Things you can collect now that will be valuable in 20+ years

I want to know too.

Collecting will be irrelevant in 20 years. It already is largely. All the things that were “collectibles” in the 20th century are or will be revealed as a trick of capitalist marketing. In a digital world, people don’t want old stuff. Stuff is becoming irrelevant. Everything is disposable and life is moving online.

And that's called "sad," r2.

Art is always valuable if you can spot who is moving up in estimation. Designer furniture seems to appreciate in value if you can keep it in good shape.

I do not know if there is much else to collect that retains value. It was that way in the 20th century and it is that way now. There was a movement to make dolls and mass produced items "collectable" but that was always marketing. None of it ever was worth much.

The collectibles market collapsed with the advent of the internet. Part of the value was scarcity. But now, things can can be found much more easily.

I bought some oil paintings in 2005, and they have not increased in value. I have no eye for art, I guess.

Incandescent light bulbs. Get 'em while you can.

autographs. Those old fucking baseball cards are worth millions, of course, I don't know much about it nor do I collect.

I used to collect stamps as hobbies when I was a kid. yeah...I'm old.

Nothing that is “readily available” now will be valuable in the future.

porn jam

R8 I mean "readily available" in that you can still buy them on eBay or somewhere without having to spend a fortune.

Non-water conserving plumbing fixtures.

The second hand book market is out of control when it comes to comic book collections.

Once a trade paperback comic book collection sells out from the original source on Amazon (and eBay), suddenly someone jacks their selling price up by an insane amount Because of Amazon's policy, that is the new normal price for that book, so everyone else selling a copy of that book jacks their price up near there as well.

An example would be the Infinite Crisis Omnibus that came out in 2011 at the price of about $100 on Amazon Prime. The second that the initial print run sold out in 2014, sellers started moving the price up to where it was $1300 for a copy! It was pretty funny when DC reissued the Infinite Crisis Omnibus in 2018 for $95. All of those sellers with the insane prices then dropped theirs as well.

There are sellers literally sitting on Amazon waiting for the final first run copies of a Justice League or Avengers collection to sell out so they can increase the price by 300%.

I thought digital was going to kill print, but that is not happening in the comic book collections world.

R12 I've noticed this with some FAO Schwartz toys as well. They wait for it to sell out from FAO (they sell on Amazon), then suddenly jack the price up and list it.

R12, I don't think anyone really buys those jacked-up books or comics. Dealers are pricing those things for each other, and other idiots come along and say "I didn't know they were so valuable" and price theirs about the same. The internet killed the professional bookseller, a profession it took many years to learn, and made it accessible to speculators and "entrepreneurs".

[quote]The second hand book market is out of control when it comes to comic book collections.

My father threw out my early 1960s comic books (DC, Archie, Harvey) when I went to college.

When you see things on eBay and elsewhere for really outrageous prices it’s usually a tax scam. People list things for huge amounts and when they don’t sell, they use the depreciation on that inflated price as a tax write off. It’s a scam I don’t really understand but my tax accountant told me that’s what they are doing.

Wow, r2... are you posting from the future!?

COOL...

Collectibles shouldn’t get depreciation. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Ugh - comic books. Weird but true. There is a huge subculture of comic book collectors. A bizarre waste of money in my view. But am regularly surprised how often people who seem normal otherwise reveal themselves to be comic book collectors who have hundreds of comics stuffed in their apartment. Can anyone explain the appeal?

I'm not talking about comic books, but comic book collections - BOOKS that collect issues of comic books, usually a storyline. I have thousands of comic books but I now prefer to read them in collected format, with crisper colors on better paper. Plus, not having to open and close the bags the individual comic books are in.

R13 understands and it's real. People are selling these books at jacked up prices on eBay as well. Multiple sellers all with their prices near each other.

Also, these people buy up books on release date and hang onto them until the first run sells out, so they can jack up the prices insanely. On Amazon, it's gotten to where if you don't buy a comic book tape collection within the first few months of release, you are tempting fate that it will sell out and end up in the hands of the price jackers.

There's new Wonder Woman collection by John Byrne coming out in a few weeks, his final issues on the series. Byrne's WW run was my favorite ever so I'm glad to have the reprints in collected format. However, my family complains that they never can buy me anything I really want for Xmas or birthday because I've already bought what I want on Amazon Prime on release date. However, I've decided to not by the new Byrne Wonder Woman collection and let someone give it to me for Xmas. And HOPE it doesn't sell out and become price-inflated.

