What will be collectible in the future?

[Bigcypresshunter]

Whatever it is, I think it needs to be quality. I think only something quality made will be sought after by collectors and demand the high prices. Its hard for me to get exited about cheap plastic as I do now about old brass and walnut. War and political items always collectible.

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Any presidential race material from the losing side, I guess if you collect that sort of stuff the materials from the loser are far more rare as they are usually thrown out. Just a thought.

I think its the opposite. Nobody remembers the losers or even cares.

 

[One mans trash...]

It's always been hard to say what will be collectible one day. Of course, I've found that no matter what unlikely thing you can think of, someone collects it. One thing that's likely true is that common objects (not art or inherently precious objects) that are thought to one day be collectible will not be collectible, simply because too much of it will be saved. Today's action figures, for instance, won't be worth much even NIB, exactly because those from the past that weren't recognized as "collectible" were preserved in their packaging very often and are therefore collectible. And then there's the issue of whether something is worth keeping around for decades. Heavy bakelite telephones have been gone for years, but they aren't very valuable. A relative few rarities from a fairly narrow period bring any kind of money.

Very early credit cards are today collectible and may one day be very collectible, once the plastic credit card passes from the scene. But today's credit cards, which will be around by the millions, won't be worth anything. Telephone calling cards (not the prepaid cards), like an AT&T calling card will be an oddity that few people keep around today. Early "home" computers can today have considerable collectible value. I mean the first IBM PC, the old Columbia PC clone. The even earlier Altair, the first small computer available to the hobbyist, bring very good money, especially in its original unbuilt kit form. But you're wasting you time saving last year's PC waiting for it to become collectible.

What may have very real value one day are various drives and their supporting software and hardware. There are already old disk and tape drives that are valuable due to their ability to read old media where data is trapped.

Good crafted jewelry will probably be collectible, as it has been and is today. Fine musical instruments are good, especially if you guess right about what will one day be seen as classics. Just look at the value of an early Fender Strat or P-Bass in good condition. Tires, automobile tires, well preserved, may one day be quite valuable. There's some new "tire" technology coming down that may well replace the rubber tire.

When I look around the room (excluding the actual antiques) to see what might be collectible, there's not that much. But there's a novelty skeleton seated in an electric chair. He hollers and twitches when you throw the switch. One day he'll be a relic of the long-gone death penalty. I also have a guard's cap from the state prison Death Row unit. They make no bones about it - says "DEATH ROW" and the unit name on it. That's another.

Maybe one day an original sub-prime mortgage might be worth something. But, in general, if you simply invested the money you would spend today on things to keep until they become valuable, you'd make more money from the investment than from one day selling the objects.

 

[Seamuss]

Gold, silver, coins(error in particular, old low mintage), marbles(toys). Some of the things that are collectible now will go sky high in the future.

Stay away from fads, beanie babies, cabbage patch type items. Their all hype.

 

[pegleglooker]

Old CD art....

 

[Tnmountains]

I have never known investments in firearms to loose value. Maybe raw gold will always balance out or show a profit including good nuggets
Good post.

 

[GunFarce]

I 'like' to collect money, but unfortunately it rarely slows up long enough to grab it when it finally gets to me..

 

[birdman]

When I was in Germany I saw a bunch of old orginal Elvis records that I wish I would have bought.They were cheap also. Don't know why I passed them up.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

old post

 

[Arizona Bob]

...So what are we ignoring today that will be tomorrows hot collectibles? any ideas?

Early computer games and software. For example, how often have you run across an original copy of DOS 1.0? or Windows 1.0? The holy grail would be to find that stuff still New In the Box (with original plastic wrap).

 

[LM]

I think its best to avoid anything that was made from the ground-up to satiate the maniac "Limited Edition" trinket-collector market that existed in the 1990's. Also, obsolescence doesn't not equal collector status, even if there are a few people on the fringes who might collect something for novelty or niche-interest value.

Two things I think have a good chance for the supply/demand equilibrium to offer an early investor a bit of profit are vintage video games and vinyl records.

Both offer a unique 'experience' that is hard to duplicate with a modern-day counterpart (put on a vinyl record or pick up a handheld electronic game from 1982, you'll immediately understand, both are attached to memories of peoples childhood, which seem to inspire some of the strongest collector urges. Both have enough variety to keep collectors occupied, both have a solid academic groundwork already laid as far as research done, lists made. As far as records go, there's already a pretty significant collector market, kinda like there was for baseball cards in the late 70's, but no where near the full blown mania levels that we saw with baseball cards in the late 80's and into the early 1990's.

I've been buying vintage Nintendo games since about 2005 or so and am approaching complete. They've performed very, very well in terms of what I paid and what they're worth, today.

 

[Joe Hoo?]

We've all said it or at least heard it.."If I had only saved those when I was a kid, they are worth a fortune now!" So what are we ignoring today that will be tomorrows hot collectibles? any ideas

i agree, the old saying goes if we all had a lil hindsight we'd all be rich.. HH

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Two things I think have a good chance for the supply/demand equilibrium to offer an early investor a bit of profit are vintage video games and vinyl records.

