Collectibles can be any number of things that consumers like to collect. Some of the most popular items include first edition books, postcards, baseball cards, rare maps, vinyls, memorabilia, coins, stamps, wartime collectibles, vintage designer handbags and much more. The worth of such items depends massively on popularity trends of the time, scarcity of the item, the condition of the item, its importance and the state of the financial market. And of course there are baseball cards, which have a history dating back to around 1860. Multiple generations of fans continue to collect Matchbox cars, Hot Wheels cars, Barbie dolls and Madame Alexander Dolls.
Here's a look at the best rare collectables from the decade. Modern popular culture is full of characters that originated in comic books, particularly movies and TV. Whenever a live-action version of a superhero or storyline is announced, the comic-book first appearances and related issues tend to rise in value and make for great collectibles. But for Vincent Zurzolo, owner of Metropolis Comics and ComicConnect, where you source your comics is also important. But whether comics are old or new, always be aware of the condition. There's a lot of variation in the paintings you find in attics and thrift stores, but some are extremely valuable.
Skip the paint-by-number projects and look for original art with themes people enjoy. Think equestrian paintings, pictures of famous people, and beautiful scenes. Pay special attention to paintings with signatures and those in beautiful frames, since those things can add value. Some examples are worth millions, but it's common to find paintings worth hundreds or thousands of dollars if they are high quality and desirable. Paintings are among the most valuable items on Antiques Roadshow too.
Other popular collectibles at auction today include enamel signs, vintage Coca-Cola ads, U.S. coins, comic books, baseball cards, football cards, memorabilia and more. Personal effects and other items associated with celebrities are wildly popular at auction, including Elvis Presley collectibles andStar Warsmemorabilia. As with many of the items on this list, rarity is a bigger determinant of value than age. Certain comic books were produced in limited quantities and can be nearly impossible to track down.
Other valuable examples include editions in which a now-famous character was first introduced. For example, the most expensive comic book ever sold (for a whopping $3.2 million) featured the first appearance of Superman. Of course, when one thinks of collectibles, comic books are one of the first items that may come to mind. Fans of this colorful and entertaining media and of certain franchises may be willing to pay thousands for a hard-to-find edition in mint condition. How do you know if your comic book collection is trash or treasure?
Have an expert review and grade each book to determine its value. While it may seem bizarre to sell your family's photos to a total stranger, there is a market for old black and white images. Those made with older technology, like tintypes, ambrotypes and daguerreotypes may be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars at auction. The most sought-after and expensive photographs depict famous or well-known people.
However, there is also an interest among collectors for portraits of soldiers and group images of children. Age is a factor in determining the value of an old photograph, but it is not the only factor taken into account. Nostalgia is causing many people to seek out the toys of their childhood. As adults people are willing to pay higher prices to recapture some of those treasured childhood memories.Maybe unsurprisingly one of the best selling toys is Lego. Enthusiasts are willing to pay big bucks for even just that one missing piece for their treasured set.
Also it may surprise you that collectors out there are also looking to complete their McDonalds' happy meal toy set. The compulsion to collect these toys carries into adulthood for some and the price is increasing for these plastic playthings. National events like the yearly Record Store Day have hipsters and older people alike standing in line for special sales on limited release titles and sought after vintage vinyl. "Some records won't sell for more than 50 cents while coveted first pressings can command thousands of dollars," says Dan Orkin, who manages the Reverb Price Guide.
And even if they're not that much, they can fetch a good chunk of change, like a 1957 Elvis' Christmas album that was listed for $149 on Reverb. The better condition a figure is in, the more money people expect for it. And since the majority of those who owned these toys would rather have enjoyed them than keep them neat, mint condition figures are extremely difficult to come by. But there's always time to start collecting toys now and beginning the patient wait.
Here are the 30 rarest action figures and how much they're worth. Train sets are another commonly collected toy and while there are many manufacturers, Lionel was and remains the king of this category. This company lead the charge on several technological advancements, which ensured that their train sets were on Christmas wish lists for many generations.
Today, the most valuable Lionel trains are those that were made before the start of WWII and can sell for thousands of dollars. However, rare later models can also be worth a pretty penny. Some Barbie dolls can be worth thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The most expensive price paid to date was more than $300,000. Monopoly, Life, Risk… who didn't have a closet filled with these old classics during their childhood?! While most of these games have been produced for decades and can still be purchased today, it's the rare and vintage examples that have collectible value.
