What Is Collectible

There truthfully may not be a single type of item that somewhere, somebody collects. However, certainly some items are far more collectible than others for various reasons.

So what is collectible? First of all, your collection is a personal thing. It's your collection. You may choose to collect something of beauty such as exquisite art glass sculptures or mechanical banks that are creatively designed and enjoyable to watch what they can do. However if you have accumulated an impressive representation of teabags, sugar packets, ice scrapers or computer mouse pads, you may well derive as much pleasure from any of these collections as the iron banks or art glass. These are just as much a legitimate collection as are stamps, coins, statuary, books or doll furniture.

Obviously, there is a distinct difference between a collector and an accumulator. Whereas an accumulator simply gathers items with no perceived "order" to the activity, a person with a collection does have some "order" relating to their selection, documentation and display or storage of the collection. They derive pleasure out of their collection; probably both in seeking new additions and researching them, as well as "showing off" or displaying their collection.

People have collections for different reasons. Most people have a collection because they enjoy it. They may collect cat figurines because they like cats. They may collect campaign buttons because they like politics and political history. They may collect postcards of lighthouses because they love going to the beach. They may collect Tea Leaf China because they remember their grandmother's Tea Leaf China on the dining room table at the time of special holidays. Many collectors associate their collection with childhood memories and quality of life. This is collecting for enjoyment.

Some collectors start a collection purely for investment purposes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this; and, in fact, your collection can be both for investment purposes AND for enjoyment at the same time. However, there is a catch with collecting for investment... make sure your collecting area is marketable and that there are other collectors or investors out there willing to pay you more for your memorabilia than what you paid for it. Do your homework and keep up with the values and trends. The first law of collectibles: scarcity equals value. Collectors who don't research supply and demand may well be wasting money. Also, be very quality conscious. Items with defects or "problems" are never going to go up in value like those with no problems. If you acquire an item "cheap" because it has a defect; you probably are also going to have to eventually sell it "cheap". This does not mean absolutely everything you buy has to be "mint" - in fact we despise the word "mint" as people have very misconceived notions as to exactly what "mint" means.

Also, if you are buying for investment, watch the trends in the particular collecting area you are approaching. Try to beat the curve. Few collecting areas are on an even plain. Although you might find some real bargains in a collecting area that has peaked and is on the downside of the curve, it probably is not a good collecting area if you are buying strictly for investment purposes.

This is important particularly in smaller collecting areas where there may be only a few hundred people who are actively collecting. One or two people can greatly influence the pricing in the entire collecting area. They can be aggressive buyers and drive pricing up across the entire collecting area double or triple in just a matter of a couple of years, particularly for the high end pieces in that collecting area. Likewise, if they suddenly decide they are tired of that collecting area, or pull out for any reason whatsoever, the entire collecting field will feel the impact of this void and prices can quickly dip.

There are thousands of people who start collecting simply due to a fad. It may be a short term fad which draws in huge numbers of collectors willing to pay top prices for items, and then the fad suddenly goes away and their collection goes down in value like a rock in a pond - Beanie Babies is a good example. There are fads; however, which have much longer staying power, such as Barbie Dolls and Hallmark ornaments. The production and marketing management of the manufacturers of these lines are keenly aware of trends and fads and skillfully keep their collecting base satisfied and interested. This is not new. The fads of the 1950s and 1960s relating to collector plates, Avon bottles, and Beam decanters brought in tens of thousands of new collectors with the market being saturated, but most collectors retained their collections on the perceived notion their collections would increase in value. Except with a very few exceptions, this was not the case, hence today the generation of collectors who were collecting in these areas in the 1950s and 1960s are now aging and there is a tremendous "glut" on the market with few interested buyers and their treasured items are bringing far less than what they originally cost 40 or 50 years ago.

The investor collector normally sticks with the larger, established collecting areas and buys quality, high-end merchandise. Although there may be dozens of collecting areas that could be listed here, some of the more traditional areas for the investor collector would include art, statuary, furniture, coins, stamps, books, jewelry, and vintage automobiles. These buyers will also look at the rare items in collecting areas such as dolls, movie memorabilia, sports, autographs, toys and banks, political, comics, pottery, glassware, clocks, guns, western, Native American, military, photography, quilts and textiles, advertising, and science fiction among others.

So, coming back to the original topic: What is collectible?... most anything is collectible but the expectations change drastically relating to a number of factors.

does your collection represent an "organized" collecting community? That is, is there a collecting club supporting the collecting area? Have there been price guides or other references written about the collecting area, or educational websites? Is it an area that is often featured at the auction houses? Is it an established, recognized collecting area? In other words, do you collect coins or empty toothpaste tubes?

Does your collection represent a lasting collecting area... or, is it a fad? Please note, there is nothing wrong with collecting in an area which is likely described as a fad so long as you fully recognize this, as it has built in risks. But if it is an area you thoroughly enjoy and you haven't dumped your life's savings into paying top dollar for those items you have to have to complete your collection, it may still be OK as a collecting area. Also, some fad collecting areas really do not hold a lot of risk. The U.S. Mint maintained there was over 125 million collectors of the state quarter series at the height of popularity. This is a fad, however we assume you paid 25 cents for each state quarter you have in your collection and you can always spend it for 25 cents purchasing power. Certainly not a good investment, but also little risk of loss. And, if you enjoyed trying to get each of the quarters in the series for your collection, no big deal! Your goal was self-satisfaction.

Once you have chosen a collecting area, become an educated collector. Learn the background and history of the collecting area, the values and literally everything you can about the collecting area. With the Internet, this is far easier than it was a decade or so ago, and very important. Besides values, learn if your collecting area has a problem with fakes or reproductions and how to detect them. Always attempt to buy quality items. Although many beginning collectors will buy items which may have "problems" thinking they will eventually upgrade that item, this seldom happens. Also, if it is a broad collecting area, you may definitely want to consider specializing in one or two segments of the hobby. This is particularly true with areas like coins and stamps but also in many other areas. If you like pottery you can obviously consider buying pieces in general which appeal to you, or you may wish to specialize in Van Briggle or Rookwood or Roseville. A breweriana collector may collect in general, or may center on a particular brand of beer or type of item, e.g. beer trays, bottles, coasters, openers, labels, and so on.

While "antiques" are still very much collectible, the majority of today's collectors choose areas that the industry places in the "Collectibles" umbrella outside the antiques area. This includes collecting areas like sports memorabilia, comic books, toys, Disneyana (items associated with the Walt Disney company), breweriana (beer-related items), tobacciana (tobacco-related items), kitchen collectibles, autographs, military items and hundreds of others.

Choosing a collection should be a topic that is enjoyable to you. You should be aware of price ranges... what can your budget afford? How much space will your collection take up? Obviously, if you live in a one-bedroom apartment, probably vintage motorcycles may not be the best selection as a hobby.

With so many new collectors not necessarily settling in on a specific collecting area but simply purchasing items of personal interest, either for decorating purposes in the home or office, or for nostalgia reasons, many of these artifacts may be highly collectible and may well go up in value over time, but doesn't mean that the buyer is any less a collector. It simply means their purchases don't fit an established collecting niche. For many people this may well be the most satisfying collecting experience of all. So your most recent collectibles' purchases include a tremendous looking vase that fits perfectly in the corner of the living room, a doll just like one you had as a child, and a movie poster from your favorite movie of all time. No, these items don't fit a single collecting group; but again, they are part of your personal collection to enjoy for as long as you want to keep them. This is the ultimate of having a quality personal collection.