Now, these dont really sell.

If you have the room, I would hang on to the PanAm stuff. It might make a comeback. There are limited supplies of the paper items (timetables). I still have my box of baseball cards from the 60s and will never sell. Prices on these items have really dropped, but that is ok.

Ed
dgdevil
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by dgdevil »

Got any spare Korans sitting around?

One torn page of the Koran sells at bargain auction for $74,000 [in Australia]

http://www.smh.com.au/national/one-torn ... 07tcg.html
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tim1999
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by tim1999 »

dgdevil wrote:
Cherokee8215 wrote: -Original Hardy Boys books from the 1920s/1930s
When you say original, do you mean first edition? If they are in the latter category they should have some value among Hardy Boys/book collectors. But they would need the original dust jacket. These would not be for reading. Otherwise you just have a pile of faintly smelly old books at a time when new paperback versions are basically free on Amazon. As they were all ghost-written, there is no market for autographed copies.
They are indeed first editions, with original dust jackets. However, they aren't in perfect (or even great) condition, due to years of handling and improper storage. This seems to be limiting buyers' interest in them. My uncle enjoyed going back and reading them every once in a while, they were not kept in a state of permanent storage, but rather on his bookshelves.

Personally I have a lot of Hardy Boys books myself from my childhood days (they were used even at that time), unfortunately they were mostly the 1959+ generation rewritten books and are definitely worthless.
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deanbrew
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Re: Is it me, or are "collectibles" worthless in 2014?

Post by deanbrew »

My wife's dad and mom attended auctions and bought a lot of stuff from the mid-70s until about 2000. Everything from antiques to china/glassware to woodworking items to collectibles. My FIL passed away in 2002 and all of it was appraised to settle the estate. I have no doubt that the appraiser "low-balled" the values to minimize estate taxes.

Fast-forward to now. My wife is getting rid of some of the stuff and finding that we are getting about 25 percent of the appraised value (12 years ago and likely low at the time). I am confident that my MIL and FIL paid multiples of what we are getting now. My wife also attends auctions (I'm hoping the bug doesn't bite too hard), and it's amazing how low values are on many antiques and collectibles. There are exceptions. Railroad memorabilia from pre-1960 still seems to have value.
"The course of history shows that as the government grows, liberty decreases." Thomas Jefferson
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