Even more modern games that may be difficult to find can be worth several hundred dollars. Fine art and jewelry are lumped together because they are both highly personal collectibles. People who collect one or the other tend to collect items they like instead of which piece is worth the most money. Sure, an art or jewelry collector will seek out rare pieces, but usually only if that item they seek is aligned with their unique aesthetic. Passing down fine art and jewelry to the next generation is a highly sentimental thing because each collection speaks to the person who collected it in a way that some of these other collectibles can't. Children's toys like action figures, baseball cards, and McDonald's Happy Meal toys could be worth thousands of dollars.
If you have boxes of action figures, baseball cards or video games from the 1980s collecting dust in your basement, now might be the time to unpack them. There's a chance that you've got a few collectibles right under your nose. While rare, these eight gems from the '80s could make you rich today. Combine the collectable power of comic books with the famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise and you've got a match made in money heaven. The Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comic book that started it all in 1984 marked the first appearance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Splinter, Origin and Shredder.
A popular piece amongst collectors, an original of the vintage comic book sold for A$331,000 in September 2021. While most Transformers action figures from the 1990s can fetch around $20-$40 each, large collections like this one could sell for roughly $150. Rare collectible Transformers can certainly make you rich, however. A mint condition "Omega Supreme" still in its original box is reportedly worth around $2,000. Even antique costume jewelry can be valuable, and fine jewelry is always worth money.
Look for valuable gems, precious metals, and other special touches. Brush up on understanding markings on jewelry so you can determine what the jewelry is made of and who the manufacturer may be. It's common for fine jewelry pieces to be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, but the exact value is extremely variable. For many years, digital photography has outstripped film cameras in terms of popularity, and many old film cameras have languished on shelves in storage units and attics.
However, a resurgence in interest in film photography has pushed values up again. Certain antique cameras and lenses are worth hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Lenses made of brass are often worth a lot of money, with many very good examples selling for close to $2,000. Baseball cards might be the quintessential example of a trading card, but there are all types, like Magic the Gathering for instance. Like comic books, these fragile paper collectibles do best when they are kept in mint condition. Treat them how you would store a comic book, especially when you're dealing with a particularly rare example.
In some cases, as with rare coins, stamps and even comic books, professional grading services will validate how well-preserved something is. With coins, the difference between an MS-70 coin — the highest possible, with no imperfections — and an uncirculated MS-60 coin can be thousands of dollars. With other collectibles, however, you'll have to learn to use your own eye. The plush collectable toys that were popular in the 1990s have massive resale value on sites like Ebay, especially if the tag is still attached and the item is in mint condition. While many are only worth a few dollars, some of the limited edition toys have sold for up to half a million dollars online. For example, one of the original Beanie Babies—a lobster named Pinchers—sells for $35,000.
We wanted to find hundreds of the best 1990s collectibles worth money that people need to find under their beds and sell right away. We could all do with some extra cash and we might just be sitting on a hidden gem. Below you can see the average prices of the most popular 90s items if you kept them in good condition, and if they're a little bit pre-loved, you can see the average used price underneath that. While this is an extreme example of a valuable baseball card, baseball card collecting is a massively popular hobby with multiple baseball card companies producing cards and limited edition sets. Baseball card collecting shows are still popular from coast to coast. Most display their collection in 9 pocket plastic sleeves in a 3-ring binder, or acrylic baseball card holders.
Don't worry if you do not possess a fine coin collection handed down to you as a family heirloom. Modern coins, that you may have in the form of pocket change, can be worth a lot of money. It is time to check any coin collecting vessels that you and your family may have in the home for treasure hidden in plain sight.
Pokémon cards can potentially be worth thousands of dollars, depending on the card and condition. An extremely rare "Pikachu Illustrator" card reportedly sold for $54,970 in 2017, while a seller asked a whopping $100,000 for the same card, but in authenticated, perfect condition. A "Charizard" card from 1999 could also be worth more than $11,000.
A box of vintage Christmas ornaments in good condition could be worth hundreds of dollars. Those most valued by collectors are German "kugeln" or hand blown glass balls. These were first produced during the Biedermeier period (c.1830) of extremely thick glass, colored with lead or silver nitrate and topped with a bronze cap. Because they were so heavy, they were suspended from the ceiling, rather than being hung on the Christmas tree. When an old building is torn down, people sometimes salvage the windows, stashing them away in a barn or basement. If the old windows have leaded glass detailing or pretty stained glass elements, they may be worth a lot of money.
