Collectibles are increasingly considered investments rather than “safe haven” assets
Beyond the record high prices of luxury collectibles and works of art there is a world that focuses on minor objects within everyone’s reach
Dizzying prices at international auctions for jewels of the highest prestige, vintage cars, works of art, watches and for large bottles of whisky, port wine and great international wines. Records broken by other records for sales which, in many cases, are in the 7-figure range.
However, there are also many “minor” objects, for all budgets, considered investments as well as useful for completing or enriching our collections.
We are all collectors, born collectors: from footballers’ stickers (some unobtainable and here too with prices that in some cases exceed a thousand euros) to stamps or numismatics; from ancient books to everyday objects.
As Wall Street Italia magazine reports in a nice article, which we point out with the necessary link below, << Safe haven assets – whatever their nature – are much less affected by the economic slowdown and above all by market volatility than financial assets. It’s a well-known thing that comes from afar. The small and medium saver inevitably feels a little depressed by such news: he cannot participate in a game reserved for an elite of hyper-lucky people, who are reserved for trading methods complete with consultants and experts specialized in estimates which alone cost one eye of the head. So the small and medium saver always reads about this VIP world in the media but has no margin for action>>.
In truth, as the article itself points out, there is room for everyone! You wouldn’t understand the hundreds of thousands of people who storm flea markets, antiques fairs, the proliferation of vintage shops…
There are many product categories with the most interesting trends. Let’s try to examine some of these “collections” for all of us.
Vintage toys
In addition to antique toys, the most “trendy” ones are those from the legendary 80s. Barbies continue to grow among collectors’ “desires”, both limited editions as well as accessories for the famous dolls.
Still among toys, do you remember the Furby? For the younger ones, let’s remember that it was 1998 and many parents lurked outside toy shops in the period before Christmas to be able to grab at least one of these robotic animals which in a very short time had become a must have essential (41 million have been sold worldwide!).
It cost around 30,000 lire, now it can be resold for just under €1000.
For example, an original Lego package of the Millennium Falcon, marketed in the 1980s, and equipped with all the pieces represents a sort of treasure. In fact, it is now worth €3,000.
There are so many examples of this genre, how can we forget the He-Man Luminous Sword of 1988, the Sgorbions game figurines, the very famous Transformers from which the successful, as well as interminable, film series was based.
Even in “electronic” games we can find examples of toys that stand the test of time and whose prices continue to grow: from the Game Boy to the first Nintendo consoles.
Wines and Liqueurs
Do you know what the most expensive wine in the world is? We are convinced that very few know the answer, so we will reveal it to you right away…
It is the 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet sold for over €220,000!
We reveal to you that we didn’t know it either but we relied on it Wine Searcher, the most authoritative British wine search engine that searches thousands of shops in the world with over 5 million bottles and draws a weighted average of the offers, allowing you to check the average value of the wine you have in your cellar and were about to uncork!
Among the most sought after, and therefore also most expensive, Italian wines, we can mention Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino.
Which for the “right” vintages can easily exceed €1,000, for 75 cl bottles. Even the Tuscan “classics” are no different; it would be lucky to discover that you have a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino Biondi Santi of 1975, one of the best vintages of the last century for Italian wine.
There are many, many “cool” bottles, so we refer you to the Wine Search ranking for Italian wines: RANKING OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITALIAN WINES.
There are so many objects that have high prices today and that we would never imagine, unless we are enthusiasts of the specific sector…
ELECTRONICS
Without going into computer archeology with the first examples of domestic computers or PCs such as the first IBMs, Commodores, ATARI consoles, there are many objects in common use and not just for “nerds” that today can have exceptional value.
A working example of the musical revolution of the 80s, the Sony Walkman costs more than €500, not a lot but only because the Japanese company produced millions of copies.
Did you know, for example, that an i-Phone 1, the first edition of the famous Apple phone, could today be worth over €10,000 if it works? To always remain in the Apple House archives, do you happen to have a copy of the rare Apple Lisa? They could also pay you the same amount; a little less than the first versions of iPod, but still many thousands of euros!
There are so many objects, more or less common, that could be valid today, so 1Solo.mag’s advice is: check the web for a moment or, better yet, ask one of our shops, before throwing away an object from the past! You could throw away a “small” fortune…
INSIGHTS
La Repubblica – Collecting between Business and Passion
QuiFinanza – The things you have in the cellar that could be worth a fortune: from trading cards to old Apples