"On Amazon, it's gotten to where if you don't buy a comic book TRADE collection "

Chinese decorative arts is a booming market and prices are skyrocketing. I don't see that trend ending anytime soon unless, of course, there's a war.

I’ve invested my retirement savings in collectible First Lady dolls from the Franklin Mint.

I've always side-eyed anyone with a collection of anything. Overly sentimental or just crap. Particularly when it's not being used - EVER.

It seems immature to me.

R24 it may have something to do with general anxiety imo - hyper focus on something as a way to self soothe if life is overwhelming or just plain shitty.

FYI, collectibles get discriminated against by the tax code. IIRC, (without getting up to look) they do not get the lower long term Capital Gain tax rates. They are subject to regular tax rates. Something else, too, which I don’t recall at the moment.

R24, DC sucks! Marvel rules!

are old archie comics worth anything?

Isn’t the Chinese antiques market full of fakes?

Drinking water. Fresh air. Food.

Chinese art is something that has tremendous value and is increasing, especially as the country amasses more wealth, they want their cultural artifacts and material culture back and will pay.

As for anything though, the worth/value is only a perception, reality is any 'collectible' is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay.

R15, you take solace in the fact that your comics from the 1960s aren't worth nearly as much as you think they are. Back then print runs were 250,000-750,000. The numbers of copies of comics from the 60's that have survived vastly outnumbers the collectors of comics from the 60s (beyond special key issues like #1s, first appearances) and they demand such high condition that only some of your comics might get more than $5-10 and most would be worthless.

All the good Chinese crap was bought up back when the Chinese discovered eBay. Then, they were digging up shit in their backyards (often with the dirt still attached) and shipping it overseas as fast as they could to make a little money. I got some awesome Qing Dynasty pieces for pennies. Unfortunately the Chinese government eventually figured out what was happening and put a stop to it. Now it's all mass produced crap.

When I retired, I went through my childhood coin collection. The few that I had, like a dime allegedly worth a quarter, I brought to a dealer, who only offered the value of the silver, not the collectors so called value, which I took.

Plates commemorating the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be extremely valuable in 20 years.

My grandmother meticulously collected block sets of US stamps. Today, their are worth their postage value only, if you want to lick the number needed to add up to today’s postage. Too many people saved them and few remain interested in stamps today.

Even fine antique furniture has plunged in value. Nobody wants ‘brown stuff” today.

I’m just a few years away from cashing in my Beanie Babies for retirement!

I have a friend who would occasionally order $500 in half-dollar coins from the bank. Some would be older, part silver pieces. Then, he would go to a different bank to return the non-silver coins. He’s accumulating silver pieces for retirement. He’ll get a pauper’s pension and no social security, then.

I suggested he sell a few coins to see what he’ll get, rather than wait until retirement to try it, but he wasn’t interested in that idea. It seemed like he was too vested at that point, though he’s still a youngish man. I think it’s not the best plan, and a trial sale would show that.

I collect coins that I think of as art, and have almost always lost money on sales. I think my friend is going to be in trouble.

R36 is right. You can’t give brown furniture away. I think it can look nice, if it isn’t too overwhelming. In a suburban house a sea grass rug, white upholstery and a few smaller brown pieces can look good. Someone who is very sophisticated about interior design might turn up their nose, but it isn’t hideous. I have purchased some brown furniture dirt cheap. And there is always the option to lacquer it.

I wouldn't collect as an investment but because I loved what I'm collecting. I collect things I love living with, like paintings and art objects. It's too hard to predict what will be valuable in 30 years because even rare items can go down in value if no one wants them.

High-end designer furniture will be valuable, but not many designers are making one-offs or limited run. Go to 1stdibs.com and you'll see really ugly but rare furniture from the 1970's going for 10's of thousands of dollars. The thing is that now these custom furniture designers are counting on their stuff appreciating, so the initial buy is very expensive and who knows what will be in demand in 20-30 years.

On another note, I lived in the East Village in the late 70's/early80', fuck I wish I knew Basquiat back then and had bought some of his pieces, I'd be set for life.

