Collectors Items That Are Nowhere Near As Valuable As They Seem
Every now and then, a story comes out about an old video game or some Pokémon cards netting people thousands of dollars. When people hear it, it's hard for them not to think they're sitting on a gold mine. Worse yet, they might even regret giving away something that could be valuable and refuse to make that mistake again.
However, the truth is that speculator's markets are unpredictable and that only subtle differences between two items can mean the difference between a successful auction and complete disinterest. For that reason, there are so many items that people hold onto, only to find that their resale value never increases.
Star Wars Action Figures
Those who have heard about Star Wars toys going for thousands of dollars at auction may be shocked to hear this, but most Star Wars toys are worth (at best) a few dollars on the collector's market. As it turns out, there's a reasonably easy way to find out if your toys have any value.
If a toy in question was made in 1985 or longer ago, there's a chance (only a chance, mind) that it could be worth some serious money. If it was made even a year after this cut-off point, it's extremely unlikely that the toy in question will make anybody rich other than George Lucas.
Franklin Mint Collectibles
Considering how prestigious the Franklin Mint's sets of collectible coins and ingots have been over the years, it's not unusual for people to hold onto them in the hope that they'll be worth something one day. Barring rare exceptions like the specific 34-part set of Christmas ingots, however, that's unlikely to be the case.
That's because most of their collectible sets are mass-produced, which makes it more likely that they'll be in abundance in coin collector circles even 30 years after they're released. Like with many such items, it's best to buy a set because the coins or ingots themselves are desirable rather than out of speculation of their future value.
Royal Crown Derby China
Although there was never a time when a vintage set of Royal Crown Derby China would have made someone a millionaire, it's nonetheless worth noting that they used to be worth a lot more. Indeed, one could expect to fetch at least $500 for a set in decades past.
Nowadays, however, someone who walks away with even $100 for a set must have some diabolical sales skills because they're simply not worth much now. It seems this is the result of changing tastes among younger generations, as the CBC reported that even those who inherit their family's china are often not interested in keeping it.
Hummel Figurines
Like with many collector's items, there are a few valuable Hummel figurines that have a way of making people think the others might be worth something. However, these tend to have obvious markers of rarity, such as being the prototype version of a given model.
For the most part, however, Hummel figurines are worthless. Although one could potentially get away with reselling many of these figures pre-internet, the rise of eBay made it clear just how abundant these mass-produced figures are. Add that to the fact that they don't appeal to most younger generations and it becomes easy to see why reselling them is a grim prospect.
Beanie Babies
Those who still have a large collection of Beanie Babies better hold onto it out of sentimental value because that's the only value that most of them have. Although there is still the possibility than some incredibly specific models of the stuffed toys could be worth some serious money, that didn't stop so many people in the '90s for thinking that would be true of their entire collections.
In reality, any lucrative market those people could have taken advantage of had a much smaller window than they realized. While selling one's whole collection for over $100,000 might have possible when the Beanie Baby frenzy was in full swing, most speculators aren't going to give anyone the time of day unless they hear the words, "limited run," "rare production error," or "Peace Bear."
Diamonds
At first glance, the idea of a diamond as a relatively worthless item seems utterly ludicrous. If they have so little value, why does a ring's price suddenly increase by thousands of dollars once they're added to it? The answer is that jewelers and wholesalers play by different rules than everyone else.
This is something people have found out the hard way when they've tried to resell jewelry. It's not unusual for pawn shops to take the gold ring the diamond is attached to and just give the stone back to the customer. Even if that customer goes to a place that buys diamonds, they can bet they're getting pennies on the dollar for one.
Vintage sewing machines
Every now and then, someone will see folks put a vintage sewing machine on eBay and ask for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, which then leads others to believe that their old sewing machines are worth something. However, it's worth seeing how long those listings stay up without any buyers. After all, even rare machines in pristine order that include the cabinet may only fetch a few hundred dollars from serious collectors.
Outside of that small circle, most other people would just look at it as paying way too much for a machine that requires more maintenance with less versatility than a modern model. It may be a little sad that those modern machines are often cheap and disposable, but they're why the older ones are worthless more often than not.
