Happy New Year!! Hope everyone has been enjoying 2021.
With the noticeable difference in prices over the years, I have a question for the OG collectors who have been collecting for (can’t believe I can use the plural form) decades and/or those who have spent “significant” (relative to your own daily expenditures) amounts for growing your collection:
For cards/collectibles that you own purely for your collection (items that you would still collect and keep even if they were worth $0, or items you would not sell unless you absolutely needed liquidity to address life-changing events), would you consider these items as part of your asset class, or would you omit these items entirely?
Curious to read your thoughts and perspectives.
Apologies in advance if this is the incorrect forum to ask this question.
I do. Compared to all but like 4 users on here I’m turbo poor, but I’m happy with and proud of what I have and to me, my collection is a significant amount of money. It’s several times that of my car at this point after several years (I have a 1995 toyota tercel so that’s not saying much, but it is saying something)
Most of the Pokémon items I collect are very hard to value. I don’t think I will ever sell my main collections though. My wife and kids might after I am gone.
Good question. I believe the main argument for not including would be for a collectible that the person would “never sell,” or would hold through the duration of his or her life. In essence, the collectible serves the purpose as a consumable instead of an asset, at least for that collector’s lifetime.
The driver for my question derives from recent conversations with forum members who wanted to diversify their assets. Some experienced collectors encompassed their entire collection while others did not so I wanted to broaden the conversation on the forum to broaden the discussion.
I’m 20 years old and got back into collecting in the summer of 2017 (right before I started my grad year of high school). When I first got back into it I was spending a couple hundred here and there and never really thought about the prices or future values at all because I just loved Pokemon.
Fast forward to 2021, and now my collection is approaching the cost of a downpayment on a small house. For example, I purchased a sealed wotc box in 2018 for 1.3k CAD, and during the recent peak, it was selling for 14k-18k.
A big portion of my net worth is in Pokemon, but honestly, once I graduate college and if the prices are peaking, I will probably cash out and use the money on other things. I don’t need to decorate the inside of a safe that I hardly open when I could be living in my own house.
I’ve always lived as a minimalist since I’m still working on a new career/venture. My apartment/car/phone/laptop are all okay, I don’t exactly cheap out having something so crappy that it causes problems but I also don’t go spending $1k on a new phone.
My collection was just a hobby and nothing life changing if I sold it, until 2020. It multiplied in value to six figures which here in the UK would be life changing to most. I haven’t changed anything in my life since then and have actually grew my collection. Most people might think it’s ridiculous that 95%+ of my net worth is in my cardboard collection but I don’t really care.
I do think of it as a tangible asset or safety net, if I ever needed some money I just need to reach into it and sell something but I intend on keeping most of it at least until retirement age.
I can’t see any sort of bank/financial check counting it as net worth though, which is a shame because here in the UK the process to get accomodation usually involves a thorough financial check so even if I technically have 50x more net worth than someone else, they could look in a better financial position than me on paper
My sealed collection went from low 6 figures in 2017 to over $2 million recently in 2020
VERY hard not to consider that incredible amount as part of my net worth!
The collection itself is priceless so attaching a price tag to it alone is a difficult thing to do and to process/internalize, but it’s no doubt undeniable.
Also, because the value won’t be realized until it’s ever sold, and since selling any significant part of it would be incredibly difficult to do or will even be traumatic for me,it’s sort of a catch 22 as far as the value/money side of things is concerned
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