A Basquiat will never happen again. Everything is so quickly monetized and marketed that a good unknown artist that comes out of nowhere is a thing of the past - because, with 24-hour news media and social media, he'll be found out. The art world of the years before is gone.

One caveat: Bansky. And no one will be able to follow up on that, because it has been done!

Are the works of Jasper de Kimmel still extremely valuable?

My brother was at a Basquiat show where his paintings were going for $5,000. Unfortunately, he hated them.

Cars. Any old car with very little mileage is considered a “time capsule” and goes for multiples of its original value. We are at the tail end of the internal combustion engine too so the new cars now are the end of an era. Nostalgia pieces if you will.

My Meghan and Harry commemorative coin from the Royal Mint will be worth a fortune when Archie accepts the throne! :^)

You look for what young people (children to young adult ages) like now that they are likely to buy again when they have the money to collect seriously. Not faddish stuff like Beanie babies, which will never be worth anything, but mainstream well made objects.

Here's an article for you R41

Wine. 80's designer clothing if you can still find it in good shape.

Antiques approach their highest value when they become 100 years old. 20 years from now in 2039 antiques from around 1939 will be at their highest value.

Dr. Lori V. knows all. She should be a D.L. fav.

Old school video consoles in good condition can have value, especially if the old games work on them. I know a few millenials who are already collecting them.

My Humble figurines will be worth BILLIONS by 2039

BEANIE BABIES!

Load up on as many as you can!!!

Hell, I'd be willing to bet that all of the schlock merchandise churned out by The Walking Dead, in boxes/unopened will wind up with significant value to the comicon generations to come. (Cant think of another series that has had such monumental output.)

Whatever will survive the coming nuclear holocaust.

clean air

water

earrings

caftans!

watches.

I have a celebrity boogar collection. Not really, I just wadded up old rubber cement, pinned it to a white background, put labels with celebrity names under each faux booger, framed and hung it.

Kind of like this only with boogars. Rock Hudson's boogar is my favorite.

I had some Baroque vases, but then I ba-ROKE them.

I broke a blue, Wiener Werkstätte vase this week. Mein Herz brach :(

I have noticed that my limited production specialist art books have gone up in value, and I think will continue to do so.

Smart people with old A/C units stockpiled a 25-lb can or two of R-22 (Freon®) refrigerant 5-10 years ago when it was ~$50-100. NOW, the same can is worth about $1,000-2,000 because it can't be legally manufactured anymore.

Seriousiy, if R-410a ever gets scheduled for "phasing out", buy 25-50lbs to stockpile while it's still dirt cheap. Your wallet will thank you 10-20 years later.

8mm non-digital VCRs. Lots of people have old camcorder tapes that became unplayable when their late-90s camcorders died from the Capacitor Plague & haven't yet realized just how rare working analog (not Hi-8) 8mm camcorders & VCRs have become.

An Amiga 1000, 1200, or 4000 in *mint* condition.

Apparently designer handbags can re-sell for a fortune. The only problem is you have to know which ones will retain or increase in value.

Good hair/skin samples of likeable, very attractive people, certified to be DNA of such a person.

R58 that's funny AND disgusting.

I think "brown" (ie: antique wood furniture) will come back. I think there's going to be a return to things that are tangible and have a sense of history and solidity. I may be wrong, but there has to be some kind of reaction to the digital age.

After all, for every action....

A lot of solid, attractive, if often LARGE, "brown" furniture is going to the landfills and incinerators after sitting in thrift shop and low level "antique" stores for too long. It really is a buyers market right now. Young people are NOT into it. They don't want their family "heirlooms" and they certainly are not going to stores to buy other people's "heirlooms". Sure, people will value a pair of Louis XVI chairs or an Eileen Grey E1027 side table, but Grand Grandma's no-name cherry buffet gets no takers.

I detest junk so don’t collect anything. Having moved so many times in my life within NYC, I realize collections just take too much space and energy

Do you eat off of paper plates, r69? With plastic utensils?

Many young people can barely afford their tiny apartments. They don't need and don't want big antique furniture pieces cluttering up the joint.

