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After being postponed for a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on July 23, 2021, the Summer Olympic Games will finally have their opening ceremony. With five new sports being added to the mix, viewers of the 2021 Olympics will have something new to get excited about, and loyal fans of these sports can watch their favorite athletes soar to new heights.
Without a doubt, these sports will present new opportunities in the world of collecting! The Olympics have always been a source of some extremely valuable memorabilia, from coins and collectible cups to pins, and Olympic medals to torches, and other items used in the Summer and Winter Games. 

A possible collectible for the Tokyo Olympics? Barbie launched a line of Summer Olympics dolls to commemorate each new sport! Each of these five dolls is equipped with everything she needs to compete in the respective sports of skateboarding, softball, sport climbing, surfing, and karate.

Which Olympic memorabilia will prove valuable for these new events? Here’s a look into each sport and the items that might become the collectibles of tomorrow!

Baseball and Softball

Baseball and softball are returning to the Olympic program, having been absent since 2008 after being voted out of the games. Sadly, it’s possible that this return will not be long-lived. These sports haven’t been proposed by Paris 2024 organizers. If you’re a fan of baseball and softball, be sure to watch the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, as this year could present a unique and historical viewing opportunity.

So what’s collectible?

Collectibles for this sport typically include items used in the game (such as bats, balls, and uniforms) and the ever-popular baseball cards. Another notable baseball collectible happens to be an Olympic coin. Baseball first appeared in the Olympics in 1992, and in that year the U.S. Mint produced a silver dollar that depicts an image of Nolen Ryan, a hall of fame pitcher.  

Karate

Wax on, wax off! In the 1970s, Jacques Delcourt sought to bring karate to the Olympics, and today this dream is being realized. If the sport’s modern Japanese origins are any indication, it will certainly draw a crowd. Olympic karate will involve two types of events, Kumite and Kata, along with three weight classes. A total of eighty competitors will participate, and both divisions are evenly split between men and women.

So what’s collectible?

Karate uniforms and equipment used in the Olympics could become collectible items. A notable part of the Olympic uniform is the red and blue belts that will be worn by Tokyo competitors. Whether an athlete competes as red or blue will be decided by a random draw. These belts will certainly be popular if any of them go for sale! 

Skateboarding

Olympic skateboarding involves two disciplines for men and women: street and park terrain. Forty men and forty women will participate across these two disciplines. The addition of this sport to the Olympic Games presents hope for an increase in viewership, which dropped by nearly 3 million viewers between 2012 and 2016. The International Olympic Committee would like to earn the viewership of millennials by including more youthful sports. 

So what’s collectible?

Skateboards themselves are excellent collectible items, and one can only guess that skateboards from these Olympic Games would become a valued collectible! Other skateboarding equipment includes helmets as well as elbow and knee pads.

Surfing

Surfing is another attempt to lure millennial viewers, and it also presents a great opportunity for the United States, as the current top-ranked male and female surfers are both from the USA. The sport of surfing was made popular in the early 1900s by Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii – a three-time gold medalist in swimming. Duke’s dream of making surfing an Olympic sport is finally being realized. The event program includes the shortboard for both men and women.

So what’s collectible?

Of course, surfboards from the Tokyo Olympics would be a popular collectible item! In general, the most popular surfing collectibles (besides boards) are vintage magazines and posters as well as surfing trophies. For the Olympics, trophies would translate to medals. In any sport, Olympic medals are among the most valuable collectibles, but they rarely go up for sale because of the sentimental value they hold for the winners.

Sport Climbing

Sport climbing is a discipline within rock climbing that involves three formats: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing. Bouldering involves climbing up short sections of rock or climbing walls free of ropes. Lead climbing involves climbing a pre-determined route on a climbing wall, and in speed climbing, participants race each other to climb up a 15-meter wall.

So what’s collectible?

Sport climbing involves equipment such as rope, belaying equipment (equipment used to control the rope), chalk, gloves, and special shoes. Which of these items will get scooped up by a collector at a later date? Only time will tell!

Insurance for Olympic Collectibles

No matter which Olympic memorabilia becomes something of value in the future, Collectibles Insurance Services is here to help protect it. For more information, contact our collectibles insurance experts today! 

Sources

https://gritdaily.com/new-sports-tokyo-2020-olympics/

https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/July/24/A-Complete-Look-At-All-The-New-Sports-And-Events-For-The-Olympic-Games-Tokyo-2020

https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-approves-five-new-sports-for-olympic-games-tokyo-2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate_at_the_Summer_Olympics

http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2016/08/22/nbcs-rio-olympics-is-the-most-successful-media-event-in-history/

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/07/23/tokyo-olympics-2020-surfing-skateboarding-sport-climbing-karate-baseball-softball-new-sports/

https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-skateboarding-will-look-like-at-2020-tokyo-olympics-2019-8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateboarding_at_the_Summer_Olympics

https://tokyo2020.org/en/sports/surfing/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_at_the_1992_Summer_Olympics

https://www.today.com/parents/five-new-barbie-summer-olympics-dolls-2020-tokyo-games-t174103

https://www.karatebyjesse.com/karate-tokyo-olympic-2020/

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/sport-climbing-checklist.html

Trading cards are experiencing an unprecedented boom in popularity thanks to the pandemic, but did you know that this collectible originated in the 1800s as “cigarette cards”? And did you know that the entire concept of collecting cards emerged from Victorian-era sentimentality and a fascination with new-fangled color printing?

The modern obsession with Pokémon cards, sports cards, and even digital cards is a far cry from the humble beginnings of “The Hobby.” Follow along with us for a closer examination of the history and the evolution of trading cards – plus a look at what the future may hold! 

Origin of Trade Cards

The original “trade cards” were advertising cards that were packaged with cigarettes for the purpose of stiffening the packaging. In the 1860s, shortly after baseball’s inception as a professional sport, baseball cards were printed, usually being sold in packets of candy or tobacco products.

