I also dabble in collectibles. If you are smart (and that means very deep knowledge into a narrow niche), money can be made. On the other hand, collectibles are extremely volatile. I always tell people, go with collectibles if you like the stuff and know your business. But put your serious investments into Wall Street. Many people have lost their asses in collectibles. Especially sports cards and comics, which I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot Czechoslovakian.
red or supa, have any idea if those old 45 records are worth anything? I sometimes see a few piles come across this auction I sometimes attend. They don't bring much but I've always wondered if putting them on Ebay would turn a pretty penny. If it's costs more than they're worth to make them, how do you make money sorting them? Or what is that may be the better question.
Some can be worth a ton. You could strike gold more than likely you'd strike out. It would take a knowledge of what is popular.
All true. I don't invest. I look to buy items at a price I know I can make moneY and get rid of them quickly for profit. Gi joe figures were cold last year. I was buying them at half of the market rate when I could, mostly through buying large lots that were poorly made from eBay. With the movie they took off, and I'm selling now. With stocks it's about time in. With collectibles it's about timing.
As in most collectibles, the 80/20 rule applies. 80% of the value will be found in 20% of the items. You need deep knowledge of artists and recordings to sort it all out . . . decades of experience collecting, buying and selling. Elvis P. Resley is far more popular than Slim Whitman, but Tha' King made millions of everything and most are quite common. There are few Slim Whitman collectors, but they will pay top dollar for a never-played disk with the picture sleeve. On vinyl records . . . condition is everything. For 45's, the original picture sleeves are worth more than the disks. LP's still in the original shrink-wrap are gold. Pristine condition disks bring top prices, scratches, pops, fingerprints and "Sharon" written on the label drops the price significantly. Old juke box 45's are unplayable junk. the grooves are worn away. Grab every 78 you find cheap. People collect them in any condition, since most of them suck. if you buy a box of old records for a few dollars, it can be fun just trying to pick the gem or two that will sell for good money. The rest you will be stuck with . . . or sell for a few dollars at the next auction. If you like spinning vinyl like me, its worth it to play a record from some artist you've never heard of . . . and you really like it. Do the research. Spend 5 bucks and buy a copy of Gold Mine, the periodical of the record collector and dealer. It's full of sales lists with prices. It's a start. You, muthafugger, live close to Floyd's Record Shop, a legendary vinyl venue that has been selling disks to your neighbors for 60 years. There are probably a ton of collectible cajun, country and zydeco records in every garage and attic in St. Landry Parish. Every recording act that played in the Evangeline Club has collectors. Edgar and Johnny Winter, GG Shinn, Potliquor, Joe Stampley and the Uniques, . . . you remember the rest. E-bay has an international audience. Friggin' Europeans are huge fans of certain American artists that are largely unknown here.
That depends on the collector. Some people are into prototypes and unproduced stuff. Among them, the Rocket Firing Boba Fett is probably the consensus pick for most sought after. For people who collect produced things the grails are the 1977 Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Ben Kenobi with double telescoping lightsabers, the blue Snaggle Tooth figure, Yak Face, and some figure from the Star Wars Droids line that was only released in South America called Vlix. Also the last 17 figures produced in the vintage line are all highly sought after. Yak Face is the rarest and most expensive of the Last 17. I have lucked into a double telescoping Luke, a Yak Face, and a blue Snaggle Tooth. I list 50 items a month on ebay. Most of what I sell is through networking on message boards, and sales to local clients. I have one guy who collects transformers and he emails a list every month of what he wants and what he wants to pay, and I track it down. I have another client that is an army builder so he wants duplicates of any and everything. He is easy to buy for. Copper pennies have a melt value that fluctuates between 2 and 4 times their face value of 1 cent. Copper investors will often times pay 2 to 2.5 cents for a copper penny. I bought a sorter that separates pennies by weight, and for a while I was picking up boxes of pennies at the bank sorting them, stashing the copper ones, and returning the zinc ones to the bank. At one point I had over 500,000 copper pennies. But I sold most of them when the going rate was 2.7 cents. With the penny sorter it was a good, risk free investment. As the price of copper has declined I stopped doing it. Just another of my crazy get rich quick schemes, that turned 5000 dollars into 9500 (after all selling fees, and expenses factored in) in about 4 months.
Thanks for all the info. I also thought there was a Jawa produced in '77 that orginally had some kind of cloak or vinyl cape that was also pretty rare.
With the recent Aaron Hernandez story, I've heard a couple of mentions about collectors that are interested in items associated with murders or morbid situations. Jeffrey Dahmer inspired a lot of interest but they intentionally destroyed most of his items via a fundraiser. One collector said he didn't think the freezer still existed but he'd pay 50k for it if it did. It got me thinking that some people probably have a room dedicated to creepy stuff like this that they have purchased on ebay or wherever. That would probably creep me out if I walked into a room full of various items from different murders/serial killer events.
You are right. The Jawa was originaly released with a vinyl cloak like the ones Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi had. Early in production Kenner decided to upgrade to a woven cloak. The thought was the figure is already half the size of others and they should church it up. The vinyl cloaks are very rare and very sought after. They are also easily faked. There are so many reproductions out there it has kind of killed the value. Reproducing vintage Star Wars weapons and accessories is big business. Serious collectors can spot a fake a mile away, but many new collectors don't know the difference and buy figures or reproduction weapons, then pass them off to other collectors unknowingly. It is a big problem within the hobby. When I come across repro weapons I destroy them, or give them to my son for is figures.