I was just talking to a lady who does estates about how much furniture has plunged in value. Pieces commanding $5k 5 years ago are $1k or less now. It's amazing the quality you can get for pennies. I prefer heavy empire furniture and own few pieces made after 1950 and my entire house was acquired for less than the cost of a cheap room set at Rooms-2-go. My bed alone was a $7,000 custom solid wood piece from a high end manufacturer that I picked up for $400 at a consignment store.

The whole world of China plates and such has collapsed. No one uses China to eat on unless it can be cleaned in the dish washer.

Millennials don’t have big dinner parties

[quote] R39: You can’t give brown furniture away.

What does this actually mean? Does it mean “dark wood”? Or brown fabric? Or is its short hand for both?

I recall my Mom saying he sister whined (in the 1930s), about throwing out their old junk and buying something “modern”. You can imagine that plastic was probably all the rage. Apparently they had some nice rugs. Though, they were incredibly poor, so I have to doubt they were ever worth very much.

[quote]Hell, I'd be willing to bet that all of the schlock merchandise churned out by The Walking Dead, in boxes/unopened will wind up with significant value to the comicon generations to come. (Cant think of another series that has had such monumental output.)

I’d be willing to bet you’re wrong. Anything that has a large initial production run, (like the Walking Dead stuff), or becomes trendy (like Cabbage Patch Kids or Beanie Babies).

It’s the niche stuff that retains a small but passionate audience that will increase in value.

Anything made of “wood” will come back, but when?

Furniture prices were already plummeting a decade ago. We had an 1860s walnut dining room set, American made and machine produced so nothing very special, but the estimates on it were $5K or so. Sold for $600 and the auctioneer said he wasn't surprised, that he'd seen a huge drop in price for 19th century furniture and that Antique Roadshow was doing a disservice to people by making them think their items were worth more.

Or the auctioneer had his stooge buy the table for $600 and will turn around and resell it for $5K.

R68 reminds me of my dad's swanky 1950s maple Willett bedroom set, very bachelor pad looking stuff, which we ended up selling to someone for $50 despite it being in such good condition. If it had looked more midcentury modern it would have sold for more, but it wasn't angular enough, nobody wanted it.

And R78, no, I knew the people who bought it, they lived a block away from where I grew up. They literally walked the set down the sidewalk to their own house in multiple trips.

That looks like the shit my mother bought for my bedroom when I was a kid, r79. You're lucky they didn't charge you $50 for hauling it away.

With the possible exception of *certain* works of art or items made from precious metals or stones so-called collectibles will be worthless junk in 20 years.

“Precious stones” will also be worthless

My comic books are generally worthless but the nintendo games I used to have that were still in the box are apparently worth hundreds each. You never really know.

"Brown furniture" is the derogatory term for durable vintage wooden furniture, including stuff that used to be highly valued. Everybody's scratching their heads wondering why the market for it cratered in the last decade or so. Obviously it's because the wage stagnation and wealth loss of recent times has caught up with us and younger people just don't have the wherewithal to get this stuff or house it, and Ikea and the like have driven a race to the bottom with cheap, replaceable furniture.

There is a good market now for painted wood furniture. People take old dark pieces and paint them. They sell well.

If you can find the right buyer old game consoles and games can sell pretty well.

R49 - I adore Dr. Lori. I watch all her videos on YouTube.

I think there will always be people who prefer physical books to ereaders even as book stores become more rare.

I have “brown” wood furniture in LR and DR. But it’s very pared down, Shaker-like chairs and tables - not the embellished chest of drawers type. It fits great with a few minimalist modern pieces and makes them work in an antique house. I think it will make a comeback. The MCM minimalist trend - which replaced the maximalist 80s antique trend - will swing back.

[quote]Smart people with old A/C units stockpiled a 25-lb can or two of R-22 (Freon®) refrigerant 5-10 years ago when it was ~$50-100. NOW, the same can is worth about $1,000-2,000 because it can't be legally manufactured anymore.

So you're saying collect incandescent light bulbs?

I collected incandescent light bulbs. They marked them down to nothing, before they had to disappear nationwide. I put them in the attic. Someday we might have green energy and it won't be a sin to go back to them. Also, when one has a house party, they look best good in the lustres.

I put it down to the fact that most people know very little about history, they do not know how to make anything from scratch, so they don't appreciate the craftsmanship in older things.

