What are Collectibles?

A collectible is most anything less than 100 years old that someone wants to buy or collect.  We delineate collectibles into two categories, a true collectible and a man-made collectible.  Both may have value but there is generally more value for a true collectible than for a man-made collectible.

Barbie Doll Collectible

True Collectibles
A true collectible is an item that was not intentionally made or produced to be collected.  Rather it was meant to be used or played with or just enjoyed for its decorative value.  An example would be the first Barbie Doll, which was produced in 1959.  These dolls were played with, not put on a shelf in its original box with the idea that someday it would be worth a lot of money.  Today, the few early ones that were kept in near mint condition are worth a lot of money, even more if you have the original box.


Man-Made Collectibles
By comparison, the modern day man-made collectible Barbie dolls although truly quite lovely to look at are worth only a small proportion of the 1959 Barbie.  At the present time the marketplace for these modern dolls is the first-time buyer; they are difficult to sell on the secondary market even for the original purchase price.  There are some rare exceptions where they sell for more than the original price but not as a rule.


Baseball Cards
Baseball cards manufactured prior to 1970 have more value than those produced after 1970 as the earlier ones were collected by kids who played with them, swapped them with their friends or even put them on their bicycle spokes to make their bikes sound more like a motorcycle.  Around 1970 baseball card manufacturing companies started mass producing cards and as the supply went up, the demand went down.  Consequently the market for modern cards is very poor compared to the earlier cards.