Collectibles as a Hobby

Introduction

Some of you may not remember or even realize that many hobbies are fast becoming endangered species. Just as we have made many animals extinct, we will also cause many of the hobbies we cherish so much in the past extinct.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, let me explain. In the case of digital age, identical copies can be made of a lot of things. Since it is so easy to recreate them, they no longer have the value of time and are no longer collectibles.

Comic Books

Imagine for a minute if you will, your great grandfather bought Action Comic # 1 and kept it in pristine condition somewhere in your attic. If you found it and sold it today, you can get US$1.5 million dollars for it. That comic was bought for 50 cents.

Nowadays, the comics are available as an app in Ipad. As the demand for printed comics go down, the publishers like Marvel and DC will stop producing them. I remember there used to be many specialty shops for comics. Each week, the comic fans gather in anticipation for the next issue of Thor, Ironman, Avengers etc.

It was a mini gather of fans as they spend time arguing who is stronger – Thor or Incredible Hulk. All this will disappear since the comics will now be delivered electronically to your computer.

Stamp Collection

I remember the excitement of getting a letter or postcard from my pen pals. The thrill of receiving a message from another country was incredible. This was further increased because we had to wait at least two to three weeks before we can receive a response to our postcard.

Not only that, we get to see pictures and different and amazing stamps.

We are also driven to make get more friends from more countries if we wanted to collect stamps from these various countries.

One of the most expensive stamp in the world in the world cost US$2.3 million.

I recall in the movie “Brewster’s Million”, Richard Pryor bought a very rare stamp for US$1.25 million and subsequently used it.

However, more and more of us depend on email, IM and SMS. Post Offices all over the world have to remake themselves or risk going out of business. Another similar collectibles are First Day Cover. That too will disappear.

Vinyl Records

Used to be that music comes in Vinyl records which would last a long time if handled correctly. Imagine having an original Beatle, The Supremes or even a Bing Crosby record. These were very rare and sought after collections. Nowadays, everything is electronic and in devices like Ipod and Iphones. There is no media to speak of so none of them will increase in value over time.

Unfortunately for the vinyl, there are very few players around too so the values are not likely to increase compared to other collections.

Coin Collections

Collecting coins and bank notes is also an excellent hobby. However, as we go more and more towards a cashless society, it is going to be tougher to do.

Investments

Why did I pick these few things as hobbies for collections? These items are the ones that could be done by ordinary people. True there are art collectors, wine collectors, and treasure collectors but usually those are only available for the wealthy.

Final Words

Most of us took part in these hobbies for the joy and pleasure of enjoying our collections. Very few of us really did it for the money. So what is left for the new generation, are they able to get similar hobbies?

You can be my referrals on the following sites:
Triond
Bukisa
Wikinut
MyLot