Model Trains
Although model railroading can be an expensive hobby, it's not unusual to find that even antique Lionel trains aren't worth as much as some collectors may hope. Although Invaluable noted that there may be a chance that a train is worth something if it was made before World War II, even that depends on rarity, condition, specific designs, and the materials used to make them.
It's true that it's not unusual for pre-war to sell for a few hundred dollars and in some rare cases, even a few thousand. However, it's just as possible to have a pre-war train that only nets a seller $20. As for anything made after that cut-off point, collectors can basically forget about selling them.
Baseball Cards
Other than some rare exceptions like a world famous player's rookie card (think Derek Jeter or Ken Griffey Jr.), a baseball card has to be older than 1985 for it to have any chance of value. That's not to say that they can necessarily fund a boat purchase but that these are the only ones collectors are likely to buy at all.
According to ESPN, card companies saw the collector's market for their products spike in the '80s and '90s, which led them to overproduce the cards to the point of utterly saturating the market. Since the baseball card boom peaked in the early 1990s, prices have plummeted and even shops that specifically buy baseball cards will likely pass on anything made after 1985.
Antique Irons
As a former auction house owner named Don Jones shared on Quora, one of the most frequent items that people would unsuccessfully try to sell were antique cast iron flat irons. Although people generally expect that the age and rarity of an item will ensure its value, Jones cited these items as a perfect example of why that isn't always the case.
Indeed, it's true that many of these items haven't been used for up to 80 years and aren't always easy to find. As Jones put it, however, "Not so rare as to have much value." There's a reason that some Etsy stores are only selling them for about $30 apiece.
Garbage Pail Kids Cards
According to America's Antique Mall, only a few cards from the original Garbage Pail Kids run are worth significant money, and that's only if they're in mint condition. If the first-edition card doesn't feature Adam, Nasty Nick, or Dead Ted, the most likely price a collector can offer is about $200.
However, the unfortunate truth is that they're worth even less if they were made outside of that first edition. As a result, the average price that someone can expect others to pay for a random Garbage Pail Kid card is about five dollars.
Swarovski Crystal
When a pawn shop owner is asked about the most worthless items that customers nonetheless bring into them, one of the first names they'll mention is Swarovski Crystal. Although the company may charge high prices for these trinkets, their customers will quickly find they can't resell them anywhere else.
This largely has to do with the material these trinkets are made from. Although many of Swarovski Crystal's customers get the impression that semi-precious stones are involved in the process — likely due to the name Crystal — the truth is that they're all made of glass. That's not an exciting material for pawn shop owners.
Cabbage Patch Kids
When a product is the center of a nationwide craze, it's common for some people to think there will be a resurgence in demand 20 years down the line. But while nostalgia can be powerful (particularly in marketing), that doesn't mean it's powerful enough to automatically make passé toys valuable again.
Although it's certainly possible to see eBay listings for mint condition Cabbage Patch Dolls from the '80s asking for up to $500, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's easy to find people who will pay that price. Realistically, collectors should consider themselves lucky if they net more than what they originally paid for the doll, even if it's not by much.
Coca-Cola Memorabilia
It's true that the market for genuinely vintage Coca-Cola memorabilia is incredibly hit-miss. A sign like this may be worth nothing, while incredibly specific bottles from the past and classic vending machines can be worth thousands. However, this isn't the main problem people will encounter when trying to sell Coca-Cola memorabilia.
As The Martin Guide To Coca-Cola Memorabilia makes clear, the amount of fake products that were never commissioned by Coca-Cola themselves is overwhelming. Many of this fake memorabilia was made in the 1970s and some of them — like flat, rectangular, pub-style signs — don't even resemble anything the company ever made. Of course, it's hard to know that half a century later.
Vintage Pocket Knives
As former auction house owner Don Jones mentioned on Quora, some items are valuable but only achieve that value under specific condition circumstances. Due to the nature of their use, the most frequent example that left customers disappointed when Jones shared the item's true value concerned pocket knives.
In theory, someone who happened across a Case XX pocket knife from the 1960s can expect to receive about $600 for it. However, regular use can cut that value in half, and it plummets even further if any of the blades are broken or sharpened to thin nubs. That's what makes the rare exceptions worth $600: People didn't use them for their intended purpose 60 years ago. How often did that happen?
