Here’s a fun post for a vacation day!!!
After my post on coin collecting I got several requests for a piece on collecting things.
Then I ran into this article on collecting.
They go into the pros and cons (mostly) of collecting.
Here’s where they net out:
If you want to hedge against inflation, there are more reliable ways to go about it. A collectible is an illiquid, taxed investment that produces no income and can lose its value if you drop it. If you are going to buy one, make sure it is one you will be happy to own forever, rather than counting on some big money sale in the future.
This isn’t a post on whether or not collecting is for fun or profit (I think it’s clear that it’s mostly for fun, though profit can pop up now and then).
Instead I simply want to share my (rather pathetic) history of collecting then let you do the same.
Hopefully this will be a fun post that takes our minds off money for just a bit. 🙂
So with that said, here’s some of the collecting I’ve done through the years:
- Coins — Of course! I collected a few coins here and there that relatives and family friends passed down to me. I still have some old coins, but my collecting was done completely for fun. I’ve never purchased a coin nor sold one. None of my coins were ever rated or put into a casing of any sort. I’m strictly an amateur. That said, I do love coins (I just think they are cool) and enjoy owning the ones I do.
- Comic books — I started collecting a few series in hopes they would be the next Batman. None of them were. That said, I think I have a Black Panther #1 somewhere that could be worth more than what I paid for it since the movie was so huge. I’ll let it go for $1 million if anyone is interested. 🙂
- Beanie babies — I have to give props to whoever invented Beanie Babies because they sold us all 30 cents of cloth shaped like an animal for $5 or so — and people bought them like hotcakes. I remember that collecting them was a frenzy and I was just a small part of that. I mostly collected the types of animals I liked (big cats) and that’s about it. I think I still have some in a case in my parent’s basement. Sad.
- Beer cans — Remember when this was a thing? Or maybe it was only a thing in Iowa. I remember the highlight of my collection was having a “Billy Beer” can. BTW, I wasn’t even old enough to drink at that time. 🙂
- Rocks — Wow, this list keeps getting more depressing as I go down it. During the “pet rock” fad I was too cheap (or broke) to buy an actual pet rock, so I simply picked up my own pet rocks from wherever I went. I guess I was rescuing abandoned pet rocks before it was fashionable. Ha!
So, in review, I was not too impressive of a collector.
Something that is impressive is my cousin-in-law’s collection of Matchbox cars (or is it Hot Wheels?). He has tons of them including every color for several models. They are in special cases displayed in his basement. He goes to conventions and buys/sells/trades them. Then again he is a doctor, so he can afford to do that sort of thing.
So that’s my pathetic collecting history. I’m sure many of you have done much, much better.
Please share your collecting stories in the comments below.
M22 says
As a kid I collected rocks and minerals. I also made a rock display case for a high school science project with over 70 different specimens mounted. My dad helped me build the display case with a glass top and that was a great father son activity.
Later I bought shot glasses from many states and countries I visited, probably have a hundred glasses displayed in my bar. Problem was that not every place I visited had shot glasses for sale and I lost interest.
Now I collect sand for my Beaches of the World collection. I have sand from over 70 beaches from around the world as well as dirt or soil or rocks from a few non beach areas such as the Serengeti, sand from The Great Pyramids, Sahara Desert, Great China Wall, etc. All in small common spice bottles. And the cost of this collection is nearly free, as long as one doesn’t include the cost of all the flights!
Accidental FIRE says
The picture at the top is one of the things I collected and I think I had that exact truck! My brother and I both did Matchbox cars and baseball cards. I sold my Matchbox cars 2 years ago for about $400 bucks. They had not appreciated in value too much, but then again they were still worth something. And we played with them as kids a lot so they were kind of scratched up.
As for the baseball cards, I want to sell them but not individually, I want someone to buy the whole lot. I’m not going to go through and take individual pics etc. Too much work. But my dreams as a kid of them making me rich, well, that didn’t work out.
The Physician Philosopher says
Lol. You’re hilarious man.
I used to collect gold and silver bullion and coins when I knew nothing about money and thought the economy was going to collapse at some point. (Then I realized I should trust it, use it to make money, and buy guns/water/ammunition/canned food for the economy collapsing scenario).
I collected a thousand baseball cards when I was a kid. Pretty sure my parents still have those in their attic at home in Florida. I’ll probably take them some day and go to a card store and see if they are worth anything at some point later.
P.S. Those same crazy parents of mine still have two 6 foot wide by 1 foot deep (and four feet high) display cases of about 1,000 beanie babies in their living room. Every time I go home and see it, it makes me cringe. But, hey, we all have funky families, I bet!
TPP
Coopersmith says
My son collects old video games and systems. He goes to garage sales buys old systems and games for a fraction of the cost of the systems, keeps the games he needs for the collection and tries to sell duplicates on ebay. He also keeps old systems and controllers for swapping for things he needs with other gamers. Also along with this are the old tube TV’s Yes he has 10 tube TV that are the last generations of VGA and ??? that has the best graphics because as a purest he believes that the games should be played on the the old style tv.
In his nerd cave he has generations of systems set up on these tv’s. We are talking Nintendo, Supper Nintendo, Nintendo game cube, etc, Playstation 1,2,3,4, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox one, He even has old atari systems and systems that never caught on.
