Kim's Corner
Page 3 of 5

Is there a "collectable" of choice? Not really. What you collect is primarily influenced by what you can afford to collect. There are "hot" collectables - like pins or beanies or any other items that are being pushed by the company to a market at any given time - and there are "classic" collectables - like motion picture soundtracks or flat art or any other items for which there always has been and always will be a market. It’s in tracking these markets and anticipating the collectability of what is released that perpetuates that market. Are the current DVD releases as collectable as those early 16mm films - depends - do you collect the thing or the format? Of course - if films are your specialty - and you’re a completeist - then you’d have to add both to your collection anyway so the question doesn’t apply.

Does what you spend for an item make it more "Collectable"? No. That may well be the single factor that makes the Disney brand and the collectables market the most volatile - that collectors collect for different reasons - some for money and some for emotion. There are very few brands that have as much sentiment attached to their product than does Disney. A Mickey collector may have items from every collectable type - pins - paper - plush - statuary - clothes - toys - art - both high end and low end - all within one collection. Ask any of the bidders on the $1,000,000 solid gold Mickey to be auctioned off at the Official Disneyana Convention next month - "why" and they may not be able to answer with other than "It’s Mickey". There is something about the merchandise that carries a Disney character likeness that bypasses the wallet and goes straight to the heart.

Does what an item "re-sells" for make it more "valuable"? No. An item may take decades to reach true "collectability". And some of the most "valuable" items in the marketplace today were the least "valuable" items when they were produced. When a Walt Disney signature - free in 1950 - sells at auction for $40,000 in 1998 - or a single sheet of stationary produced at the Studio for the release of Snow White in 1937 sells at auction in 1990 for $300 - or an elongated dime pressed on Main Street USA in 1990 sells on e-Bay for $350 - or a piece of artwork produced for a billboard along A1A in Florida sells for $5,000 - or a Dumbo ride vehicle produced for the attraction at the Magic Kingdom sells for $120,000 - the market for such a things when they were produced would be impossible to track at the time they were made.

Can you determine an item's "value" before you add it to your collection? The marketplace is constantly changing and collectability shifts. Does the fact that an item is no longer "hot" change the value of the collection. From a monetary standpoint - yes. The perceived value of your collection is dependant on the market demand - the less the demand for an item the lower the "perceived" value of those items. But, from a psychological standpoint - no. A collection built with your heart doesn’t loose its value because the company shifts their corporate merchandise strategy. If you bought the original Disneyland map because it would be a good investment then the trick is to sell it before you take a loss. However - if you bought that same map because you’ve enjoyed the contributions Sam McKim made to the design of Disneyland and admire him for that work - then the map has a "perceived" value beyond the money.