ANCHOR: COINS, STAMPS, SPORTS MEMORABILIA, POKEMON CARDS AND BEANIE BABIES ARE ALL THINGS AMERICANS COLLECT, HOPING TO MAKE SOME MONEY.

ANCHOR: WELL, YOU’VE PROBABLY MISSED THE BOAT ON BEANIE BABIES, BUT COLLECTIBLES CAN STILL BE A GOOD INVESTMENT. WGN’S MONEY SAVING EXPERT ILYCE GLINK IS HERE TO EXPLAIN HOW IT WORKS.

GOOD MORNING.

ILYCE: SERIOUS COLLECTING OF ARTWORK, SCULPTURES AND ANTIQUES HAS TYPICALLY BEEN LEFT TO THE VERY WEALTHY – AND THOSE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND SOMETHING REAL AND RARE AT A FLEA MARKET. WHEN THE ECONOMY IS GOOD, THE COLLECTING BUG FILTERS DOWN TO THE REST OF US. AND NOW THAT IT’S BAD – WELL, EXPERTS SAY WE’RE STILL COLLECTING STUFF. AN ESTIMATED 40 MILLION AMERICAN ADULTS ARE NOW CONSIDERED TO BE COLLECTORS AND THROUGHOUT THE LATTER HALF OF THE 1990S, ONE OF THE THINGS THEY COLLECTED WERE BEANIE BABIES…. MELISSA TOMEI IS A COLLEGE STUDENT WHO COLLECTED DOZENS OF BEANIE BABIES, AND ACTUALLY SOLD IN TIME TO MAKE SOME REAL MONEY.

ILYCE AND MELISSA: AD LIB (TALK ABOUT BEANIE BABIES AND WHAT THEY WERE WORTH AT THE HEIGHT OF THE MARKET)

ILYCE: IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN COLLECTIBLES AS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT . . .

COLLECTIBLES AS AN INVESTMENT

QUALITY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP INTRINSIC VALUE

ILYCE: LOOK FOR QUALITY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP, AND LOOK FOR ITEMS THAT HAVE SOME SORT OF INTRINSIC VALUE.

ILYCE: BUT BE SURE TO BUY SOMETHING YOU LIKE. BECAUSE LIKE ANY INVESTMENT, THERE IS NO GUARANTEED RETURN. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW MUCH YOUR COLLECTIBLES ARE WORTH, CHECK OUT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

EBAY.COM
WORLDCOLLECTORSNET.COM

ILYCE: EBAY.COM AND WORLDCOLLECTORSNET.COM. AND WE’LL LINK YOU TO THOSE SITES AT THINKGLINK.COM AND WGNTV.COM. LARRY AND ROSEANNE?