Is his collection of value? Meh. I don’t know or care just as long as it is now out of the house.
Lisa at Mad Money Monster says
I don’t collect anything other than money. 🙂 BUT, I do remember having a co-worker a long time ago in her 40s with major health problems collecting Nascar figures as part of her retirement plan. Yep, I remember her telling me she wasn’t contributing to her 401(k) either. Yikes. We both worked for a major pharmaceutical company, btw. So not contributing to the 401(k) plan was not a wise decision.
ESI says
Yikes for sure!!!
Golfnut92 says
Those matchbox cars brought back memories. I built a whole city in our basement and my friends and I spent countless rainy days playing down there. We still talk about how my parents let me take over a quarter of the basement, and all the meals my mom fed us. As an adult I collect logo golf balls from top tier courses I have played.
ESI says
That sounds like a fun childhood…
Donna says
I collect fountain pens, not as an investment, but because having them brings me joy!
ESI says
This used to be one of my hobbies as well — I collected Cross pens. Now I use disposable. 🙂
FullTimeFinance says
As a kid you name it I collected it. I still have some of those collections but I don’t collect anymore. My last one was die cast cars, think big version of hot wheels. That was my twenties.
They sit in a glass case in my office collecting dust.
MI45 says
I had collected hundreds of baseball cards as a kid, but after one cross-country move, they all burned up (with everything else my family owned) in a warehouse fire. My neighbors insist that I have a car collection (but in my opinion, three cars “does not a collection make”). The only real, ongoing collection I have is pocketknives. Since I just surpassed a total of 60 of the things, I’m pretty sure I have a problem. I think I’ll be fine because I have no intention of selling another kidney in order to buy more pocketknives.
ESI says
Haha! If three cars is a collection, then I have one too!
Dave says
All joking aside I was a huge comic book collector when I was younger. I still have a very large collection and many are worth a good chunk of cash. Unfortunately some of them weren’t taken care of very well. I loved to escape into the world of super heroes when I was a kid and I still enjoy the excitement of walking into a comic book store. I’d say my collection is worth over $20K wholesale today so my “investment” was worth it and provided years of entertainment. A couple older Spiderman and Iron Man #1 are my most valuable. I don’t see comics being a good investment these days but tell that to someone owns Amazing Fantasy #15 or Superman #1…. Yikes!
HowNotTo says
Baseball cards as a kid for sure. Did the beer cans (my favorite was an old Falstaff). Did matchbooks for awhile. Now it’s shot glasses (State & City mostly). My favorite is from a friend of mine. Years ago I asked him to get me a shot glass from California since he was about to visit there. When I next saw him he brings me one of the plainest looking shot glasses I’ve ever seen! No State logo, capital city picture, nothing. I asked him where he got this from – he stole it from a bar he went to. So now my California shot glass is one that no one knows about except me!
getagrip says
As a kid I collected the typical football and baseball cards along with some comics and such, the fun was more in trading with friends and others at school. Much of that got sold off or given away over the years. IMHO the biggest problem with collections being considered “investments” is people love the collection so much they never are willing to part with any of it. I’m not saying all collectors are that bad, but a number are. Essentially I’ve no issue with someone having and enjoying a collection, understanding it has a value, even insuring it for a high value, but don’t tell me it’s an “investment” because you know many collectors would rather sell blood to make their bills than sell a piece of their collection.
LivingLife 55 says
I have collected antique furnishings, etc since I was a teen; and attended many an auction over the years –and almost always came home with a box of glassware! One thing I always did was purge the glassware and sold what really didn’t suit my interest….or I would have much more than I have now! My other vice was Longaberger baskets — which I truly enjoy and use throughout my house and for transport. I have refrained from buying/collecting much more (and from going to auctions, etc) as I would rather that $$ go into my Roth! My husband has boxes of a beer can collection in our attic! He is determined they will be worth something, Hah!
Arrgo says
I used to collect coins as a kid and still have them. After 30 years I might break even if I sold them 🙂 I have over 50 match box/ hot wheel cars. I almost forgot I even had them. Some I believe are worth hundreds a piece after looking at an older pricing book.
Matt Zollmann says
I collect (hoard) pencils and notebooks. Mainly Palomino Blackwing’s for the pencils and Field Notes for the notebooks….(also Dapper Notes and Write Notepads). I know, it’s weird!!! LOLOL I use them and enjoy them, they do however seem to appreciate and sometimes quite a bit…..I just can’t bring myself to sell anything!!
Dan K says
I collect the Welch’s jelly glasses from the 60’s and also the hard cover copies of Big Little Books which are also from the 60’s. I’m not sure if they are worth again. I also have a few things from my childhood that are more sentimental than collectible (lunch box, action figures, games). I also have comic books but nothing that would make me rich. Maybe get me enough to buy lunch somewhere!
Joe says
I collected/saved ticket stubs from all the Oriole baseball games I attended. It turned out I had a ticket stub from Cal Ripken’s first game of ‘the streak’. Appparently that ticket stub is one of the holy grails of ticket stub collecting. I sold it for $4,000 about 7 years ago – boy were my friends mad they didn’t keep their stubs!
Fred says
Base cards…I have a rookie Tom Seaver