Antique stained glass windows range from ornate to simple, but many are highly valued for the historic beauty they can bring to modern construction. Special examples like this Mackintosh Rose window sell for around $2,500, but even simple designs regularly fetch hundreds of dollars. If you're into doll or toy collecting, chances are you own not just one or two pieces, but dozens or even hundreds. There is an ebb and flow of this collectible market, as some toys and dolls will go in and out of fashion, like beanie babies. However, antique toys and dolls have a much more steady market, and storing these pieces well is of the utmost importance.
Coins are some of the most popular collectibles that are gaining value. Comic book collectors swoon at the thought of owning the 1962Amazing Fantasy#15, where Spider-Man made his first appearance, or the June 1938Action Comics#1, where Superman first took flight. More recent comic books, however, also fetch a decent price if they're in good shape; you can even buy them professionally graded for condition and enshrined in plastic for protection. In May, a signed copy of Spider-Man #300 from 1988 sold for $9,999; it was the first appearance of Spidey's nemesis, Venom. When pegging the value of baseball cards, the general rule is that the older they are, the more they are worth. There are a lot of nuances that determine a card's worth though, so if you've come across a hoard of old cards, it's worth getting them appraised.
Based on variables like condition, player, and year, a card can be sold online for thousands of dollars. When it comes to toys, those collections can include action figures, dolls, games, virtually anything that's been produced and to which people have an emotional attachment. Mint condition first editions of comics often come with hefty price tags, however did you know that even modern comic books can be worth a lot. Keep in mind that firsts are always worth more; the first time a character is featured or a #1 of an issue will almost always be valuable.
Also, like most things, any errors are always going to be worth seriously more money. Maybe not the one you stepped on in the middle of the night, but specific LEGOs are worth their weight in gold. For example, the 2010 mini-figure Jessie from Toy Story 2 in like-new condition is selling for around $10 on Bricklink.com. A LEGO Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Hogwarts Castle Set sold for $450. However, some of the most coveted LEGOs are the missing parts from valued sets—like a window, steering wheel, or rare color brick—and can bring up to hundreds. Some of us sang into hairbrushes while others used a real microphone.
If you have a vintage microphone laying around, you could find a musician or music producer who would be willing to spend for it. Rare finds like the Neumann U-47 from the 1940s are worth tens of thousands of dollars online, Orkin says. But the vintage microphones most people are likely to find stashed away in a box is from a maker called Shure, which could probably fetch around $50, Orkin says. You begged for them, saved up your allowance, and babysat for endless evenings in order to buy those coveted Air Jordans. Hirsch says you could have a slam dunk of cash in your soles. "Early Air Jordan sneakers can sell for hundreds if not thousands of dollars, depending on which model and the condition." Check out 8 cheap items you can buy today that will be worth a fortune later.
This particular action figure of Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, was produced by the company in 1984. It's now a bonafide collector's item and can sell for $500-$1,200, though only if it's in a mint condition box. This particular Spider-Man figure was produced by the company in the early 1970s. And while they created a ton of different superhero toys, both Marvel and DC, the wildly popular Spider-Man is the one worth the most and can sell for up to $1,000. In April, a copy ofVenom#6 sold for $100; a 1975Planet of the Apesin lesser condition sold for $14.
Unlike other things on our list, you don't need a dedicated room to keep your stamp and coin collection in. A folder or a box will suffice, keeping all your collector's editions safe without forcing you to sacrifice a spare room. The size of these tiny collectibles does not reflect their worth, with a history of sale prices going all the way up to $10 million. Making your money grow has never seemed more difficult, with interest rates low globally as a result of the pandemic. This requires a different mindset to other forms of investing, where a passion for the item in question is advised.
When CDs, MiniDiscs, and then MP3s came along, vinyl was suddenly cumbersome and annoying. But purists emphatically stood by LPs, citing their superior sound quality. Your old vinyl collection almost certainly has a few gems in it. And new releases will rise in value over the coming years, especially limited edition pressings.
Oh, and whatever you use to play that vinyl on, that could very easily become a valuable collectible, too. Check out what books your grandparents or great-grandparents may have passed down to you. If you find a first version of a popular book, you're in luck. "If you have the first edition of a book, rather than the 10th copy, it could be valuable, even if a relative found it in a bookstore and paid $5 for it," says Silver. "First editions of books from the 30s, 40s or 50s can sometimes be worth tens of thousands of dollars." Transformers action figures can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