I don't think the antique furniture is going to make a comeback in any meaningful way. We were headed towards more modern design in the 50's and 60's, then we took a left with the 70's than turned into old school in the 80's (I blame conservative politics for the design shift).

That conservative nostalgia bend was a blip. Stylistically, nobody wants to live among old things - old things with an update or a twist, but not old stuff people in the early 20th century had.

Construction detail will never go out of style - but furniture does and will. Not saying one or two pieces here and there aren't good in an overall scheme - but nobody is going to fill their house with that big heavy stuff.

I say you really can never predict this sort of thing. I tried to sell a Pentax K1000 camera at one point and was told it was worthless then about 5 years ago I sold it for $125. Film is coming back and even disposable cameras, too.

Records are back now; since the 90’s you couldn’t give them away. Vintage boom boxes are valuable now.

I’m an avid thrifter and I just bought a vintage Patton high velocity fan for $20 that could sell for $150 because they were made better an in the USA

Make American Great Again merchandise.

Roll-on deodorant balls.

Rainbows and lollipops.

Real silver will always be valuable and a bitch to keep clean.

Awhile back i remember reading about a guy who had an "antiques barn". He was buying up all the "brown wood" furniture from early baby boomers who were retiring and downsizing.

I don't get the dislike. It's solid wood, well made. Just paint it if it's too dark.

Vinyl records are a fad. That is very clear.

And no one is spending thousands of dollars on a “rare” 12 inch single from 1985.

Millennial fad.

Veneer!

I never want to read the term "brown wood" again. It's fucking wood. I expect more around here.

Oh pish, Ruth.

[quote] So you're saying collect incandescent light bulbs?

I think they will be worth a lot - but a collection like this should be sturdier. Bulbs are too fragile. They might only be valued to old people, though. The young might think nothing of it.

Has anyone mentioned “cash”, yet? OP, save and invest cash, and in 20 years, you’ll be surprised what it’s worth!

I have an antique bank note collection, and it occurred to me how easy it would be for someone with skill and low morals to counterfeit them. There are people who already “take” ignorant collectors by trimming the edges of notes to remove tears; and ironing them with starch to make them seem naturally crisp, and other tricks..

I imagine that people buy these notes on eBay, admires them, then put them away for years, even decades. No one else looks at them, so no one ever knows they’re counterfeit. Plus, a single note could yield a thousand dollars, maybe,

I got a really good deal once, and took it to the Secret Service to make sure it was real. They happen to be nearby. They were funny. They used cautious language and said it “appeared not to be ingenuine”, something like that. It was the $20, at the link. It has the unusual “666” bank charter. It’s a coincidence that this bank happens to be from my hometown.

How Hygienic, r105.

Well done R103

Redwood, blond wood, black wood, grey wood, etc. are referred to by their color because they are outliers. I used to have almost the exact tables in r103 but they were a less yellow shade of blond wood, more white. I got rid of them because I couldn't stand the brass feet.

Why's it gotta be BLACK wood?

Well, I still love my brown table. I like that it has draws (for remotes, etc.) and a shelf, and is narrow, as my living room is small. They don’t sell this design much.

R110 - draws or drawers?

Human kidneys

Sperm

Angelina Jolie collects brown babies.

I'd give anything if I'd bought some Jeff Koons in the early 80's when I lived in NYC. I could have afforded it then. I thought he was a fucking joke. Now he sells for millions.

He’s still a fucking joke, r115

For the most part, "stuff" doesn't have the appeal it once did. People starting out today don't know what's good and couldn't afford it if they did, so they claim to value experiences more. There are, however, still some things you can make money on. Older electronics are one, including: vintage iPods with the clickwheel. I have the first one with a video screen that I still use at the gym. Because it's in a neoprene armband, it's mint. The youngs ask me if I want to sell it when they see it and the guy who changed the battery last fall offered me $350 for it. Likewise the original Walkman but as a collectible - today nobody would walk around listening to cassette tapes on a device as big as a book.

Good watches from when they were made in Switzerland and had mechanical movements. Rolex out of your price range? Omegas, Heuer, and Breitling are more affordable. I got an Omega Speedmaster as a high school graduation present that became known as the Moonwatch because a month or so after I got it, it was the first watch worn on the moon. I won't sell it (worth about $10K now) and it needs a thorough cleaning and servicing every couple of years ($500 or so) if it's worn regularly, but someone will make money in it when I'm gone. Not a bad return for a watch that cost me nothing and my Dad $185 when he bought it for me in 1969.

