I found this to be one of the most relevant statements in the article:

"There are many theories for why comic collectibles have stopped being valuable. Some blame readily available reprints. “What drove the collectibility of the old comics was that they were once genuinely rare,” says Salkowitz."

Our "reprints" are the remakes of "classics", by all the major companies. I agree...we should have fun with our stuff now....they aren't investments (with the rare exceptions, of course.)

I'm sure the Grandkids will love the Playboy magazines

quote:

Enjoy your toys because they are not an investment!

Great advice, I wholeheartedly agree.
Some folks enjoy collecting.

That's fine so long as they aren't expecting to earn a profit (or even get your money back!)

An interesting article with many parallels to our hobby.  Might even write a column about it.  Thanks, Chris, for posting.

Reminds a little of the baseball card market. Certain rare / highly sought after items will bring big dollars, but for the most part the market is saturated and the average person/collector isn’t going to get rich.

I tell my kids....collect what you love.....you may get to keep it forever.....

The only "collection" that I have that keeps going up are pre-1914 Halloween postcards.

Part of the problem with collectibles is that people incorrectly assume that collectible and valuable are essentially synonymous.  They also often make the assumption that once a market goes up that it will continue going up.

In order to sucessfully invest in any kind of market over any length of time, whether it is a collectibles market or the stock market, the investor has to know and fully understand the market (to the extent possible), and they have to be able to look at that market objectively and not let the passion that comes from a collector's perspective color the way they participate in the market.

Andy

I have been trying to add to my collection of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 & 100 dollar bills, they don't seem to be worth much lately either. 

Watching The Toy Hunter has been instructive. As a rule, he won't buy toys that are older than the 70's because the older stuff is not nostalgia for today's market. Postwar trains as collectibles may be on their way out for that same reason. Run 'em and enjoy.

Terry

Ask collectors of "Beanie-Babies" (which included some of their boxes, no less) and "Cabbage-Patch Kids" about "collectibles, for another interesting perspective on such matters. Where are they now? I just hope their owners had fun with them when they got them and played with them to their hearts-content.

Actually, that's the major problem many folks have with the term.  Collectible means you, and perhaps a few or many others, are interested in acquiring a certain object or category of objects found to be interesting, attractive, or whatever.  You collect because something interests you, not because you feel it is a great investment.  If the passion isn't there, or if financial gain is the incentive, you're definitely not collecting for the right reasons.

Actually I think the problem is more that people equate the term valuable to relate exclusively to a monetary amount, which is not a fully accurate assessment of the definition of the word.  Things can be of great worth purely from an aesthetic, functional, or for sentimental reason with little to no relevancy to what they're worth monetarily.

I remember a while back on Facebook some guy was complaining about the resale value on his MTH engines or whatever and how Mike Wolf promised that his engines would never lose their value.  I was quick to point out to the guy was using that word too narrowly and that if he has and continues to enjoy those engines then they are still holding their value.

I collect older O Scale.  Its value in adjusted dollars has done nothing but go down since before WWII.  Still, I am happy with my collection.  Just think how well you could do with a Dow index fund from, say, 2008 to now.

i guess my Lionel 700 collection is an exception, but I am not selling, so it is only worth the amount of pleasure it yields.

This is why I buy nothing as an investment.  If I like it and will use it and have the money for it, I'll buy it with the thought I'll never sell it.  My collection is for me now, not for financial freedom later.

I know of three or 4 eBay sellers that have slowly built a following over the past 5 - 8 years. They have a reputation even with browsers who never buy from them. They can within a 7 day auction sell anything postwar and get the top premium price. Meanwhile other sellers with better or equal quality on the same items earn less money. I attribute some of the failure in the comic book sales to "panic selling" by a too new entrant to the market place. Just like with trains, if you want the big bucks - sell it yourself - slowly. It may take a few years. The article is unfair to the comic book collector culture because it doesn't take all this into account and reports only on stressed sellers.

Still a general blanket assumption.  The uninformed person will be persuaded by this...not those who take the time to understand what they enjoy buying...and if they must sell...the best means to do so.  

Its like the guy who buys tons of expensive coins then goes by his local mom and pop dealer and expects them to pay him thousands....   You have to know how to sell it...reach out on ebay to collectors all over the world.  Not a dealer.

And I totally agree.  if you pay the price for Lionel, or any type of collectible.  You are paying for the craftsmanship and the enjoyment of ownership.  You are not buying a guaranteed investment.  The public doesn't understand that...hence you have the mass backlash against items like Comics, Plates, etc etc etc.  Just because something is hot today doesn't mean that generations down the road will care about it...and that has nothing to do with how well crafted the item is...or how historically relevant.

I have made a lot of money buying & selling trains over the past 40 years.

If it say's "Limited Edition" it will never be worth anything.

A comparision between the train hobby and the comic book hobby would be an interesting idea. Obviously a little more research would have to be done than one Yahoo article. Comic book guy's have their own forums, price guides, and magazines, just like train guy's. Just like train people, comic book people get pennies on the dollar when trying to sell an entire collection, the local comic book store is just like the train store, trying to buy low, sell high, and a lot of mis-information and opinions are easily accessed on-line. Just like trains, the real value can be determined easily on places such as buy/sell forums and e-bay. I'm sure all of these venue's would be considered before trying to make a comparision between the two hobbies.

In this economy, all luxery items are down in price. Comic books, trains, dolls, cars, etc. If the economy doesn't improve, which I doubt it will, these items will continue a downward trend.

"Created Collectibles" is the title I give to plates, beanie babies and....convention cars of any sort.  Luckily. I have carefully avoided any of the previous, unless it was a model of a prototype that fit my modeling theme and did not have something unprototypical conspiculously slathered on it. I bought comic books as a kid, mostly western hero ones sucn as the Lone Ranger, all long gone.   There are two collectors'

markets I watch, vintage cars, and vintage car sales literature, and the last seems

to have gone downhill, although the first has not, but that has had a lot of profit

oriented investors in it that could not change a tire, much less restore a rare car. 