In the 1870s and early 1900s, the popularization of “color lithography” or multi-color printing, led to the increased popularity of the “trade card.” Companies of all kinds would insert these cards into product packaging as a prize. The designs on the cards were often not product-related, but were humorous or beautiful, depending on the perceived tastes of the consumer.

Valued for their vibrant, full-color imagery, the public began to collect these cards, storing their collections in scrapbooks and albums. People would often trade with each other to obtain a complete set, hence the origin of their name. These cards faded in popularity as color printing became more common, but the concept of collecting trading cards was born.

Evolution of Sports Cards

In the 1930s, companies began to print biographies on baseball cards, and they came with packs of bubble gum. In 1950, Topps Chewing Gum Inc. began inserting trading cards into their packaging. These cards depicted TV and movie stars, football players, and big game hunters. In 1952, Topps began producing the sports trading cards that we know today, which included a player biography, records, and other statistics. This original set – which contains the rookie card for Mickey Mantle – is among the most valuable of all time. 

In the 1980s, sports cards started to be viewed as valuable collectible items. The monetary worth of earlier cards – many of which had been tossed away by mothers of college kids or had been destroyed after being stuffed into the spokes of a bicycle wheel – began to increase. As sports card collecting experienced a surge in popularity, companies produced more cards to meet demand. What’s more is that people began to regret the loss of their now-valuable childhood cards, so more people saved their collections in hopes of seeing an increase in value.

This overproduction of cards paired with an interest in preserving them led to most cards from the 1980s and 1990s being pretty much worthless today. Companies learned from their mistake, and today, they control the volume of cards produced to manufacture a sense of scarcity and drive up the value.

Introduction of Trading Card Games

The 1990s saw the introduction of something entirely new: the trading card game. In 1993, Wizards of the Coast released the first and most enduring trading card game, Magic: The Gathering. This game involves a combination of luck and skill, with two or more players who battle it out as powerful wizards called “Planeswalkers”. Each player’s deck of cards is comprised of their collection (or in some cases, derived from a limited pool of cards designated for a specific event). The “spells” that the players cast are determined by the cards they have available to them.

Also born in the 90s: Pokémon cards! Introduced in Japan in 1996 and the United States in 1998, the popularity of Pokémon cards have soared in recent years, and they are currently the most in-demand trading card out there. Although Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering are clear leaders when it comes to the genre of trading card games, many other well-known games have emerged, including KeyForge, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Game of Thrones: The Card Game, and Sorcerer. 

Trading Cards of Today

Today, trading cards of all kinds are referred to as “the baseball card industry,” and collectors refer to card collecting as “The Hobby.” Trading cards have the most value when they are officially graded – or ranked on their condition – with 1 being “poor” and 10 being “gem mint.” The most popular grading services are provided by Beckett and PSA. 

Lately, “The Hobby” has been experiencing a huge resurgence – mainly caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic – which has caused their value to increase. During lockdown, many people took a renewed interest in trading cards, and there were millions more submissions for grading services than usual. The increased demand led to PSA temporarily hiking up its prices to keep things under control. The huge interest in collecting Pokémon cards has caused many stores to run out of them. Target stopped carrying the cards for a while after a fight erupted in a parking lot over Pokémon cards.
There are generally three types of people who are interested in trading cards. There are flippers who are in it for the money. They might thrift an unopened pack of cards and sell it online for a huge markup. There are also investors, who are interested in purchasing cards whose value will appreciate over time. And finally, there are collectors, who simply love to collect trading cards and enjoy the nostalgia and the feeling of accomplishment that collecting brings. 

Many collectors got their start during their childhood, but as prices rise, trading cards are in danger of becoming something that’s only for adults. It’s important that trading cards are still accessible to children so that this age-old hobby can be passed on to the next generation.

Also growing in popularity is the emergence of trading card influencers. YouTubers such as Leon Hart, Poke Rev, and Randolph Pokémon are posting videos of them opening packs of Pokémon cards and sharing their finds with their followers. Charlie Parrino of JustRipIt sells shares of unopened, sealed vintage hobby packs and opens them in a live broadcast. Collectors seem to enjoy the thrill of seeing what an unopened pack of cards has inside!

The Future of Trading Cards

What does the future hold for trading cards? Virtual basketball cards have recently appeared on the scene and have been well received by fans. These digital cards feature “moments,” or floating digital cubes that feature a video highlight of a specific player. These are made possible by a technology called “blockchain,” which assigns each clip a certificate of ownership which cannot be copied or deleted. These moments sell for around $10-$20 each. 

Will these digital clips remain popular in the future? Will paper trading cards become a thing of the past, or will they endure for their novelty and for the tactile experience that print brings? Only time will tell!

Protection for Trading Cards (and More)

Whatever your preferred trading card genre, it’s important to protect your collection! Did you know that most homeowners insurance policies don’t cover or limit coverage for your collectible items? Collectibles Insurance Services provides affordable, specialized coverage for collections of all kinds. It only takes a few minutes to get a quote – so get yours started today!