I've done well with old radios, but they're iffy and, again, cost money to keep 'em going. But a Saba (German) motor-tuned radio from the 1950's I got at a tag sale for $25 is now worth about $2K. Likewise our KLH Twenty Plus radio-phono combo: bought at a garage sale for $35 and probably worth $1500 - 2000 (and sounds great.) But both have required hundreds of $ for work I've had to do and pay others to do.

Whoever said china and silver are busted was right. I inherited five full sets of fine china (RCD Old Imari, Lenox Lowell, Herend Chinese Bouquet, Hutschenreuther Apart, Minton Cobalt) because no one else wanted them and you can't give them away now. Likewise two full sets of Lunt and Frank Smith sterling silverware - they're worth what the silver is worth but no more.

It's like old cars. Some of 'em have always retained and increased their values, but the age of the internal combustion engine is ending and you have to have a pretty long memory to remember cars from when they were interesting. (Hint - until the 1960's.) The hobby is dying - I went to a car show last month and the owners were all pushing 80, it seemed. Kids these days who don't drive won't give a shit when they're 50 or 60 about the cars they didn't lust after when they were young. So the long-term value of most collectible cars is nil, especially when you consider they need to be maintained, insured, stored, licensed and registered, and if they're high-end, transported because you wouldn't take a chance driving it to a car show.

Magazines with interviews and articles about Stevie Nicks still go for very high prices, even if scans are readily available online.

I collect vintage watches, which are becoming more valuable as fewer people wear watches. Pateks, Rolexes, Vacherons, and APs from the 60s and 80s (the 70s are a bit of a lost decade, although that might change) have far outpaced the stock market in terms of appreciation.

[quote]...so they claim to value experiences more.

One of the few things those whippersnappers get right.

R22, Links to collectible and/or good examples of decorative Chinese art appreciated.

Tops...but they're already extremely rare

r119, I have my father's gold Rolex from the mid 70's, bought in Switzerland. Is it worth something?

R122, but in 20 years, they get wrinkled and discolored.

String

My Ship 'n Shore tops remain crisp and colorful, r124!

R123 -- that's a little like saying, I have my grandfather's house from the 70s, how much is it worth? Rolex made many, many models and they vary widely in value. Your watch's value depends on the particular model and its movement, and then, of course, its condition, and whether or not it's be refurbished (bad) and how well its keeping time, etc etc.

There are some rare gold models from the 70s worth well over $50K, but there are others that might fetch you less than $2K.

If you really want more info, post a photo.

R91, I have a small collection of mantel lustres. It's a word for objects you rarely hear about anymore. I have a pair like the ones in the photo below, made circa 1885 and selling for hundreds and sometimes over a thousand dollars. No one makes them anymore. The large prisms alone are valuable.

Fussy old granny things for sure, but they're beautiful.

[quote] Older electronics are one, including: vintage iPods with the clickwheel. I have the first one with a video screen that I still use at the gym. Because it's in a neoprene armband, it's mint. The youngs ask me if I want to sell it when they see it and the guy who changed the battery last fall offered me $350 for it. Likewise the original Walkman but as a collectible - today nobody would walk around listening to cassette tapes on a device as big as a book.

I don't get it. My Ipod Classic died just recently. I used it a lot the first 3-4 years and then stashed it away. I dug it up recently hoping to transfer some tracks to the computer (I couldn't) and it died within a few months. Unless you have one still sealed in the box, I can't imagine why any Ipod would be worth much of anything given it's limited lifespan. On the other hand, that Sony Walkman will always work. Generally though, used electronics are not a good investment.

I bought over 2 dozen Venini lustres in the late 90s, in Northern Italy directly and in thrift shops and local classifieds. They've appreciated well over 10x, though it is a hassle to sell at the high lux price. Maybe I'll put them to auction when I retire. Besides the couple I live with, they are hanging from wooden beams in my attic. I have a couple Waterford chandeliers, but nobody seems to remember they made lustres, and not many people care about Regency and Marie-Thérèse style crystal lustres, anymore. The nouveau riche just go out a buy a new one. Murano has "design" cred. I think it's permanent. I would say you could buy Barovier & Toso and it will definitely appreciate.

