More Declining Collectibles

               At the conclusion of my last blog post, I made mention about Beanie Babies. Yes, those cute little stuffed animals that everyone seemed to want, and have, in the 1990s.

                Even parents wanted to get in on the Beanie Babies craze, knowing that if they held on to them long enough that they would eventually be worth a fortune down the road. Especially the Brittania Bear, which could fetch several thousand dollars at one time.  But times changed.

                You can imagine what happened. And you would be right. The Beanie Babies became so wildly popular that Ty, the manufacturer, produced more and more. Crash. The market became saturated with those adorable Beanie Babies.

                Most of the stuffed animals can be bought for a few dollars, or even less. Even the Brittania Bear can be bought for about $10. However, you might want to take an inventory of what you have before you donate your Beanie Babies to a charity or hold a garage sale. You still may be possessing a goldmine.

                If you really are unsure of what you have, do yourself a favor. Look to see if you have a Princess Diana bear. In the unlikely event that you have one, it is okay to scream with joy. They are worth several hundred thousands of dollars. But you might want to cash out fast before someone finds that they have a boxload of them.

                Supply and demand. The more Beanie Babies that were made, their price went down. The same held true with Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.

                The Cabbage Patch Kids actually were first introduced in the 1970s. However, once Coleco bought the brand in the 1980s the dolls became incredibly popular.

                Some dolls sold for as much as $1,000, but most went for about $25. However, as with the Beanie Babies, their fate was sealed when more were produced to meet the ongoing demand. You can now purchase most Cabbage Patch Dolls today for $10 or less. If you own any of those dolls, my advice is to hold on to them and give them to your grandchildren. They really are cute.

                Another category of collectibles that has lost its luster is Coke memorabilia. During the 1940s and 1950s, there was an outpour of people buying Coca-Cola items. Coke brand merchandise was everywhere. And they were selling. Coke brand items included television trays, radios, coolers, clocks, miniature cars, plastic containers, and much more.

                Through the years, Coke vending machines have maintained value, but most items have not. If you are one of the millions of Americans who own Coca-Cola items, you will not get more than a few dollars for most of them. I myself like the trays. They are nice Americana pieces, especially for Millennials.

                I become nostalgic when I think of the times I used to go to the McDonald’s and collected the Happy Meal toys. I even obeyed people who said that I should not open the bag because the value would decrease. And it was not only at McDonald’s where you could get a toy. However, most people even today associate the toys at fast food restaurants with McDonald’s.

                I used to tell people to collect sets of them. But not anymore. When a lot of the food establishments started coming out with their own, the values went down. Unfortunately, that has been the trend with most of the items I have discussed.  I have a friend who must have had several hundred of the Happy Meal toys. The sad fact is that the only value they truly have now is sentimental value. Just thinking about the anticipation of getting a toy at McDonald’s as a youngster is surely worth something.

               

                And that brings me to another type of collectible that has a great deal of sentimental value to Millennials in particular. Pogs. Remember them? They were a collection of merely circles of cardboard. But in the 1990s they were the key elements of a very popular game. Briefly, a player would stack the Pogs, and then hit them with a “slammer”. Each player would proceed to pick up the ones that were then face up. That would continue until there were no more Pogs to slam. Whichever player had the most Pogs won. I am not kidding. That was the game.

                At one time, Pogs could go for as much as several hundred dollars. Not now. Maybe a nickel.

                And the beat goes on. Values of many other types of collectibles have drastically plummeted. Included in the group that have also bit the dust are some comic books and even sports cards, as well as hot wheels, Longaberger baskets, and even lunch boxes.

                However, keep in mind that there are always exceptions within each category.

                In the next blog post, I will discuss items that are actually very collectible, including travel posters, and yes, Beatles memorabilia.