SOURCES
https://www.cardboardconnection.com/collectopedia/manufacturers/panini-america#post_anchor_1_10015
https://www.cardboardconnection.com/brand/leaf
https://www.britannica.com/technology/lithography
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/tobacciana/tobacco-cards
https://hypebeast.com/2021/5/panini-america-funko-pop-trading-card-release
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/13/target-pokemon-baseball-cards/
https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/trading-card-game/best-games/best-trading-collectible-expandable-card-games 
https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/tradecards/exhibition/history/index.html#modalClosed
https://myextracards.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-sports-trading-cards/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/56167405
https://www.cardboardconnection.com/why-sports-cards-early-90s-worthless
http://www.upperdeck.com/collectors-zone/trading-card-history.aspx
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/25/archives/baseball-cards-ruled-a-monopoly-us-examiner-finds-topps-gum-holds-a.html
https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2012/02/09/the-topps-monopoly-is-leading-to-crappy-baseball-cards/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topps
https://innotechtoday.com/why-pokemon-cards-went-crazy-during-the-pandemic/
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/sports-cards-gone-virtual-big-way-rcna573
https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2021/5/16/22334507/sports-card-collecting-boom-explained-nft-future
https://innotechtoday.com/why-pokemon-cards-went-crazy-during-the-pandemic/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/national-league-of-baseball-is-founded#:~:text=The%20first%20official%20game%20of,America’s%20first%20professional%20baseball%20club
https://www.cardboardconnection.com/brand

It all started in 1996, when Ellen Stohler and her husband were living in a small town in New Jersey. The last to get cable, they were excited to explore the various channels when they came across the shopping channel QVC. Bill Fenton of Fenton Art Glass was showcasing a beautiful Mulberry hand painted vase. “He was a wonderful man and the perfect spokesperson for Fenton,” Ellen says of Bill. Her husband fell in love with that hand painted vase, and they ended up placing an order for it. They were very pleased with their purchase, but it wasn’t until years later that the real collecting began.
Occasionally, Ellen and her husband would watch QVC and would buy a Fenton piece, but they were so busy with their careers at the time that collecting wasn’t on their radar. In 1998, they both retired and moved to Virginia. During the episodes of QVC, they would often hear about the Fenton Tent Sale. In 2004, they finally made the trip to Williamstown, West Virginia (where Fenton glass is manufactured) to check out this tent sale for themselves. They had a great time at the sale, but it was a trip to the gift shop that really wowed them. “We were bowled over with the beauty we saw. You had to walk around several times to absorb all of the glass on display.” This was the day that the serious collecting began.
What makes this collection so special is the wide variety of different types of glass. Ellen notes that Fenton made so many different types of glass in their 105 years of existence that it would be impossible for a serious collector to obtain every kind. The premier glass that Fenton manufactured is Burmese glass, which is made with uranium and real gold. If you shine a black light on this glass it will become fluorescent because of the uranium. In regular lighting, Burmese glass is yellow with a pinkish color rising to the top of the piece, creating an ombre effect. The reason for this pink glow is that when the glass is heated, the gold rises to the top. Another favorite glass of Ellen’s is called Favrene. The base of Favrene is cobalt glass, which creates a deep blue shade, but silver is used in the formula, giving it a beautiful silver sheen. Another special, luxurious glass is Cameo glass, where an artist will develop a design on the piece with several layers of carving.
Another type of Fenton glass are Fenton animals, which are among the most popular pieces by the company. Ellen has a collection of animals designed by Delmer Stowasser, who worked for Fenton in the mid-1980s. Stowasser made something called offhand glass, which is blown glass that’s made without a mold. He designed a series of tiny elephants, birds, and whales, which now sell for between $300 and $500 each.
One of Ellen’s favorite pieces is a blue Stowasser elephant. Fenton had a museum just above their gift shop, which was a collection of all the special Fenton pieces throughout the decades. This elephant was one of the items on display, and Ellen used to look at it and think about how much she would love for that elephant to be a part of her collection. When Fenton went bankrupt, they unfortunately had to sell some of their assets, and items from the museum went up for auction. In the last auction, the blue elephant was up for sale. Ellen told her husband, “If we get nothing else in this auction, I’m going home with the elephant.” She placed the winning bid, and the elephant was hers.
Ellen’s collection is on display all over her home! She has several curio cabinets filled with pieces from every decade, starting with the 1920s up until when Fenton closed in 2011. What is not on display is stored in plastic storage bins. Occasionally, she’ll rotate pieces to change up what’s on display. Ellen mentions that one thing that makes her collection so special is that many pieces are one-of-a-kind – so you won’t find them anywhere else. What’s more is that this collection has so many incredible stories behind it, giving it a special kind of sentimental value.
One such story involves a special encounter with Delmer Stowasser himself. Ellen and her husband became members of the national club, where they are still heavily involved, and they also regularly attend the national convention. 2014 was an exciting year for that convention, because the chairperson was able to get together Robert Barber, Dave Fetty, and Delmer Stowasser – all well-known Fenton glass artists. At the time, the factory was closed and not making any glass, but there was a building called Gabbert that was full of discarded glass shards that could be reused. Ellen and her husband were watching Robert and Dave make glass from the shards when they found themselves in a conversation with Delmer, who took a liking to them. Delmer ended up inviting them to his home, and then they took him out to dinner at his favorite restaurant. Then Delmer, a veteran, took them to a memorial park that sat high on a hill, overlooking the Ohio River. Two months after this pleasant encounter, Delmer passed away. “That’s a really pointed memory I have of a wonderful man, a hero, and a great glass maker.”

