I don’t know about that…allegedly, they stopped making them because they were popularly used for snorting cocaine. No idea if that’s true.
I’m drawing a blank on the most I’ve seen a happy meal toy go for. The average happy meal toy is worth from $1-5.
Old cereal prizes are often worth serious money.
I’m stunned to read they’re even worth that much. I usually see those albums in the dollar bins at the flea market.
I think it must be a rule that every thrift store and flea market vinyl vendor have on hand a bunch of Herb Alpert records, as well as a shitload of Barbara Streisand, Barry Manilow and Mantovani albums.
I don’t think anything advertised as a “collectible” is ever going to be worth much.
On the other hand my mother collected Hummel figurines, and my aunt seemed to think I could sell them. I gave them to my aunt instead. Hated those things.
The “hypermoderns” are weird. I sold a Patricia Cornwell on eBay and it was amazing–I had it for $5. The price went up, and up, and up, and somebody ended up paying $39 for it, plus shipping. Why? It was in the bookstores 10 days after I sold it, for $29. They paid more to get it … 10 days before the drop date? It was not even an embargoed novel. There were plenty of copies around. (This gave me a very distorted view of eBay book sales BTW. But I got over it.)
You mean my father didn’t buy that one for the music?!? 
But I really do wish that someone would tell my mother that her albums are worth a price somewhere between “bupkus” and “nil.” I’m tired of moving umpteen tons of vinyl during the Great Semi-Annual “Mom’s Gonna Clean Out the Storage Building” Spasm. I even gifted her with a device a couple of years ago, with which she could (with the help of her trusty, tech-savvy 12-year-old grandson) transfer her vinyl to disc or MP3, along with a collectible records price guide. The deal was supposed to be that she’d save the music she wanted, and then get rid of the crap that retails for less than $1.98.
Anyone want to guess who still owns the entire Barry Sadler album featuring “Ballad of the Green Beret?” 
If I learned anything during my first marriage (other than “never marry an only child, especially one with a comic book collection,”*) it’s that the average consumer’s idea of “in quite good condition” has almost no relationship to condition grades in the comic book and trading card market. Is there a white mark on the spine where a kid read the stupid thing? Downgrade by at least two levels. Is there a microscopic fold on one (or Og forbid) TWO of the corners of the covers? Might as well dig through the trash bin for another one just like it. A puzzlement to me!
I kid, I kid.*
**Sort of…
It’s been a long time since I was really interested in collecting coins, but I retain enough of that numismatic feeling that this thing makes me grit my teeth every time I see it. (A modern silver bullion coin that has Lady Liberty painted in Red-White’n-Blue!) And of course, given my former interest in coins, well meaning relatives have given me a couple of just these things as a valuable gift!
my gramma insists that ‘a collector’ in the papers in looking for movie posters and would die for my Pulp Fiction poster.
Not even the people that come and buy people’s things for well below what they’re worth (and that’s what ‘the collector’ in the paper is ) want a foam core video store poster, they want the theatre one-sheet posters.
But she also claims 16 year old shoes are the latest style because they are high heels. Just wait until she gets me to drag them to the resale shop. And the car ride home where she screams at me because they won’t take them.
“Collector’s Edition” DVD’s. They’ve got to be joking.
I think the most valuable collectibles are things that are rare on accident, like error cards and mis-struck coins.
Hmmmm…
Adfter reading this, I’m curious about the value of two packs of Magic, The Gathering cards I have. I have two completely unopened packs from the first year. They’re in the original unbroken plastic wrappings (so obviously, I have no idea what’s inside). A friend gave them to me, and I was never even curious enough to open them.
What do you think they’d be worth?
Remember how many people in your town thought they could turn this into a retail business? Mostly the baseball-card shops and the comic book stores which popped up like mushrooms in the…what, late 80s early 90s? And, while not quite brick and mortar, someone in town ran a Beanie Baby store out of their garage (for a month or so – pretty sure that violated zoning). I’m actually amazed a few of these places stuck around…there were at least ten collectible stores riding the baseball-cum-comics-cum-magicthegathering wave.
I will go out of my way for an old car show-I enjoy looking at cars from the 1930’s-60’s. What amazes me-the guys who own these heaps seem to think that their beloved car is made of gold-and that a “restoration” consists of slapping some parts from JC Whitney on, with a $199.00 MAACO paint job. Most of these cars are worthless (except to another such “collector”). The only old cars that fetch huge prices are unique, limited production cars, or oddballs (like the Tucker). So the old geezer who has a rusting old 1958 Edsel in his back yard-and thinks it’s worth a million is deluding himself. You do hear(from time to time), of a bunch o valuable old cars found in a barn somewhere-but those instances are pretty rare.
Beat me to it. Billy Beer is possibly THE supreme faux-collectible. I’m almost tempted to assemble a case of the stuff sometime.
I was gonna say, did someone say $10 for a copy of this? I seriously can’t think of an album i trip over more often. Maybe the Eagles Greatest Hits.
A friend of mine spent hundreds of dollars on Xena cards, $300 for one card alone. I have not checked the Xena market lately but I would bet his “collection” is now worth about $20.
You could get a $70 USB turntable and do it yourself.
Yeah, for anywhere between $30 and $1600, depending on the figurine and condition.
I haven’t played Magic in years, but if I recall pretty much any card that gets deemed an unfair “buyable” advantage (or simply any card that can unbalance the game) gets banned from tournaments. The Black Lotus is a specific one I recall (and I remember when everyone had their own bootleg copy, heh).
Not much. There’s practically no market for the unopened packs, they could be full of really crappy cards.I could pay you five bucks each for them if you want, and you won’t get a better offer.
Tell me what it looks like. Is it like the first pack in this link: Wizards of the Coast
If so, it’s probably Alpha. It’s possible it could be Beta as well. Check to see if it has “Unlimited Edition” or “Revised Edision” across the middle of it.
If it’s one of the first two, it’s quite likely you could get around $300-$400 apiece for them.