...that the stuff you collected for over XX years isn't worth 2% of what you imagined it would be?

I collected baseballs cards, football cards and Hotwheels ever since I was 7, 8 or 9, and when I finally busted them out recently to get a feel on how much some of them were worth, I was in complete annoyance mode... I bought a pack for around $5.oo when I was younger and one card - over 15 years - was about $3.75. Whomp, whomp, whomp... -_-;

When I was a kid I had hopes that one day I'll be rich by selling off these cards and as I got older I knew that wouldn't be the case. I just figured I would make a grand or so selling off everything once I finally decided to clear out all this clutter, yet, I find out that it isn't worth nearly as I figured! What a jip. Now I have all this clutter in my closet and some shattered dreams. :'(

Have any of you felt that you'll strike it rich by collecting stuff when you were a kid only to be disappointed when you found out the truth worth of your collection?

No, because I don't collect things to sell them.

Not really. I collect things I like. I don't collect for profit, though I do like weird stuff. If I stop liking it, or get board or whatever, I give it away, box it up or bin it.

Just hold onto those things, they will go back up in value.

Think of it this way, there tons of people who just found out what you just found out, so they are either trashing the stuff, giving it to their kids to play with, or they just sell it off cheap at yard sales. So that means that there will be less and less out there and eventually the price will rise back up again, due to the fact that the the other people who did away with those same things.

You can thank eBay for the price drop, if it wasn't for ebay things would still be rare and you would still have to go to collectors shows to find them (and pay a hefty price to get them). Collecting for money is not a wise venture at this time, but hold onto what you got. It will go up in value. It might take 10 to 20 years but it will go up.

I advise all newer collectors to collect for the love not the money. Otherwise you will lose your shirt. Don't be discouraged by the prices that you see. You can still sell to fellow collectors and at shows and the prices are still holding (somewhat). Now if you are trying to sell to another shop then you need to remember that you will only get 35 to 45% of their face value. So you realy need to know what you are doing if you want to sell you collections off to a shop or at a convention for top dollar.

But I advise you to hold onto them for when you have kids, you can share them with your kids and they will have gone back up to the good prices by then.

You also have to remember that the things that hold the most value came from the 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and early 80's. Noone thought to hold onto things from those time eras so they are more valuable than the stuff that came out of the late 80's to now.
Collecting stuff like Hot Wheels and sports cards is still a relatively new thing. Back when I got into toy collecting there were only a hand full of us doing it.

It wasn't till Todd Mc Farlane redefined what toys were going to look like and feel like that the collecting boom took off. Then everyone was scrambling for the latest and hottest toys to try and sell for a quick buck.
You also have to thank Antiques Roadshow for bringing collecting and values to the masses. This led to millions of Americans cleaning out their closets and basements to try and sell their treasures for mad cash, thus flooding the market with things that were once thought of as Rare.

Now this doesn't mean run out and get the old stuff, because the prices have dropped on those too. As more and more people get older they will want to have something from their youth and will be willing to pay top dollar for it, but it's going to take a while for the market to bounce back.

So just hold onto those treasures that you have, they will go back up in value ask the market thins out.

I've had a tin of baseball cards since the 70s and I think maybe 1 or 2 of them are only worth anything due to the fact that the actual player was worth something. You never know who will be that breakout star when you start buying stuff. The real funny thing is I despise baseball cards and I think my parents were more interested in them then I was at the time but I have them so....

Then I have a tea set back from the 70s that I got while in Germany still in the original box. I know that has to be worth something I'm assuming but I'm not selling it. I have tried to find out how much it is worth but can't ever find anything on the manufacturer.

i am starting a collection of guitars...so far i have a Squire strat (sucks), and a vintage Epiphone Les Paul Custom SG...i am looking to buy more but im young...and broke...i hope the epiphone will be worth more in the future, i only paid $400 for it. because it was used. it might just look vintage, but who knows. visualize the God of Rock guitar from Guitar Hero III, and picture it a custardy, old 50's refrigerator color.
Its my baby. i would be devastated if it was stolen or broken...or sold. the Raven Halfstack is coming next...just for fun.

Some coins I have are that way. I saved rolls of coins from years ago only to find out they aren't worth much more then they were then.

I've got a couple hundred comic books but I never collected them thinking I'd sell them later on. I collected them because I like comic books. The jewel of my collection is FANTASTIC FOUR #1-#100 which took me something like 10 years to complete. I'd never dream of selling them although I have been offered nice sums of money for them.

no but you just shattered my dreams that my 05 topps NFL cards aren't going to be worth anything in 10 years

If I've ever collected something it's because I've wanted to keep the things for myself for memories sake. I would never sell anything that I'd collected. If I started collecting something now I wouldn't think about how much it would be worth in a few years time.