…before that piece of junk in your attic – basement – garage – closet winds UP being worth something.

Take this for example…

This 1980s era Nintendo system complete with games sold for $13,105 on e-bay.

Really, what did it cost brand new?  A couple a hundred bucks?

It amazes me what people collect, what they are willing to pay for something, and how much and how long they will look for “THE” item to complete the collection.

Now, UP is a collector, so I’m one of “those people”.   I’ve been buying and selling antique and collectible dishes and other decorative items for 30 years.  I’ve sold items to Movie Studios, Interior Decorators, and collectors.

I have a collection of three toed bowls.

I have a collection of books.

I have a collection of antique family photographs.

I have seven sets of dishes, mostly Depression Glass, but a few sets of China to boot.

And, I have a collection of punch bowls.  Five of them to be exact!

And my Christmas Punch Set -

Just what everyone needs.

I live in fear that the people from “Hoarders” will show UP and take over my house.

So, I kinda have a read on collecting and collectors.  One of my friends collects classic scale model cars.  One collect Mr. Peanut things, another collects computers.  He has one of every AT&T computer ever made.  Theyare useless, except to him, just as most collections are.

I’m always amazed at what people will collect.

And what they will pass UP on the way to collect “their thing”.

But, Nintendos?

Really, there is no taste left in America.

It started with Beanie Babies.  When I was selling 70 year old Depression Glass, an item with history, artistic value, and creativity, people would trot by my booth at the antique mall so fast, my hair would flutter.  They were all heading for the Beanie Babies. 

Rags, stuffed with beans, really.  And I’ll admit, the daughter, has a a bunch.  After 9-11, the antique business dropped off a tad.  And with today’s economy, it has to be a real rarity to command attention, much less a price. 

But, just as everything else in the world changes from time to time, it will come back.  It may be Nintendo today, or Vinyl Albums (again) tomorrow, but everything comes back. 

People love to say, “Mama had one just like that!”  It becomes a must have.  Or, “My Grandma used to serve me cereal in that old Beatles Cereal bowl.”  And it’s a required item. 

So, hang on to it.  Store it away.  You just never know when someone will be looking for a Greatful Dead T-shirt or might “hafta have” a Magic Bullet!