NFTs
While the hype around products like Beanie Babies tends to be short-lived, it's not often that it takes only three years for a product to go from allegedly being worth tens of thousands of dollars to being completely worthless. However, this is exactly how analysts have characterized the aftermath of the NFT boom in 2021.
Short for non-fungible tokens, these usually described pieces of digital art that investors paid for the privilege of registering their ownership of on cryptocurrency blockchains. According to The Guardian, however, about 95% of these NFTs are now completely worthless, which means that about 23 million people were left holding the bag.
Roseville Pottery
Since the Roseville company went out of business in 1954, the latter half of the 20th Century saw many people collect what pieces remained as valuable antiques. Since people knew there wasn't going to be any more Roseville pottery, prices of these pots skyrocketed and collectors were willing to pay them if it meant securing something so rare.
However, eBay's dean of education Jim Griffith explained to The Street that the website revealed something that practically killed this collector's market overnight. Roseville produced way more pottery than people thought before it went out of business, so people learned it wasn't rare at all. Naturally, prices fell sharply after collectors realized how mass-produced their precious pots were.
Sports Autographs
Although it's true that some sports autographs can be more valuable than others depending on who signed a piece of memorabilia and when, it's not the fluctuation in value that makes it likely for sports fans not to fetch as much as they expected for their prized signatures. Indeed, there's one factor that should caution them not to be surprised when nobody even wants them.
According to the Chubb insurance firm, the FBI estimated that about 50% of vintage sports memorabilia on the market is not genuine. Other experts would go as far as to suggest that the number is closer to 80% of the market. Unless an item in question has been authenticated by PSA, DNA, or JSA, it's probably not worth buying.
Silly Bandz
Although these were essentially rubber bands that came in unusual shapes and colors, that didn't stop them from becoming popular enough among young children in the late 2000s and early 2010s that some schools had to ban them. This was due to stealing and fighting concerns but that's not something anyone has to worry about nowadays.
That's because Silly Bandz went as quickly as they came and the collector's market for them quickly followed suit. Unless this trend suddenly reverses in another decade, the fact that people can get about 80 of them for $10 on eBay right now doesn't say anything encouraging about their likely value in the future.
Tickle Me Elmo
As people who grew up in the '90s (and especially their parents) can likely recall, Tickle Me Elmo dolls were a nightmare to get one's hands on around Christmastime in 1996. At the time, the rush to make their child's Christmas magical drove some desperate parents to pay hundreds of dollars to resellers who saw the hype coming.
However, that doesn't mean most people will see much reason to pay any more than the standard retail price for even an original one nowadays. Although Business Insider mentioned that it's possible to sell one for between $50 to $60 today, that's only double the toy's original retail price. 25 years is a long time to wait for a $30 profit (at best).
Tamagotchis
As with other collectibles with rare and common variations like Pokémon cards or baseball cards, the perception of the collector's market around the popular Japanese pet simulators from the '90s can be a little skewed. As Business Insider noted, the "Tamagotchi Ocean" and "Yasashii Blue" editions could potentially fetch thousands of dollars, as could the white-and-red first generation editions.
However, these are considered exceptions to the overall state of the Tamagotchi market. While a few outliers from the rest of the pack might fetch a couple of hundred dollars, most may not even net their original $20 sale price.
Pool Tables
Those who are passionate enough about billiards to sustain their interest in a pool table should not be discouraged from getting one. However, those expecting to resell it once they get bored are in for quite the rude awakening. As a personal property appraiser named Grant Miller mentioned on Quora, even the lower end of pool tables can cost as the same as a used car.
However, some are fancy enough to cost the consumer $20,000 but that doesn't mean they can be resold for that much. In one case, Hill said the table was worth less than $1,000, though this was partially based on themed customizations that the wider public wouldn't like (and also partially explained the cost.) In any case, pool tables can definitely be filed under "buyer beware."
Minerals
Whether people are scientifically-minded or just like having a bunch of pretty rocks around, it's perfectly understandable that they would collect minerals. However, it's not unusual for those who end up inheriting those minerals to wonder whether they're worth something. In all likelihood, the answer is no.
As Melissa Jeswald of the Boston Mineral Club explained on Quora, only specific, high-quality minerals with thorough documentation about the mines and countries of origin have any hope of fetching much money from serious collectors. Even if they have a little gold in them, the process to extract that gold is usually more expensive than the metal is worth.
