A ginger Barbie doll; a Christmas card featuring Santa in a purple suit and an antique feather-stuffed golf ball. What do these three curios have in common? They are all rare household items from yesteryear which today can command a small fortune on the global collectibles market.
The popularity of "alternative investments" such as antiques, fine art, wine, coins and stamps is a well known trend, and one that has increased in today's economically volatile times. With some collections – for example, gold Krugerands – it is easy to see how it appeals to nervous investors in troubled times.
As a general rule, investors are much more interested in putting their money in fixed assets such as precious metals or property. What’s more, this investment philosophy of trusting tangible, fixed assets to perform better than securities or cash is being extended to all kinds of collectible objects.
Toby Walne, the well-known personal finance journalist, has been studying the trend for years. A self-confessed hoarder, he has just written a book on the investment credibility of all kinds of modern day collectibles, from Meccano to children's comics and sporting paraphernalia. Entitled 101 Extraordinary Investments: Curious, unusual and bizarre ways to make money, the title says it all.
"There are no barriers to what makes an alternative investment – only your imagination," says Mr Walne. "You can actually have quite a lot of fun making money by collecting everyday objects. It might not make you rich overnight, but if you choose well, items should hold their value, and could increase substantially. Unlike conventional stock market investing, even if the value collapses you're still going to be left with something that gives you pleasure."
Many of the items featured in his fascinating book were worth next to nothing 20 years ago, but now fetch several hundred, or even several thousand pounds. For investors who don't want to buy in at the peak of such trends, what are the unloved objects of today that could potentially soar in value in the future?
"To make the most of alternative investments, you shouldn't just do it to make money. You have got to have an interest to drive you on, and you can have great fun meeting like-minded saddos," he jokes.
Over the next few pages, we present some alternative investment inspiration (with a bit of help from Toby Walne and some other experts). Just as with any other asset class, it is possible to observe discernible trends that could point to the classics of the future. Nostalgia is the most powerful of these.
"Nostalgia is a huge driving force, and a very valuable commodity," he observes. The desire for Victorian collectibles has really taken off ("the Victorians had a spirit of adventure and the whole era captures the imagination of collectors," Mr Walne explains) but more contemporary objects could be next to rocket in value.
"You would never have thought that the 1970s could be so popular, but Chopper bicycles and 1970s board games are rising fast," he says. The 1980s is already figuring in the minds of collectors, with one recent trend being the pig-shaped money banks given away to child savers by Nat West Bank.
"I think the interest [in 1970s and 1980s curious] has arisen because that was the last era when we weren't sitting in front of computer games and interacted as a family," he says. "The next generation of baby boomers want to buy these things to show their own kids. For example, I've bought my son an Action Man."
In fact, the kind of things that Toby's son enjoys now are the sort of collectibles that could be very valuable in the future. The most obvious modern example is Harry Potter, the teen wizard creation of author JK Rowling.
A hardback first edition of the first Harry Potter book could be worth as much as £30,000.
"Harry has shown he is not a flash in the pan, and he will stand the test of time," says Mr Walne. "However, it's only the first editions of the early books that command big bucks at auction - there were one million hardback first edition copies of the last book printed."
The value of children's books soars if their characters are immortalised in film, so investors could adopt a strategy of snapping up first editions upon news of children's' stories transferring to the big screen, and then hang on for the ride. The trend can also work in reverse.
The forthcoming release of a modern Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey Jr could spark renewed interest in Conan Doyle's original books and boost prices.
But following celebrity trends too closely can make for a duff investment. "The main problem with collecting celebrity paraphernalia such as autographs is the high level of forgeries," he says. A further problem is that modern celebrity trends are much more fleeting. "X-Factor contestant memorabilia is never going to be worth much," he predicts.
It may surprise readers that anything designed to be (or worse, branded as) "collectable" is something best avoided.
"If anything is described as 'vintage', 'special edition' or 'collect the whole set' don't trust it!" urges Mr Walne. "If you want to know how much things like thimbles and mass-produced plates and figurines are, just go to a car boot sale. They are largely worthless."
Perversely, things that were designed to be thrown away are worth a great deal more in time. "Stamp collecting is the obvious example, but film posters are another very good one," says Mr Walne. "The very early ones are worth an absolute fortune as they were cheaply produced, had no value at the time, and were thus chucked away en masse. Now they command immense scarcity value."
With the advent of the Olympics upon us, readers may be tempted to hoard away programmes and tickets. "My advice is don't bother," says Mr Walne. "The Olympics is now a mass-produced merchandising event. However, if you have anything from the Munich Olympics in the time of Hitler, that will be very valuable."
Framed and signed sports shirts – the sort auctioned off for thousands of pounds at charity events – are sadly worth very little. "They are really a vanity purchase," says Mr Walne. "Signed footballs are another one to watch, as they are poor quality balls and are churned out en masse."
Another problem is that so many of today's popular toys and gadgets are computers – and technology has a terrible habit of not lasting the test of time.
"The collectible market for old computers isn't as huge as you imagine," notes Mr Walne. "They haven't got a pleasurable, tangible element – you're not going to display one in a cabinet."
Regardless of the era, investors should hold this golden rule in their memory when seeking out the valuable objects of tomorrow: "If you find pleasure in it, it is likely it will find valuable and be collectible in the future, because chances are someone else will find pleasure in owning it too."
