Collectible investments remain one of the most open – and unpredictable – investment markets. The term can cover almost anything that sits outside more conventional financial investments such as ISAs, stocks and shares, or property. This leads to a market where childhood toys compete with gold coins, wine or even cars. The world of collectible investments is eccentric, to say the least.

Successful Collectible Investments

In recent years, the childhood toy market has seen some major successes, with large collections and rare Matchbox Cars going for serious amounts of money. These compete with Star Wars figurines, the popularity of which continues to grow with the recent reboot of the film series. The music industry has also seen some major money-earners, with memorabilia and vinyl first editions fetching decent prices against their original outlay.

New to the market are vintage electronics such as the original Game Boy, but given the relative short lifespan of modern day machines it’ll be interesting to see if this specific area of the market has any future potential.

Gold remains ever popular, with coins and jewellery keeping value and bars being seen by many as a safe side-investment.

Failures

Wine success stories are everywhere, but it’s usually only at the top end of the market where monetary dreams can be made. At this level, investors tend to be professional in their knowledge of what wines to buy and where to sell them – the market requires real expertise alongside financial wealth. More casual investors are too often left with crates of ancient vino that the modern market has lost interest in.

Other failures highlight the difficulty in predicting future successes. Figurines such as those created in Germany by Hummel were looked upon by many as heirlooms in the making, but the manufacturers made their pieces in such bulk as to destroy any future sellers’ market.

Mass production has also dampened products that in older years have been successful – original film memorabilia from the 1920s and ‘30s has often made a profit, but get to the 1970s and beyond and the word ‘rarity’ is virtually non-existent.

Is it worth putting money in?

Looking at the investment market as a whole, there are better guarantees elsewhere that are likely to keep your money safer, even if they don’t bring the kind of financial successes you had in mind. Looking at a specific example such as Star Wars memorabilia, it would have been impossible in 1977 to predict the success that followed, meaning much is left to chance.

Perhaps it’s best to look upon the collectible investments’ market as a game in itself. Given its unpredictability, buy for pleasure instead of buying with future profit in mind, enjoy your purchase, and if chance is on your side, those products resigned to the attic may just return to put a smile on your face.

(Source: ABC Finance)