Antique Bibles
While most people value their Bibles for personal, religious reasons and not monetary ones, they can nonetheless inspire a few valuation questions if they're old enough. However, most of them are only likely to fetch any real money if they're nearly as old as America as we know it.
As Britannic Auctions explained, Bible production skyrocketed during the 19th Century in a trend that began soon after the Revolutionary War. For this reason, most Bibles produced after 1820 (at the latest) are unlikely to carry any monetary value. If they do, it's because they were ornate enough and in good enough condition to fetch about $300. That's still not much, considering the trouble it would take.
Comic Books
When people hear of a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 or Action Comics #1 selling for hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars respectively, it's hard for them not to see their own comic collection as a gold mine. However, so many stars need to align for the rare comics mentioned to be in the right condition to fetch those prices.
Generally, comic books are both fairly fragile and subject to heavy mass production, which means that almost any comic book published after 1979 (even some supposedly rare ones) aren't likely to be worth much money. If they're older than that, it's rare for them to be in the right condition to be terribly valuable. It's a frustrating catch-22 for collectors.
Stamps
As boring as it may seem to many people nowadays, stamp collecting was an incredibly popular hobby during the 1930s. That remained true (albeit to a diminishing extent) throughout the 20th Century, which led the U.S. Postal Service to print millions of excess stamps to meet the needs of philatelists.
As West Coast Stamps explained, however, that boom is precisely the reason why most stamps are only worth their face value nowadays. Although it is possible to find valuable stamps worth thousands of dollars, that's essentially not going to be true for any stamp printed after 1930. Although that was nearly 100 years ago, stamps from the 1930s are still far too common to be valuable.
Military Memorabilia
Among military memorabilia collectors, it's generally accepted wisdom that anything from the Vietnam War onward isn't likely to fetch any real money due to its commonality in such circles. However, Antique Militaria Buyers noted that this can apply to some older items as well.
For instance, everyone in the U.S. Army who returned from World War II received the pictured item, which is called a Victory Medal. Since this amounted to at least four million people, the Victory Medal is by no means a rare item. U.S. Civil War bullets are often considered worthless for similar reasons.
Vintage Lunch Boxes
As Marsha Dixey of Heritage Auctions told The Street, there was a period around the turn of the millennium where vintage lunch boxes were a legitimately hot collector's item. Yet, while she found that some of them were indeed rare and valuable, that no longer describes most of these lunch boxes within nostalgia circles today.
With the rise of the internet and platforms like eBay, people became aware of how many vintage lunch boxes were really sitting in people's attics and basements. Once it became clear that the market could be saturated with them, the prices for retro lunch boxes went down enough to make them all but worthless.
Antique Mirrors
No matter how pretty the artistry behind an antique mirror may be, it's unlikely that most collectors and antique dealers would be particularly interested in them. That's because the older a mirror is, the less capable it is of serving its intended purpose.
As personal property appraiser Grant Miller mentioned on Quora, mirrors depreciate in quality over time, which means the antique ones have had a lot of time to get worse. Once that quality falls, so does the value. As Miller put it, "Most people would rather spend the same amount of money on a modern mirror that is clearer or in better condition."
Encyclopedias
Sometimes, people will conflate the amount of money they once had to pay for something for its value. If someone paid $300 or $500 for an encyclopedia set in 1974, that means it must be worth at least that much later, right? Wrong.
In fact, those who try to resell old encyclopedias will find that they can't even give them away for free. After all, most people don't want a giant set of books full of outdated information cluttering up their homes. Any nostalgia for someone's childhood research simply isn't worth that drawback.
Vinyl Records
Whether it's due to their retro charm, their ease of use in DJing, or their unique and impossible to duplicate sound quality, vinyl records have come back in a big way over the last decade. Indeed, it's perfectly understandable if someone holds onto their record collection for sentimental or audiophilic reasons.
However, those who believe that their collection will one day be worth a lot of money are likely to be disappointed. Although it's true that some specific rare records can be valuable, most are as mass-produced and easily found as they were when vinyl was the only option.
Norman Rockwell Plates
According to Business Insider, the Franklin Mint once sold a line of collectible plates adorned with the paintings of classic Americana artist, Norman Rockwell. Since he was particularly active during the Baby Boom, he's a figure of intense nostalgia among that generation.
