Swap Shop

were gifted with fewer toys. As a result, they handled them carefully and they were stored well between play times. Therefore, tin cars, porcelain dolls, cast iron banks, and board games have lasted longer than most of us can remember. When we find one in good condition today, our emotions are enlivened. There have been times when manufacturers con- trolled and limited availability of new items on the market. This falsely inflated their collective values. For instance, the Beanie Baby craze of the early 1990s that became a cultural event. By posing rarity in brick and mortar stores then releasing huge num- bers to pack store shelves, the public was misguided into buying and saving hundreds of thousands of the small plush toys. This caused the future value of the $5.00 items to be falsely enlarged. Today, Beanie Babies are valued at less than $1.00 each, if any- thing at all. I believe the rule of thumb for collecting should be as follows: > What is the targeted market? > How far and wide will it be marketed? > How many will be manufactured? > Can the new item be easily copied? > Is it serendipitous enough to last until it can be- come rare? > How long are you willing to wait to liquidate your collection if keeping for a future profit. > Do you have the means for proper storage? If a potential collector decides to include an item in their keepsakes, certain things should be kept in mind. Modern day items aren’t as durable as those made earlier. New collectibles are expected to be kept NIB (New In Box) and never used or played with to retain maximum value. There shouldn’t be any damage to the packaging, and it must be kept in an area void of extreme temperature or moisture changes. Be aware, most things promoted as collectible in today’s market are manufactured in such large quan- tities that they will never gain enough scarcity to gar- ner higher than the original price. It is those things people don’t think to keep that become the most en- vious to have, i.e., valuable to someone else to pos- sess. Two words to remember when deciding to be- come a collector are rarity and condition of the de- sired items. Lynne Adams Barze’, author-writer-poet.net, lynneadabar@hotmail.com www.southernsenior.info 13 S