Like many children, Charlie Parrino started collecting cards of his favorite sports players when he was about 8 years old. “It was a pastime that was really popular all through the 70s,” says Charlie. As he got older and discovered eBay and auctions, he realized that people were selling unopened cello packs, and he began to purchase them. He explains that unopened packs have a mystique that opened packs don’t have. Could there be a Mickey Mantle? Or is it just a pack of common players that aren’t worth as much? “That’s where the whole thrill comes in,” he explains.
What started out as a childhood collecting hobby has grown into an exciting live broadcast that brings in plenty of viewers. Charlie’s website, JustRipIt.com, provides a thrilling way for any card collector to take their hobby to the next level. Similar to public stock, Just Rip It allows customers to purchase shares of unopened vintage hobby packs.
There are two ways that this works. In the first option, each share purchased equates to one card in the pack. This card is selected at random during the live broadcast, where Charlie rips open the sealed pack to see which cards are inside. Once the card has been pulled, it goes into a cardholder and is shipped out to the new owner for their personal collection. If a rare rookie card or Hall of Famer is pulled, it is then graded through PSA and SGC grading services. Cards are graded on a scale of 1-10 based on four factors that include centering, corners, edges, and surface. Grading a card is important because it adds value to the card.
The second buying option is equity packs. With equity packs, each share purchased is equal to a percentage of the total value of all the cards in the pack. Once an equity pack has been opened, the cards are graded and then sent to an auction house. The net proceeds from the sale are divided amongst the shareholders.
Buyers have no idea what they are going to end up with – but they have the chance to wind up with the card of a lifetime in mint condition. This lottery-style event generates a lot of excitement and anticipation, and viewers love it!
For Just Rip It, Charlie only purchases graded, unsearched packs of cards. These packs are rare. Charlie estimates that 90% of the “unopened” packs that are sold on eBay have actually been searched and resealed, so there’s no chance of stumbling across a valuable surprise. Charlie admits that he used to purchase ungraded packs, and on one such occasion he opened the pack and realized that inside was the wrong set of cards!
Charlie’s affinity for cards extends beyond sports cards. When asked what his favorite item is, he shares that he has two Three Stooges 1959 Fleer Yellow Wax Packs. He also collects Batman, Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, and more. These are tough to find, and when they go up on the site they sell out quickly.
One thing’s for sure – Charlie has taken a hobby and turned it into a unique broadcast that delights his viewers. “Some people are more excited about the show than the actual cards!”
If you’re interested in learning more about this live broadcast, visit www.JustRipIt.com.

Did you know that toys are one of the most popular collectible items? Collectors are acquiring (and insuring) modern and vintage toys of all kinds.
We can certainly understand the appeal! For many, toys can bring a nostalgic connection to their childhood. Collecting them can be a way of remembering the past, or even of finding that special toy that they always wanted but never had.
For others, collecting toys is less about nostalgia and more about fandom – whether they are Star Wars fans who love to collect action figures of their most beloved characters or movie lovers who purchase Funko POPS! from all their favorite films.
While the list of toy collections could be endless, we were able to narrow it down to the seven most popular items. Here are the most common collectible toys that we help insure:

1) LEGOs

In 1932, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded the company that would one day become LEGO. LEGOs were introduced as “automatic binding bricks” in 1949. They were intended as a toy system that would promote imaginative play in young children.
In the early 2000s, the company took on the adult market by introducing high-priced LEGO sets. These more expensive sets include themes such as Star Wars, James Bond, Friends, Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, and many other popular movies and tv shows.
Among the most valuable items are a LEGO Ultimate Collector’s Series Millennium Falcon (considered the holy grail among collectors), a LEGO Taj Mahal, and The Disney Castle. LEGOs are a great investment because they are popular and easy to care for. They retain the highest value when in mint condition or sealed in their original boxes.

2) Model Horses

Many young girls have owned a model horse at one point in their lives, but there are a select few who continue this hobby into adulthood and consider themselves collectors.
The most popular collectible model horses are produced by a company called Breyer. In 1960, they created their first model horse. When looking for Breyer horses, there are a few factors that determine their value. The first is antique Breyer horses, which are usually considered the most collectible. Limited run models are also considered collectible due to their scarcity. Finally, horses with unique variations are sought after by collectors. Ultimately, the value of a model horse is determined by what collectors are interested in, which can often change.
Also popular among collectors are horses that are made from artist resin. A professional artist will design a mold to create the resin horse, and it is then hand-painted.
A popular pastime among these collectors is model horse showing. This can be done through photography, where the horses are placed in miniature scenery and pictures are taken to show them off. It is also done in person at live model horse shows. Model horse collector Corina Roberts hosts one such show called Models in the Mountains, a retreat where people can relax, socialize, and engage in fun activities as well as show their collections.

3) Funko POPS!

Funko POPS! are one of the hottest collectible toys right now, and for good reason! The company produces POPS based on a wide variety of popular comics, television series, movies, and sports stars, as well as some collections based on the company’s mascot, Freddie Funko. The amount of ground they cover in pop culture is pretty incredible when you consider the licensing that is needed to make these little figurines.
The value of a Funko POP! comes from a combination of the scarcity of the item plus the level of demand. Among the rarest are the Holographic Darth Maul, Dumbo (with clown paint), Headless Ned Stark, Planet Arlia Vegeta, and Metallic Blue Batman. While there is some debate about which pops are the most valuable, many collectors believe that two exclusive Metallic and Platinum Stan Lee Pop Vinyls are the winners.
Some Funko collectors view their collection as an investment and work hard to keep them in excellent condition. POPS retain their value when they are in mint condition with the original, undamaged packaging. This doesn’t deter some collectors from displaying their collection outside of the box. The boxes aren’t sealed, so they can be safely stored away while the figurine is placed on a shelf. This featured Funko POP! collector and investor loves to auction off items from his collection on an app called WhatNot.

4) Toy Cars

Hot Wheels may be the most popular and well-known, but they are not the only kind of collectible toy car. Other brands include Matchbox, Johnny Lightning, Jada, Greenlight, M2 Machines, Winners Circle, Dinky Toys, and Maisto diecast.
The value of a toy car comes down to the condition, the scarcity of the model, and the manufacturer – with pre-war cars being the most sought after. Valuable models include the Dinky WE Boyce Delivery Van, the Matchbox ERF Dropside Lorry, the Bing Tinplate Tourer, the Matchbox Quarry Truck, and the Dinky No.505 Flat Truck.
Hot Wheels cars – which are also in demand – weren’t produced until 1968. With Hot Wheels, the most collectible cars are Redline cars – which were manufactured during the first eight years of production and have a red stripe on the tire. The original Sweet Sixteen Hot Wheels cars are a “wow” item for collectors, and Jerry Thompson is proud to have this complete first edition set.

