Authenticity is Everything
Anyone remember "Franklin Mint"?
A late aunt of mine got suckered into buying a set of "collectible" bird plates, handprinted, trimmed in24K gold, limited edition. She thought the set would be a good investment.
After investing hundreds of dollars in the "collectible" bird plates, she discovered through an article in the newspaper exposing the Franklin Mint and its misleading statements regarding the investment quality of their items. She was heartbroken that the plates were of absolutely NO value except to people who collected the plates---which were in the tens of thousands.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
-
Can anyone forget them? I saw many people fall into this hole!
-
Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on
-
The Franklin Mint and even companies like Jim Beam and Avon made tons of "Collectibles" in the 1970s that are now all but worthless.
-
Permalink Reply by Garrett Meadows on
-
My late grandparents were big boozers and got sucked into the Jim Beam collectible decanters. They had dozens of those Jim Beam bottles when they had to go into an assisted care facility. My grandmother was terrified someone was going throw away their "valuable" Jim Beam bottles. One of cousins started doing research on the value of Jim Beam and---as you observed---discovered they were worthless. No one ever told my grandparents.
-
-
At the time many of these things were collected they were in fact very collectable. The fact that they have fallen out of favor is a cautionary tale to all collectors.
-
-
Indeed, people collected them as collectibles with many doing it for investments. It is like some people collect autographs as investments. I have always been of the school to collect what you love and figure the cost as entertainment. With most fad collecting there is a core of true collectors and a whole bunch more of "investors."
-
-
I "think" I was taught old school. You never consider an autograph an investment. I think one reason is because, unlike a coin, it can't be proven to meet a certain basal criterion that is not subjective to be "real," such as weight or die/mint diagnostics etc.
-
Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on
-
It's already crashing. I've considered buying a few actor-signed (convention) Funkos in the past, but the bulkiness/relative fragility of the items kills it for me.
-
-
I'm surprised they took off in the first place, but to each their own.
Preservation was always going to be an issue.
-
Permalink Reply by Steve Viola on
-
I remember my aunt buying tons of Elvis plates (not sure who made them) but they were art work of different phases of his career. At first only a few, then the market was saturated with them. She bough them all think of them as an investment. When she passed the plates gathered dust because her son and daughter didn't want them and couldn't sell them online. Even me as an Elvis fan had no interest. I I think they were finally sold at flea market for a few bucks a piece way below cost value
-
-
I wish I would have known about your Aunt's estate sale. As a patron of the arts they would have gone wonderfully with my framed prints of "Dogs Playing Poker."
-
-
Ah, yes! I well remember that series of Elvis plates. I found out that anything marketed as "collectible," usually isn't. I think there were series of plates done for The Wizard of Oz and John Wayne.
Many of those items can be found in thrift stores right next to Mitch Miller Christmas LPs.
The same thing was done to Star Wars items. The items issued when StarWars first came out are worth lots, but the later items labeled "Special Edition" or "Collectors Series" aren't worth a flip.
© 2025 Created by Steve Cyrkin, Admin.
Powered by
Badges | Report an Issue | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
