b'By Jim and Bobbi Jeen Olson,WesternTradingPost.comM any factors influence collector market trends and typically thingsMilitary collectibles are another example. It seems like the further away we that are rare, scarce, or of exceptionally high quality tend to be moreget from a point in history, the less interest there is in collecting it. Many desirable with serious collectors. But when it comes to what peopleyears ago, Revolutionary War era stuff brought big bucks! Then it was Civil are after at the moment, one of the main factors to look at is nostalgia. ThisWar items, but now items from WWII and beyond seem to be more popular influences collectors greatly, especially during the beginning stages of awith the collectors. Consequently, the overall resale value on the common collection. It is usually how people decide what they are going to start with. grade earlier stuff is not what it used to be.Nostalgia - noun: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past,This is also one of the main reasons the antique market can be tough. Used to typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. Example: be there were buyers everywhere looking for old stuff. At the very least, any old I was overcome with acute nostalgia for my childhood days. thing would sell as decor, while the better stuff was being bought up and put into the higher-end collections. Lets take a look at theBut now, only hard-core collector car world. Aantique collectors are still couple of generations ago,buying, and with so many cars and trucks from thechoices, they mainly go after 1940s and 50s were thethe best stuff only. This means thing. Before that, it wasthe run-of-the-mill (common) 1930s roadsters and 1920santiques are harder to find touring cars being boughta home for. You see, there is to fix up. Today, however,not a nostalgic connection it is predominantly vehicleswith most of todays home from the late 1960s andbuyers for antique furniture 70s which are popular withor knick-knacks to decorate car collectors. Why is thattheir shelvesso the market you may say? Todays carhas waned.collectors, who are in the building or buying modeGod! What would I with their collections, areforfeit to have the days of typically folks in their 40smy childhood restored, or thru early 60s and they areto be able to forget them buying up what was cool forever!Charles Dickensto them when they were kids. Nostalgia. They are on the hunt for cars they saw drive by when they wereNostalgia stems from the idea that a simpler time in the past was better and riding around on their bicycles and thought, Thats cool, someday Ill havepeople tend to dislike change. But as the old saying goes, Change, death, and a car like that! As each generation comes of age, they like to look back attaxes are about the only certainties in this ol world." It doesnt matter though; things familiar from their childhood, and typically it is middle-aged personsnostalgia still pulls at peoples heartstrings when it comes to collecting. It is a who are starting collections. They have made a little money, raised the kids,driving force. If you are a dealer of collectibles, knowing what rings nostalgic and now have a bit more time and money for themselves than they didwith the buying crowd at this time is very important (so you know what to when they were younger adults. On the other hand, the guys who typicallystock). But as we saw in the examples above, that can (and does) change over thought the 1940s and 50s vehicles were the ones to have, are now a bittime as people go through the various stages of building, upgrading, and older and are in the selling or downsizing phase of their collectionsnoteventually liquidating a collection. So staying up on the trends is important.the buying mode. And, the people who used to look for and fix up modelTs and such have pretty much disappeared due to attrition. If you are a collector, nostalgia This is not a hard and fast rule, but it applies helps determine what it is you more often than not. might want to collect; at least in the beginning. Just remember that rarity and condition come into play at some point as well (important monetary components). But for most of us, it is still more fun to look at a collection of items that remind you of pleasant memories.You name it, somebody collects it. From ephemera, Americana, early computers and computer games, cars, comicsthe list goes on and on. There is no shortage of things to collect and it is ever-changing. So if you are wondering what the next big thing might be, maybe try looking for what is likely to be nostalgic to the next generation of collectors. 46 September 2022'