I can confirm that there's a thriving market in high-end designer handbags. Apparently there's a small set of collectors who buy and sell these things for massive bucks, a former co-worker showed me one of their websites and there were these purses going for five or ten thousand dollars. She was really into it, and claimed to make a neat profit on her handbag hobby. I don't know if that's true, but she did retire early.

I also think the antique car market is going to stay strong. There's a huge subculture of "gearheads" and antique car enthusiasts, or more likely, several subcultures. Car enthusiasm is a common hobby, among both blue-collar guys who love to tinker with their babies, and professionals who love to take their Model T or 50's pink Caddy out for a spin in the country with the antique-restorers club (you don't want to get behind those bastards on a winding road). But of course, as with any collection-related field, it's impossible to make money rather than lose it, unless you're deeply immersed in the subculture and the market.

I watch Antiques Roadshow obsessively and love it but the value of old stuff is so unpredictable. Also, there is no real market, like the stock market, so you still have to find someone to actually buy the stuff. On AR, the random painting might be worth a bundle but not much else. Collect what you like just for pleasure. Invest in no load index funds over a long period of time.

R131, you're a person after my own heart. Your attic filled with hanging lustres sounds divine and quirky. I sell antiques in an antique collective and my sparklies still do well. Old prism-strewn candelabras, crystal decanters and bar ware, they create a romantic ambiance that is sophisticated and old world. There will always be markets for such things of beauty and quality, and people are still paying good prices for them. I found a huge Italian tabletop candelabra dripping in prisms and gold foliage that Liberace would have loved and it sold within three days.

Your virginity can rise in price if you can hang onto it, though it definitely has a sell-by date.

I've sold my virginity three times already to three different elders.

I'm thinking of going for #4 but might have to clamp down a little...

R134 cool. Do you research your finds? Often known manufacturers count for a lot and can get it over a 1000. Otherwise, people are buying, yes, out of the romance. This is why I can get big bucks for Murano but extremely high quality Marie Thérèse - no. How much did you get for your Liberace rococo?

Are all Lustres lamps, or can some just be objects that have crystals hanging off them?

R137, yes, I research everything. Sometimes, if items aren't marked or are obviously something I recognize, I write concise descriptions in google images and the items come up along with a wealth of information about price and history.

I got $300 for my opulent candelabra and paid $40 for it at an estate sales in a very nice house. It was covered in dust in a back bedroom but I brought it back to it's former glory with a bit of cleaning.

A lot of people are always looking for deals so when I price things I look online, find the lowest and highest prices then price the item toward the middle or low middle. People check prices online while shopping and if they see a deal they're more likely to buy. They usually won't pay the highest prices in a local shop, I imagine with the Internet's global market one might get those prices, but even in the wealthy tourist town where I sell, people count their pennies.

Sorry R138. Lustre is a the French word for "hanging lamp".

Thanks, r140!

When the Saving and Loan crash happened, I went to an office wholesaler in a dumpy huge warehouse. I was looking for an old school adjustable drafting table. Off to one side where hundreds of framed prints, abstract art mostly, Joseph Albers type stuff. The guy bought them from a failed Savings and Loan. I looked closer and many were signed by the artist. I asked the guy how much for about 40 of them, and he said 200 bucks. I thought about it and bought the drafting table instead. The next day I came back and wanted to buy all of them, about 150 or so, the good ones, and he said someone came in and bought them all that morning.

I think things like certain art pieces, fussy things that get rarer and rarer because they get broken, like crystal lamps and such will always be in demand. Also I think there is going to be a whip around style-wise to a more ornate and decorative style in the arts, furniture and décor.

Not always used that way, R140. Lustre or luster is chandelier in French, but chandeliers don't necessarily always hang, like the mantel lustres that sit on mantels and drip with prisms.

In French we do use "chandelier" for table top crystal lamps, but lustre is only for suspensions. At least as far as I know.

Ah, well chandeliers hang in the US, candelabras sit on tables. Vive la difference!

Glaciers

since there are so many experts in this thread...can i ask you something? I walked by an auction house yesterday and they have an action for photographs. How can photographs be valuable?

Think of it as an art auction, r147.

