Investing in Collectibles: Nostalgia VS. History: What EVERY Collector/Investor Must Know!

*** Full disclosure: When coming back from the gym one should always make sure their hair is firmly patted down and well combed before recording an unedited non-stop 20 minutes long video that is being uploaded to YouTube! Lesson learned! ***

'Crazy gym-fresh, spiky-cowlick-crazed hair Shawn' presents a lesson in nostalgia versus history as it relates to the antiques and collectibles trade.

[jamesclukey]

Great lesson ! You're a good teacher. I'm 70 years old and I know what you mean about dying markets. I see old toys at toy shows and they sit there, no buyers. The same thing will happen with many of the things I'm nostalgic about. What I never realized was how we block the past trauma that occurred during the times that we are nostalgic for. You are right. The TWILIGHT ZONE did an episode about a middle aged man who constantly brought up how he missed his youth. The games, and children he played with. Until he was on those old streets and transported back in time. The street kids turned on him and beat him up. He forgot how tough life as a child had been. His mind blocked it out. Just like we all do. I also think that Nostalgia is a double edged sword. It is not only remembering just the good stuff, but also an attempt to recapture our youth ! And this is the biggest lie that we tell ourselves. As if by having something from our past could possibly re-connect us to that time. It's almost a Greek tragedy, but we do it all the time.

[drathicusrex]

As a vintage collectibles reseller primarily on eBay for 12+ years, I can honestly say Shawn’s knowledge and expertise is unmatched.

[sourvanos]

hello from Athens Greece Shaun, im one of your first Subs back in summer of '19. If I may add an educational point concerning the 2 greek words Nostalgia and History, that you will find very intriguing. Nostalgia is the combination of Nostos and Algos which literally means the pain or ache associated with a memory. A memory, by Definition is Subjective. On the other hand History literally means the Eye Witness / Judge / Knowledgeable person who saw events. History is non-negotiable and is an Objective reality. Therefore on your whiteboard you have listed items which are subject to people's Subjective Reality, as opposed to items that are part of the Humanity's Objective Collective existence. Just thought it would be fun to throw a little of Philosophy in the conversation

[JohnHofheins]

Thanks for passing along the knowledge. It's always difficult admitting when you're a Timmy, Jimmy or a Dexter

[Gordypow]

The shuffle-into-frame entrance is so comforting lol

[teetoo]

Shaun keeps hitting home runs. Great video and highly recommend.

[CaptainZackSparrow]

Love this. It’s difficult to bring totally fresh content regularly on YouTube. I think you’re doing a great job of that though. And remembering that YouTube is kind of the same content over and over again - it’s good to hear sound principles repeated semi regularly. Keep it up!

[michaelgraetz]

Vintage sports cards are historic. A lot of collectors were not alive when Mickey Mantle or Gordie Howe were playing, but their cards are still steadily trending upward over time in value.

[FrugalRad]

I really appreciate hearing your perspective, "at some point, history is going to be more important than nostalgia." Well said. I've never heard anyone break down these concepts. Remarkably insightful!

[AGriff]

I still believe in blue chip comic books because of the massive Marvel, Disney and Netflix shows keeping the characters relevant. Characters like Spider-Man are so big that Amazing Fantasy 15 is also considered a piece of history… Just my opinion though!

[DriveRevive]

Great video! Very thankful for the insight as always! Hope you are doing well Shaun!

[wiseandfunfox]

dude you just called the beanie baby crowd crazies, i haven't laughed that hard in a while.

[KeyKiller]

I love nostalgia it returns us to our youth where we loved & played with the items & not worried about if we should store them away for 100 years.

[ajones]

I once heard Charlie Munger say 'all investment strategies are effectively growth or value' and nostaligia vs history in the collectibles trade emphasizes this.

[tcgbuyersclub]

It’s fascinating to explore these topics. I think your position on nostalgia vs history makes a lot of sense, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned since 2021 and beyond is just how powerful a force nostalgia is!

That’s not to say it’s enough to carry a collectibles category forever, but with that in mind, the continued resiliency of the comic book market, for example, is interesting!

[monkey]

I really need to reread "The Wealth of Nations". The bit about the amount of pins 1 worker can create Vs 5 workers on a production line blew my mind when I was 17. That passage is now on our £5 notes here in the UK.

[danroot]

FINALLY. Someone who can articulate and explain the invisible forces at work here. If, and I sure do mean IF… collectors / speculators can mentally survive your brutally direct explanation of nostalgic collectibles…. you will have likely succeeded in preventing what could be one of their biggest financial mistakes.

Where the heck have you been all these years!?!

Thank you for this clean, crisp, unemotional explanation… once and for all. I’m blown away I have never heard anyone up to now deliver this message.

Keep up the great work. Subscriber for life here. 👍🏻

[happyb]

the sweet spot is items that are both nostalgic and historic — nostalgia and historicity are sometimes mutually exclusive, but not always

[shiftmove]

You damn near poked my eye out with that sharpie

[Jasanic]

Great video and absolutely agree - not everything nostalgic holds value. Atari is a great example, and I think Sega will follow suit. But you are wrong if you think nostalgia and history is ‘clear cut’ - there are gradients of nostalgia and history across all those collector lines and that is what you have failed to really point to. There are collectible lines that will converge over into antiquities and historical space - Pokémon, Nintendo are just great examples where the market is continually reintroduce their products into younger generations. This is what you have also failed to highlight here is the propensity to have younger generations enter; this is why action figure lines like Star Wars, Mask and even transformers will go down but Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Nintendo, PlayStation will continue to thrive in the future.