5) Video Games

Those vintage video games you grew up with could be worth a pretty penny! Perhaps it’s the nostalgia factor, but older games and gaming systems are a coveted collectible item. The most valuable items are usually rare, limited-edition games or gaming systems, as well as prototypes that never quite made it to the market.
Among some of the most valuable finds are Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire for Nintendo Gamecube, Pokémon World Championship DS Systems, The Flintstones: The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak, Batman Forever Limited-Edition PAL, Super Mario Bros (the Asian version), Aztarac (an arcade game), 1990 Nintendo World Championships Gold, Stadium Events, and Gamma Attack.
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in collecting video games. In particular, collectors are interested in factory-sealed vintage games, especially games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The right game in the right condition can be quite valuable, with many selling for five figures and higher! Due to the high cost of collecting these games, video game collector Eric Naierman formed an investment group called the Vintage Video Game Club. Through this partnership with other collectors, Eric was able to gather over $1 million in capital to invest in video games!

6) Action Figures

Action figures are another popular collectible toy, and here at Collectibles Insurance, we see a lot of collections that star characters from Pokémon, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and DC comics.
“A Day with Pikachu” is a figure collection by Funko that’s currently very popular with Pokémon collectors. There are twelve figures in this collection, each featuring a seasonal theme or Pikachu with another Pokémon friend.
Among Star Wars collectors, the must-have action figures are those from, “Star Wars: The Black Series.” These high-quality, realistic figures feature a wide variety of characters from the Star Wars universe, and new figures are still being introduced.
Action figures cover a broad range of comics, television shows, and movies that extend far beyond Star Wars and Pokémon. No matter what genre they choose to focus on, collectors value items that are high-quality, realistic, and have a wide variety of options for posing.
We would be remiss if we failed to pay tribute the very first action figure: the 12-inch G.I. Joe military figure, introduced by Hasbro in 1964. Today, these original G.I. Joes are among the most valuable vintage action figures.

7) Board Games

Another popular item, some board games can be quite valuable, while others are simply fun to have around for the love of the game (or for the nostalgia).
There are a few factors to consider when determining the value of a vintage board game. The first is the game’s age. Older games – think 1800s or early 1900s – can be worth quite a bit of money. Rare games are also more valuable. Popular games like Monopoly and Scrabble aren’t worth much – even if the game is vintage – because of how common they are. Other factors to consider are the condition of the game and the game’s initial cost. Limited-edition games that retailed for a higher cost will retain their value over games that originally sold for much less.
Among some of the rarest and most valuable games are the Haunted Mansion Game, Star Wars: The Queens Gambit, Fireball Island, Dark Tower, The Game of Goose, and Settlers of Catan 3D Collector’s Edition.
No matter what you collect, Collectibles Insurance Services is here to help. Founded by collectors for collectors, we provide coverage for your most prized collections so that you can focus on what you do best: adding to your collection!
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https://howchoo.com/g/n2jkmmixn2i/rarest-video-games-of-all-time
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/business/video-games-wata-heritage.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Black_Series
https://pkmncollectors.fandom.com/wiki/A_Day_with_Pikachu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe
https://www.ranker.com/list/most-valuable-gi-joe-figures/jonathan-kantor
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https://geekandsundry.com/ten-rare-board-games-to-snap-up-the-second-you-can