For that reason, one of these plates could once be resold for between $50 and $70 without too much trouble. However, those days are long gone and the most these plates are likely to fetch nowadays is $10 apiece.
Old Video Game Consoles
Every now and then, a story will come out about an old video game or console selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars or even up to a million. However, the value of these items fluctuates about as strongly as old comic books, baseball cards, or Beanie Babies.
For instance, a sealed, mint condition first edition copy of Super Mario 64 sold for $1.56 million and the sole prototype of the short-lived joint venture between Nintendo and Sony — the Nintendo Play Station — sold for about $300,000. However, if a game or console was actually used for its intended purpose, a retro gamer isn't likely to pay more than $50 for it.
Funko Pop Figurines
On the one hand, it's true that nobody can predict the future. Judging by how past social experiences with trendy items like Beanie Babies and Pokémon cards have gone, there is a chance that some specific, obscure Funko Pop model could one day be worth a lot of money.
On the other hand, it's extremely unlikely that this will be true for the vast majority of these little toys with oversized heads. They're mass produced and ubiquitous, and there's already a significant backlash among those with the company's targeted interests who are tired of seeing them. That's not exactly a recipe for a hotly-demanded collector's item
Lladró Figurines
As with many collectibles, there are specific items made by Lladró that can be worth thousands of dollars. According to True Legacy Homes, this is especially true of elaborate dioramas like "Cinderella's Arrival," "Equestrian Group of Three Wild Horses Frolicking," or "Don Quixote and Sancho Panza."
However, the smaller a Lladró figurine is, the less value it's likely to hold when people try to resell it. For the most part, figurines from this company aren't going to be worth as much as some may hope. After all, collectors willing to shell out serious money tend to be specific about what they want.
Antique Pianos
Antique pianos are often beautifully crafted instruments, which one might expect to add to their value as much as their age does. However, Morningside Music Academy explained that this is only true of maybe one out of 10,000 pianos. The rest are worthless.
Part of this is due to the fact that only rare early editions of famous pianos and instruments of historical significance are likely to hold much value. Yet, perhaps the biggest factor at play is the piano's condition. Most old pianos are rusted out and don't play right, if at all. Add those factors to their size and weight and most people would struggle to give an old piano away for free.
Lance Armstrong Memorabilia
Although autographed sports memorabilia is already hard to resell due to the preponderance of forgeries on the market, that goes double for athletes at the center of a scandal that throws their achievements into question. According to Time, even the suspicion of cheating can be enough to affect their value, as the value of Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire memorabilia fell sharply in the wake of allegations against them.
However, that effect doubles when the use of performance enhancers is confirmed, as was the case for disgraced Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong. While Time acknowledged that his autographed memorabilia isn't worthless, the value of this merchandise was essentially cut in half overnight when the scandal broke.
Barbie Dolls
While the massive success of the Barbie movie has certainly inspired a nostalgic appreciation for the vintage dolls lurking in the basements and attics of millions of American homes, that appreciation has largely been sentimental. Although there are Barbie dolls worth thousands of dollars, they tend to be incredibly rare (like part of the original run from 1959) and in pristine condition.
For that reason, even old Barbie dolls from the '60s are unlikely to be worth much money. Once Barbie's popularity ramped up, so many of them were made that finding even vintage ones isn't so difficult nowadays. Plus, children tend to be pretty rough on their toys.
VHS Tapes
As with any nostalgic collector's item, it's possible for incredibly specific VHS releases that are sealed in mint condition to be worth thousands of dollars. In some cases, a few under the same conditions might be worth $100 or more. However, that is not the case with most of them.
Considering that fewer people watch videos on VHS than ever before, the demand for old tapes simply isn't widespread. As such, a person who manages to sell their old tapes for even a dollar each is either incredibly lucky or has fearsome skills in sales.
Hot Wheels
Although there are many retro Hot Wheels fans who love collecting them to this day, that doesn't mean that digging up one's old toy cars is going to lead them to a gold mine. Like many beloved toys of the past, that comes down to production and condition.
Throughout the history of the brand, Mattel has made tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of these little cars. Although some specific models are rare, most of them aren't. And since the right way to play with Hot Wheels involves a lot of scuffing and crashing, most also aren't anywhere near mint condition.