(I wonder if there are any on those types of "investors" in this hobby?) 

If your mother loved collecting them, that's really all that matters.  The minor inconvenience of you having to dispose of them really means little or nothing.  Just toss them if they have no meaning for you and if you feel you're being inconvenienced by trying to sell them.  The important thing is your mother had a passion for those figures and enjoyed collecting them over the years.  That is what collecting is all about.

PC9850:  What are the other 8 worthless collectibles??

I think you may have read into that the wrong way Allan. The point of including the line you quoted and that they do have a place in my nostalgia was to acknowledge that yes they have served their meaningful purpose in life. However that time has passed now and much as we'd like to have kept them, there's simply no way 1,000 boxed figurines can follow us around in this transition period in our lives (selling the Florida house and exploring new business opportunities in NY), and the task of finding them new homes was just another commentary on currently worthless collectibles.

Click the link in my original post.

Dept 56 is one...

This collection is on E-bay now for a buy it now price of $18. Don

I have to imagine local pickup only; otherwise that's gotta be one serious shipping charge 

At least that's one dead collectible that can be used very effectively on an O gauge layout. Check out fellow forum member Passenger Train Collector's spread in the latest issue of OGR.

Folks need to worry less about what others choose to collect.  We are all individuals, with individual interests.  The worth lies in what a collectible is worth to you in terms of the joy it brings, not in what it means to others.  And to even discuss the worth of objects that don't interest you personally has no relevance or meaning whatsoever.

"Resale shops" are a "growth industry" around here. Some are connected to charities, and some are "for profit". Sometimes I'll walk down the "kitsch aisles" of these shops, and reflect upon the fact that every item displayed meant something to someone at some time, and, for some reason, was not passed down or valued by the heirs. These items include things that at one time were valued as "collectibles".

I consider myself a collector in the sense that I have way more engines and rolling stock than I could possibly run at one time.

My heart lies in running my trains. The fact that they are incredibly beautiful to look as they move about the yards and towns and long stretches makes it even more fun for me.

Many of my engines are in a glass front cabinet awaiting their turn on the layout. While in the cabinet I can't help but admire their beauty.

I have never seem a train I didn't like. Any size, shape, color, fantasy or real road name. There simply is no right or wrong gauge in my eyes.

Last night I removed the station sounds from a UP into a PRR baggage car. The collector instinct in me was not to do this as it destroys the collector value.  The reality is I will have a blast now that I have the sounds in a car I like to run rather than in the original car sitting on a shelf.

I have only recently reached the point where I will alter trains to my liking. This change has allowed me to enjoy my trains more than ever.

I do admire collectors also and the great thing is there will always be beautiful pristine examples of just about everything imaginable thanks to the true collectors.

quote:

Last night I removed the station sounds from a UP into a PRR baggage car. The collector instinct in me was not to do this as it destroys the collector value.  The reality is I will have a blast now that I have the sounds in a car I like to run rather than in the original car sitting on a shelf.

I don't see any conflict. I have trains that are part of my collection, and I have trains that I run/tinker and generally play with.

Excellent point.

quote:

 I did not know that people actually COLLECTED Cabbage Patch Kid dolls (I doubt that many did).

Cabbage Patch dolls are based on dolls made by Xavier Roberts. Coleco, a company based in Amsterdam, NY, was the first to mass produce them as Cabbage Patch dolls.

Maybe it was media bias, because the company was in this region, but the local news reported them as selling as fast as Coleco could put them out, and being highly sought as both children's toys and collectables.

Coleco went bankrupt, largely due to the failure of their "Adam" computer.

Likewise.  It was an epiphonal experience for me to make irreversible changes to a very expensive locomotive.  I'm well past that moment and into a whole new dimension of how to achieve what manufacturers will never provide...in my remaining lifetime, anyhow.

Now, if only I could say the same for the stupid boxes that these altered (and as yet unaltered) items came in....another 'bridge to cross'.  My view of the boxes is different now, though.  They're not part of any so-called collectible/investment value.  They're simply the proper, safe way to package and ship the item to another owner...before or after my own demise.  But, more and more, except for engines and very fragile items, I'm feeling silly about this attitude, too...especially when I have to fight my way through the same to get to something of immediate urgency!!

Good thread.  Allan...I think your article idea would be very timely/beneficial to this hobby.  I support.

KD

The old axiom that rare does not always mean valuable applies when it comes to a buyers market for a collection. Consideration of a monetary value on resale is a non starter for me as there's no predicting  future value in advance of projected out time frames as well as the fact that it has always struck me that resale value was just a rationale, or "excuse" for doing what one was going to do anyway regardless of any future value.

In my personal experiences with buying and selling trains, and even with the major shift from collector attitudes to operator attitudes over the years, people still want those factory original boxes. The bigger ticket items will ALWAYS go for bigger prices if they are in the boxes. I'm the same exact way - an operator at heart but still have that little bit of collector mindset hardwired into me to want all original boxes, packaging, and paperwork with my trains.

I have long held the opinion that a large part of the significance of boxes was that they symbolized that the trains were treated with care.

It became fashionable to combine unboxed items with boxes, so that particular significance is largely moot.

When I am buying prewar or postwar trains, the box is nice to have, but due to the flourishing reproduction box market, and the "combining" practice, I will not pay a premium for the box. When I am buying modern era trains for my collection, the box is a must, as is the paperwork. If I am buying a modern era train for tinkering, then the box is unimportant. if I am buying a "tinkering" piece, then it is in need of some sort of repair anyway.