Jerry Thompson first played with the original Hot Wheels cars from 1968 when he was just six years old. In seventh grade, Jerry would take his paper route money and head to the local Sears store during his lunch time to see what new Hot Wheels cars were available. “Hot Wheels Flying Colors were the hot cars at the time!” he shares. “I could hardly wait to go to lunch and go see what was new.” He took great care of his Hot Wheels and still has this original collection in his 48-car collectors’ case from the mid-1970s, but it wasn’t until the next decade that he began to consider himself a collector.
As he got older, he started buying lots of Hot Wheels cars, typically purchasing two of each: one to open and one to keep in the package and hang on the wall. He wasn’t focused on anything in particular. “I may have walked into Kmart in the 80s and bought between 20 and 30 cars per visit. It became an obsession pretty quick!” He can also recall a family trip to Disneyland in the 90s – prior to the era of GPS maps – when he looked for every Walmart in every city between southeastern Arizona and Disneyland so that he could buy Hot Wheels. “I was actually looking for Aquafresh toothpaste with the different Hot Wheels cars included.”
Today, Jerry’s collection is comprised of 90-95% Hot Wheels cars, ranging from the original 1968 cars to thousands of cars through 2000, as well as lots of sets and variations from today. He also has around 500 Johnny Lightning cars from the mid 90s and a couple hundred vintage Matchbox cars, which were part of a Hot Wheels Collection he purchased about seven years ago. Johnny Lightning was a brand of model cars that was around for a few years in the early 70s and then returned in the mid-90s. “They are a bit expensive,” Jerry explains. “[They went for] $250 a car, and on a ten-car set, that turns into a lot of money – especially when purchasing the whole case.” For a comparison, Hot Wheels cars have always sold for about $1. Jerry also owns a full-size 1980 Datsun 280ZX 10^th Anniversary Edition, and when he found out that Johnny Lightning came out with an exact replica, he had to have it. He has four total, in both color variations.
Jerry has the original “Sweet Sixteen” Hot Wheels cars that came out in 1968, as well as dupes of many of them. This includes multiple Custom Volkswagens, Custom Corvettes, Custom Eldorados, Custom Mustangs, and Custom Camaros. The Custom Camaro is one of his favorite items from the collection. “I owned a ’68 Camaro convertible 20 years ago, so it’s always been one of my favorites.”
Another interesting item from the Sweet Sixteen is the Custom Corvette, which Jerry has more of than any of the other original cars. In the mid-1960s, a designer from GM went to work for Mattel and became one of the original designers of Hot Wheels. He had obtained the blueprints of the 1968 Corvette, and used them to design the Custom Corvette for the Sweet Sixteen. “This Custom Corvette was on the racks in stores before the actual car was on the showroom floor,” Jerry explains. “Although there was some controversy, GM discovered this little car actually helped their sales!”
The Sweet Sixteen set is a wow item for many collectors. “I have a complete first edition set of Hot Wheels in the package and a second complete set of loose ones with the medal badges on display,” Jerry shares. He also has a more recent limited-edition reproduction of this set, the 2018 RLC Sweet 16 Reproduction Display, which is one of only 1,500 sets produced.
Another stand-out item is his pink Lola GT 70 from 1969. “A few collectors have wanted to trade me for it! It’s extremely rare. I purchased it with other items for about $150. It was a deal – this car alone is worth close to $4,000 or 5,000.” His first edition Custom Mustang with an open hood is a rare item as well. Jerry also really likes the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and the Custom Continental Mark III. He has several of these in the original package.
Hot Wheels collecting has changed a lot in the last 25 years. Today, Hot Wheels are very collector-oriented, and the collectible market is skyrocketing, with early edition Hot Wheels Redlines being the most sought-after cars. This term refers to cars that were manufactured in the first eight years of production, which can be identified by the red stripe on their tires. “To a collector, the Redline is the holy grail when you’re looking for cars.” The difference in value between two of the same cars in the package, one with Redline and one with black wall tires, could be hundreds of dollars. Another tidbit for collectors to keep in mind is that restored cars are generally worth less than original cars. Even if the car is a little less than perfect, it will hold its value more “as-is” than if it is restored.
About 60% of Jerry’s collection is on display in his Hot Wheels room. Everything is organized, flowing from the 60s, to the 70s, to the 80s, and into the 90s. “I need a bigger room!” says Jerry. “Before my now-wife moved in a couple years ago, my dining room wall was covered in Hot Wheels, [and so was my bedroom]. Now I have limited myself to the one room, as well as some shelves in my offices at home and at work.” He appreciates the “wow factor” that comes with being able to show off his collection. Many people don’t have room to put their collections on display, and they enjoy seeing what Jerry has done.
Jerry is also great at keeping a record of his collection. “For the last 25 years, I have kept a Quicken account of exactly how much I bought, when I bought it, and what it was. I have put a lot of money [into this collection].” This has been a worthwhile investment for him, and it’s special because it brings back a lot of memories. “I think of different cars I bought and when I bought them over the past 40 years. Other things have come and gone, but these Hot Wheels cars have been a huge part of my life.”

Like many collectors, Joe B. got his start at a young age, collecting baseball cards, coins, newspapers of special events, and the occasional comic book from the store racks. “My mom used to give me silver coins that she would find as change, and she also gave me coin books to put them in to organize and save.” These coins were among the first items that he intentionally collected.
Today, Joe’s collection is comprised mainly of two parts: his comic book collection and his collection of KISS memorabilia. His first purchase was X-Men #49, which he bought in 1968. He was just six years old at the time! “My oldest comic book is from 1942,” shares Joe. “It’s Camp Comics #1. It was a comic sent out to the men at war. Inside were cartoons like Bugs Bunny, but the cover had a picture of a pretty girl so it seemed like an adult magazine to others and not a cartoon book.”
Joe now has over 11,000 comics in his collection. The most valuable item is Amazing Spider-Man #1, the first solo comic of Spider-Man from 1962. “I bought this book over 15 years ago,” Joe shares. Besides this piece, the collection is full of other valuable and “quirky” comics, including an independent comic from 1971 called, Air Pirates Funnies #1, which has Mickey Mouse on the cover. “The problem is that Mickey is in an airplane with a package marked, ‘dope’ strapped to the plane. The publisher did not have the rights to print a book with Mickey Mouse, and Disney sued them and had the comic banned. There weren’t many printed, and it was printed on very cheap paper, so only a few now exist in ‘like new’ condition. I own one of only eleven graded as 9.8, NM+, which is the highest grade known for this book.”
As far as his KISS merchandise goes, Joe has been a fan since their 1975 album, “Alive,” was released. He did not consider himself a collector until he purchased his first KISS comic in the early 90s. He soon discovered an entire subculture of KISS fans who hosted annual fan-sponsored conventions. At the time, the only way to find vintage items to collect was at these conventions – or at flea markets. “My first major piece was a set of original 1977 Mego KISS dolls. I followed that up with a KISS transistor radio, a lunch box and thermos, bubble gum trading card sets, a jigsaw puzzle, a board game, a ViewMaster reel, Marvel Comics, and more. All of these items were from the 1970s.”
Joe has also collected newer KISS items such as action figures, magazines, and face paint kits. “KISS took marketing to a whole new level, and there are probably hundreds, if not thousands of items with the KISS logo on it!” Joe explains. In fact, KISS was so invested in their marketing that when their first comic book was printed, they pulled a very unusual marketing stunt: they had the book printed with some of their own blood. Each band member contributed, and they were photographed pouring their donated vials into the vat of red ink. Joe now owns a copy of this infamous comic book. In 1985-1986, he was able to meet the members of KISS while working for a music magazine. “I received guest passes at a few concerts, meet-and-greats, and their MTV unplugged reunion concert! I’ve seen them over 25 times in concert,” he shares.
Overall, Joe’s favorite item is probably his KISS pinball machine. While many collectibles are not meant to be handled, Joe loves that he can play with the pinball machine. “I can also share it with others without worry of it getting ruined and losing value.”
To catalog his comic book collection, he uses a computer program called ComicBase. This program stores a listing of the full collection and provides updated pricing on a weekly basis. The program is stored on Joe’s computer and in the cloud. “It’s a great tool that allows me at all times to know exactly what I own and the estimated value.”
For Joe, the best part of collecting is the ability to enjoy what he’s built. “All the learning, successes, and mistakes that went into amassing this group of items is very satisfying,” he shares. Joe believes that he’s always been a collector at heart. “Most ‘non-collectors’ think that collectors and hoarders are one in the same, but they are very different. I think a collector is by nature a nurturer; we get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from caring for and protecting the things we love.”

