Friday, December 19, 2014

Short Baby Boomer Collectibles

Economist:

"[A] generation is still holding on to boxes upon boxes of baseball cards: children’s toys, essentially, that somehow became transmuted into something quite different. Mr Jamieson recalls his own experience attempting to unload his hoard in 2006, boggling at the rock-bottom prices they commanded on eBay, an auction site. 'One guy wanted $1,500 for his ten thousand cards. He didn’t understand: we all still had our ten thousand cards.'"
Here's a prediction: baby boomer junk isn't worth nearly as much as they think it is. This category on ebay is in trouble. Baseball cards, coins, Corvettes: get rid of it. And, of course, modern art.

8 comments:

Rob Dawg said...

You can have my complete Barnyard Commandos set when you pry them from my cold dead... or more likely when my heirs put them in eBay with no reserve.

Stagflationary Mark said...

You can pry my phaser from my cold dead fingers as well! I'm holding to maturity! (And it is unlikely that I ever mature. ;))

July 7, 2012
Pop Quiz: What Costs $27 per Troy Ounce?

Phasers!

I paid $28.95 (not counting shipping, handling, and tax) in July of 2009. It's been one of the best investments since the depths of the recession. I'm up 287%!

That was when they were just $112. They want $159 today.

I'm now up a whopping 449%!

They just aren't making any more cheap plastic phasers! Buy now or forever be priced out! Hahaha! :)

In all seriousness, I didn't buy it as a collectible. I didn't even keep the box. I just thought it would be fun to have. It is/was. :)

CP said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_in_Star_Trek

TJandTheBear said...

It's not just collectibles -- golf, horse racing, drag racing, baseball and any number of other pastimes are slowly dying with the boomers.

Yeah, baseball's making money off new cable TV contracts but the butts just aren't in the seats. Heck, the world series doesn't get the ratings of a Thursday night NFL blowout. Damned straight nobody's going to care about baseball cards.

Unknown said...

It's not just collectibles -- golf, horse racing, drag racing, baseball and any number of other pastimes are slowly dying with the boomers.

Piloting is another interest that seems to be dying off with the boomers.

Prechter wrote about collectibles in Conquer the Crash:

Rock 'n' roll memorabilia and other baby-boomer collectibles are probably at an all-time top. Baby boomers who covet reminders of their youth will die off in the next 30 years, and most of their collectibles will be considered little more than curios.

bjdubbs said...

I made the mistake of selling an original ipod about six months ago. Value has since doubled, at the least. That's where the next wave of collecting is probably going to be (or is), tech and Gen X collectibles.

Anonymous said...

"It's not just collectibles -- golf, horse racing, drag racing, baseball and any number of other pastimes are slowly dying with the boomers."

The millenials must have hobbies...what are they? Sitting at home texting? Logging on to facebook?

AllanF said...

Maybe this is obvious to everyone else as well, but since it's not been said, I think this is just another example of our dropping national standard of living.

Hobbies cost money. When the cost of the necessities: housing, healthcare, credentials, and regulatory compliance go up, and the labor market's supply curve is moved down from unchecked immigration (and, let's be frank, women working instead of raising the next generation), its no surprise people "hedonically adjust" their leisure interests.

Consumer electronics is the opiate of the masses.