Both offer a unique 'experience' that is hard to duplicate with a modern-day counterpart (put on a vinyl record or pick up a handheld electronic game from 1982, you'll immediately understand, both are attached to memories of peoples childhood, which seem to inspire some of the strongest collector urges. Both have enough variety to keep collectors occupied, both have a solid academic groundwork already laid as far as research done, lists made. As far as records go, there's already a pretty significant collector market, kinda like there was for baseball cards in the late 70's, but no where near the full blown mania levels that we saw with baseball cards in the late 80's and into the early 1990's.

Not true. I dont know anything about video games but forget about vinyl records. I have large boxes full of 45's and 33's and they aint worth the time trying to sell. Im giving them all away because they are practically worthless. The only ones with value would be Elvis Presley or Beatles. The covers BTW worth more than the vinyl themselves in most cases. Tapes also have little value. The sound quality cannot compare to CDs and I doubt vinyl will ever increase in value.

 

[Joe Hoo?]

1st edition Harry Potter..... Michael Jordan Rookie Cards...... Thomas Kinkade (artist) theres more but this is my short list

 

[LM]

Not true. I dont know anything about video games but forget about vinyl records. I have large boxes full of 45's and 33's and they aint worth the time trying to sell. Im giving them all away because they are practically worthless. The only ones with value would be Elvis Presley or Beatles. The covers BTW worth more than the vinyl themselves in most cases. Tapes also have little value. The sound quality cannot compare to CDs and I doubt vinyl will ever increase in value.

Actually, completely true and you're 100% wrong. The title of this thread is "stuff that might be worth more in the future", so what you're doing with vinyl right now is irrelevant. People were throwing away vintage baseball cards until the market for them caught fire in the 1980's.

Right now, vinyl is hotter than hell, vintage included. They're actually impressing new music onto vinyl again... My fiancee is a girl scout leader and the most in-demand Christmas present amongst her scouts were ipods and record players... and oddly enough, as far as fidelity goes, the "vintage sound" is what they're after. Not digital clarity.

Further, the ones that are worth the most money *aren't* "Beatles and Elvis records", that were pressed by the millions (save for early, scare or rare variants- like, the Beatles Butcher Cover, etc...) The ones that bring the most money are the esoteric stuff. Jazz, blues, some early country. Stuff that a non-collector would look at in a bin of records at a garage sale and blow over.

The key to vinyl is research. They are definitely not all equal and you might have to look through 500 before finding one worth a decent amount of money. There are enough "Muppets Christmas" or "Frampton Comes Alive" to go around for the next 100 lifetimes... but there are a lot of people fighting over certain scarce titles that can be plucked from flea markets and garage sales for quarters and dimes and as we sit here today, that collector market is growing pretty fast.

 

[brucebob]

I'm predicting Beanie Babies will be worth some money sometime in the future. Nearly everybody collected them 10 years ago and now everybody is getting rid of them. I see soooo many of them at garage sales and Goodwill for $.50 a piece. Most people who buy them now either give them to their kids to play with or use them as a dog toy, either way most of them are getting destroyed. So my guess is that the ones kept in good shape will eventually be worth money again. Who knows though I work at a cell phone company and keep all of my old phones hoping that they will someday be worth a little money.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Actually, completely true and you're 100% wrong. The title of this thread is "stuff that might be worth more in the future", so what you're doing with vinyl right now is irrelevant. People were throwing away vintage baseball cards until the market for them caught fire in the 1980's.

Right now, vinyl is hotter than hell, vintage included. They're actually impressing new music onto vinyl again... My fiancee is a girl scout leader and the most in-demand Christmas present amongst her scouts were ipods and record players... and oddly enough, as far as fidelity goes, the "vintage sound" is what they're after. Not digital clarity.

Further, the ones that are worth the most money *aren't* "Beatles and Elvis records", that were pressed by the millions (save for early, scare or rare variants- like, the Beatles Butcher Cover, etc...) The ones that bring the most money are the esoteric stuff. Jazz, blues, some early country. Stuff that a non-collector would look at in a bin of records at a garage sale and blow over.

The key to vinyl is research. They are definitely not all equal and you might have to look through 500 before finding one worth a decent amount of money. There are enough "Muppets Christmas" or "Frampton Comes Alive" to go around for the next 100 lifetimes... but there are a lot of people fighting over certain scarce titles that can be plucked from flea markets and garage sales for quarters and dimes and as we sit here today, that collector market is growing pretty fast.

Is this true? What do you mean by "a decent amount of money"?

I can see some early Jazz and Blues could be valuable.


ADDED I just read your link about vinyl and its interesting but I dont see these old scratched up records being any more than a passing fad for 16 year olds. Its hard to predict the future but I just dont see it. The more they are played, the worse they get. I think they will soon become bored with the poor quality sound. Do you think they will like to buy my 8 track tapes?

 

[PeteWmass]

this stuff: Flickr: mankatt's Photostream
not sure I agree with vinyl being a passing fad..at all...its been collected heavily the last 30 years (and especially the last 10).....and yes...records sound better than digital files......I think the last poster has no idea what they are talking about....
its 1970s and 1980s stuff now..the people who collected 1940s-50s stuff are too old now and that stuff is hard to sell....I would recommend saving things that nobody in their right mind would save (see my link...)

 

[Red James Cash]

Avoid the garbage thats advertised as collectible because it isnt.

 

[sciflyer25]

Apple products - the first gen. ipod new-in-box, the first gen. iphone NIB, first gen. ipad NIB.