If you love games, anime, comics, or popular fandoms like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, then chances are you’ve at least considered buying some kind of merchandise related to your favorites. From replica swords from Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter wand collections, through to action figures, t-shirts and mugs, there is all kinds of merchandise out there to tempt you to part with your cash, and while a lot of these things may seem like fun-to-own trinkets that aren’t really useful for anything, there can actually be a very sound reason to buy them if you choose the right stuff – that’s right, price appreciation.
Buying As An Investment
While you may see that things like original Star Wars figures from 1977 can end up being worth a fortune under the right conditions, it can still be hard to believe that there is more than luck involved in collecting merchandise that will be worth more than you paid for it in the future. However, there are a few things to consider when shopping that can make it more likely that the stuff you buy for fun could potentially turn into an investment.
Choose Franchises That Are Likely To Remain Popular
One of the first things to do is think about franchises that are likely to still be of interest to collectors ten or twenty years from now. There can be some guesswork involved in this, or you can just go for things that have already stood the test of time. In gaming, this could mean classic franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Sonic The Hedgehog – all of which have both new and vintage merchandise available. As you can see from this post on gamesniped.com, old Sonic memorabilia is still very much in demand.
For things outside of gaming, consider the biggest franchises of the ones you like – in anime, this could be something like Fullmetal Alchemist or Death Note, in Western comics and movies, things like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Marvel and Star Wars. Lord of the Rings has already stood the test of time, with characters like Aragorn and Éowyn still popular over 80 years after they were written. Marvel is also edging towards vintage, with some early comics being highly prized as collectible.
If you want to predict which newer things are likely to do well, you can try this using current hype. If you think One Punch Man will still be a big deal in a few years, or The Witcher 3 will be one of the games people are nostalgic for, then merchandise for these could be a good investment.
Mint Condition
Most things are worth the most when they are in mint condition, but if you don’t want a bunch of stuff in unopened boxes that you can’t display, then a happy medium is displaying the items carefully but keeping the packaging stored safely somewhere so if you ever want to sell the merchandise in future, you’ll be able to present it with the box it came with.
Buying and displaying or using merchandise can be fun, and there are certainly more boring gambles you could take on when looking for something that could be worth money in the future!