Jeff Cox got his start collecting baseball cards around 1987. He soon branched out and began collecting old programs and yearbooks. “The older I got, I started gravitating toward things I liked the most,” he shares. Being a Cincinnati Reds fan, he began to add game-used jerseys and batting gloves to his collection, as well as autographed memorabilia. One of the first signed memorabilia items he purchased was an Edd Roush autograph.
As his collection grew, Jeff discovered that he most enjoyed collecting “oddball” items – unique pieces that might not be worth as much, but can’t really be found anywhere else. Today, his complete collection includes items such as a 1947 Reds schedule, a 1986 Reds employee handbook, press pins, luggage tags, photo pins, and game tickets (including a record-breaking game ticket signed by Pete Rose and tickets to the 1940 World Series), and over 100 autographed baseballs. He has a menu, drinking glass, and napkins from Johnny Bench’s restaurant. “I’ve got a few correspondence letters from the Reds traveling secretary discussing hotel rates for the players,” shares Jeff. “I’ve got a 1976 World Series hospitality pass and a 1976 cameraman’s jacket from NBC sports. Those are the kind of things that are fun to find.”
While he’s slowed down with collecting baseball cards, Jeff has completed his team sets from 1953 to 2000. He has the complete run of scorecards and yearbooks dating back to 1953. More recently, he purchased a suitcase that was used by reliever Tom Hume. He also owns a pair of Adam Dunn’s cleats with his signature and the words, “First home run,” inscribed on the shoes.
Jeff finds it difficult to choose just one favorite item. “I’ve got a few!” He has a third base from St. Louis when Ken Griffey Jr. scored his 500^th home run. Another favorite is a more unique item: a 1954 scrapbook filled with every day’s newspaper clippings from the beginning to the end of the season. “It’s six inches thick!” The oldest item in the collection is an illustration and write-up from Harpers Weekly in 1869, showcasing the first pro baseball team. He also owns a few baseball cards that date back to 1909 and 1911.
To discover more items for his collection, Jeff likes to attend memorabilia shows for Cincinnati. There, he finds lot of memorabilia, such as Crosley field stadium seats. “It’s like Christmas!” he says. He also attends Reds Fantasy camp, where they have 24 former players coaching. “It gives you an opportunity to get personal and get autographs,” he explains. “It’s a cool experience if you’re a fan.” About 70% of the autographs in his collection are obtained in person through shows, signings at sports cards shops, and fantasy camps – making them extra special for the memories they carry.
One of the most valuable items in Jeff’s collection was obtained in a rather unusual way. Jeff and his wife were shopping at a flea market, and Jeff was browsing through a stack of scrapbooks. He found one that had some baseball cards taped to it and was shocked to realize that one of them was a Jackie Robinson 1949 Bowman rookie card. He paid $6 for the scrapbook, and he expects the card to be worth $1,000 or more once he has it graded.
Not including the baseball cards, Jeff’s collection has grown to include approximately 10,000 items. These are currently displayed in a tiny spare bedroom, but Jeff has big plans for the future. Jeff and his wife are building a house, and Jeff will have 700 square feet of space which he calls the, “Reds Hall of Fame North.” He plans to display his collection to look like a museum, but he doesn’t organize the items in any particular way. “I like things kind of mixed up – it makes you look a little bit more.” In the new home, everything Jeff has collected will be on display, and there will be room for more. The only item he doesn’t display are his programs and sports cards.
In addition to collecting, Jeff has one other baseball-related hobby: creating customized bobbleheads. In the past five years, he’s done at least 100 different ones. Jeff says, “It allows me to blend my artistic skills and love of baseball into one!” He sells the majority of the bobbleheads to other Reds fans, while keeping some personal favorites.
Ultimately, Jeff’s collection is a way for him to celebrate his passion for the sport. “As a baseball fan, every kids dream is to play major league baseball,” shares Jeff. “The large majority of fans don’t get to do that, so the next best thing is to collect things they love. I like to bring parts of the game into my collection. I can keep the game around me as much as possible!”