Has anyone been to an old-timey auction where the auctioneer talks super fast? I went to one when I was a kid but haven't seen them since except in movies.

I got lucky with some Supreme skateboard deck sets bought on a lark because I liked the designs in the early 2000s. They have become insanely collectible - currently worth 10 - 30x what I paid - there was just a big auction of the complete line at Christie’s. Now 1 - who the fuck would have predicted that artsy skateboard decks, admittedly very cool looking objects, would become so valuable. 2 - just because they are worth serous money now doesn’t mean that the value will hold, much less increase, over the next 10 years. 3 - Like all the stuff I collect, I bought them because I liked them, I really have no interest in selling them - they’re staying up on the wall where they are.

yes, limited editions of sneakers are extremely valuable. People camp overnight to be the first to buy them and they go for a lot of money. You can flip them right away for big bucks.

I remember Supreme had a collab with LV. That shit was soooo popular. There were even fakes in Chinatown.

I’ve been to quite a few auctions, but no fast-talkers like on TV. They do move along at a brisk pace.

There's investment buying and then there's collecting. They're not the same thing at all. Collectors are fanatics, obsessed with the minutiae of their collections. Investment buyers are just buyers. Real collectors are fascinating, buyers are not even interesting.

Though buyers must know what collectors want, nes pas?

Nostalgia and greed are your best bets since people collect what they love(ed) or what they think will appreciate in value.

Marbles

It seems like everything that has been valued in the past is definitely falling out of favor for the future.

I collect movie posters from the 30s and early 40s. I Have dumped probably 50k into my collection. Who knows if anyone will know who Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, or Barbara Stanwyck is in 30 yrs, but I love looking at them on my walls. And most of what I own, there are less than 5 copies in the world due to the WW2 paper drives pulping them. Regardless, they are beautiful and rare and I probably shouldn’t buy any more haha.

Pop culture collectibles.

Modern art glass, video games, tennis shoes, jewelry

It’s always better to find something you’re passionate about and by the absolutely best quality. Real collectors want mint items, preferably unopened in original packaging.

Any electronic device that requires internet connectivity (even briefly, when booted up for the first time) is unlikely to be usable 25 years from now (even 10-15 is pushing your luck). The web services it depends upon will eventually go away, and it'll become a doorstop.

You can unbox an unopened, shrinkwrapped 40 year old Magnavox Odyssey II (Phillips Videopac), connect it to a TV, insert any cartridge, and it'll work as well as it would have back in 1979.

Try the same stunt with a never-used Nintendo Wii or original Xbox in 2025. Chances are, it'll never allow you to even get to the main menu unless it's at least able to download & install its first update & create an online profile.

I mean, fuck. I bought my boyfriend a Lego game for his Gameboy 3DS & gave it to him on the plane as a gift to surprise him. The goddamn 3ds wouldn't allow him to play it without first updating his 3ds, then downloading a multi-gigabyte update for the game itself. If Nintendo ever takes down those servers, the cart will be unplayable on any virgin 3ds because there's no way to sidestep the mandatory first-time updates, even though you can subsequently play it offline.

I've been told that with many new games sold on physical media, the only thing actually ON the media is a program to download the actual game itself, because the discs/cartridges go to manufacturing MONTHS before the game is even playable, let alone ready for sale.

Beanie Babies

I wonder sometimes if buying sets of dishes (nice sets) and then selling the pieces individually in 10 years would work. I had to replace a few plates recently and it was NOT cheap.

I worked in a high end antique shop for a few years and the prices of most things has gone down. I got the collecting bug myself but it was very hard to consistently make any decent money. And I can't stand the "granny" look for my own stuff. My place is sleek and modern with mostly throw away crap but it looks good and is comfortable. It's a shame since I know some of the antiques I find would be worth something but (as a man) I just despise anything lacy, delicate, overly ornate or grannyish. I have a couple of masculine empire pieces but that's about it.

Much like diamonds, only the extremely rare ones with provenance will ever go up in value.

Provenance... ain't that a stinky eyetalian cheese R165?

I have paintings for sale

Hey does anyone know if those old sotheby's, christie's, Phillips's auction catelogs, worth anything? My parents have several stacks of them at home.

No R168, I have some stacks of them and no one wants them, though I think they are great to look at, usually modern masters and old masters, but they are not saleable.

This horse statue