Sean Walsh has been collecting bobble heads, bats, and other trinkets from ballparks since he was 8 years old. As he grew older, he began to collect other baseball memorabilia, including catcher’s mitts from the 1900s to 1960s. His decision to start collecting stadium seats – which now comprises the majority of his collection – came upon him by accident.
“For the last 30 years, it’s been eat, live, and sleep stadium seats,” says Sean. In 1984, he got into construction and helped take down some old stadiums. He ended up purchasing some salvaged seats. In 1987, this hobby turned into a business that involved selling vintage stadium seats. Sean focused specifically on older seats, which meant that he passed on newer, plastic seats. He would find them at flea markets or purchase them when a stadium was being torn down. “My business took off while tearing down Cleveland Municipal Stadium. After the auction, everything was up for grabs. I took seats, lockers, and ticket boxes.” In 1991, he started to focus on stadium seat restoration, and today, restoration is the focus of the business.
Overall, Sean has 78 stadium seats in his personal collection. The crown jewel is his 1910 League Park seat from Cleveland, which is the rarest seat out there. He stumbled upon this seat in a barn 10 years ago – and the story of this find was featured in Sports Collectors Digest. “It’s my favorite seat.” Other stand-out items include a seat from Cincinnati from The Palace of the Fans in 1902; a pair of seats from Exhibition Park in Pittsburgh from 1905 where the Pirates played; and a seat from Sportsman’s Park in the 1920s. “I don’t do anything newer,” explains Sean. “It has to be vintage, 60s or earlier, and it has to be a wooden seat. I only have a few plastic seats in my collection.” He also notes that the most coveted seats are aisle seats – which are often decorated with some sort of logo or design on the side.
Stadium seats are a collectible that tends to increase in value – especially the older, wooden aisle seats. Sean’s Cleveland Stadium seats were purchased for $100 at the auction, but now they go for $400. Yankee Stadium seats can sell for $2,500. The Palace of the Fans seats go for $8,000 apiece if they have an ornate side. “I’m getting a pair of Ebbetts Field seats later in the summer,” shares Sean. “They will be the highest valued when I have them.”
Sean’s collection has been featured on many outlets, including Sports Collector’s Digest and on ESPN. “We used to do a radio show once a month at WKNR,” he shares. “My forte was memorabilia. People thought I was crazy when I had 300 seats in my backyard. Now people find me – I’m the only one I know that restores them. People bring me seats from all over the country. They want their seats redone, and I’m the guy to go to.” The past four years have been especially busy. Sean has restored 54 seats so far this year and expects the number to grow to at least 100 by the end of the year.
Sean stores and displays everything in his home. “My whole basement is nothing but seats!” He doesn’t organize them in any particular way, but he did build shelves on the back wall to display his bobbleheads and a few autographed baseballs. The collection also contains the aforementioned catcher’s mitts, stadium signage, and turnstiles.

It all started at the age of five years old. As a little girl, Cathy Campbell recalls coming home from a birthday party with an unused napkin. “My mother asked me why I didn’t use it, and I told her it was too pretty to use,” Cathy shares. So her mother placed the napkin in a shoebox under her bed. The shoebox filled up and turned into a blanket box. This collection grew, and today Cathy is a proud collector of over 40,000 napkins.
Paper napkins first started to appear in the United States in the early 1920s, and they were made from a very course paper. At the time, if you unfolded a napkin, you would find that the design was only printed on one of the squares. Today, the design is printed over the entire napkin, and among the most popular designs are birthday, holiday, and graduation napkins. Types of napkins include dinner napkins, luncheon napkins, cocktail napkins, and guest towel napkins that people use to wipe their hands. Cathy notes that the Japanese make beautiful napkins that are of a very thin rice paper. They were the first paper napkins known.
Cathy’s napkins are stored in computer boxes and organized by category. One big category is “holidays,” which includes Christmas, Hanukah, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, 4^th of July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and even napkins from Groundhog Day! There are plenty of Halloween and Thanksgiving napkins. Another category is “transportation,” which includes napkins from airlines all over the world, railroads, buses, cruise lines, and more. Her “sports” category includes napkins from racing, golfing, country clubs, the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and the Indianapolis 500. She has boxes of napkins from different countries, including Spain, Portugal, England, and France. “You name it, I think I can find a napkin from it,” she declares.
One big category – which is stored separately in clear plastic sleeves – is her collection of autographed napkins, which are autographed by some incredibly high-profile individuals. Along with the autographed napkin is usually a story about the individual that Cathy has cut from a newspaper or magazine. This vast collection of autographs includes Taylor Swift (who Cathy and her husband met on Good Morning America), the members of Rascal Flatts, Wolfgang Puck, Mohammed Ali, Henry Winkler, Oprah, John Travolta, Gloria Steinem, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Barbara Bush, and the last seven governors of Michigan (including the present governor). “I’m so tickled to have them!” Cathy shares.
Each autograph typically has a story behind it, and one story that Cathy shares is of how she obtained a napkin autographed by Mickey Mantle. She and her husband were in New York eating at Mickey’s restaurant. While walking through the restaurant, none other than Mickey himself was sitting in a booth and asked Cathy, “Would you like to join me?” Of course, Cathy ended up asking for a napkin to be autographed. “Don’t you want me to sign a baseball card?” Mickey asked. Cathy explained her collection and the napkin was autographed. “He was very kind!” she recalls.
Another notable napkin is from the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. Cathy’s mother and aunt were part of the large crowd that gathered for the wedding. “There were people cheering them on and congratulating them,” Cathy says. “My mother mentioned to some people around her that her daughter would like a napkin, [and someone actually gave her one].” It has the royal flag and the date printed on it.
Cathy’s favorite napkin is a Mickey Mouse napkin from 1928, which is when Mickey was first created. She has a large collection of Mickey Mouse, as these napkins are still very popular today. Another popular and timeless theme for napkins is Snoopy and the Peanuts characters, created by Charles Schultz. Cathy also has the original Barbie doll napkin from 1959, the year she was created by Mattel.
Cathy has given over 100 presentations to different groups about her collection, including rotary clubs, Lions Clubs, senior centers, classrooms, and assisted living. “I did one for Albion College in Albion, Michigan. They have a series of programs called, ‘Odd Topics’. They asked me to [speak about] my napkin collection.” Her collection has also been put on display. A portion of her collection is dedicated specifically to Kellogg’s napkins, which were displayed in the cereal museum, Kellogg’s Cereal City in Battle Creek, Michigan!
Cathy is so known for her collection that she receives napkins from people all over! This includes friends from church, the rotary club, and her own children. A portion of her collection actually came straight from Hallmark. They had a few stores in Michigan that carried a wide variety of napkins. When the store learned about her collection, they gave her one of every napkin that they had in stock!
“When people give them to me, they generally will give me two – one to file away and one to use for when I travel and show the collection.” People send napkins from their weddings and important moments of their lives, and it gives Cathy a lot of joy to preserve those memories. Even during COVID-19, she continues to receive napkins in the mail addressed simply to, “Napkin Lady, Marshall, MI.”