here

I N V E ST M E N TS
Wish you’d kept
boxed Star Wars
figures? Panic not,
these will give you a
return on your cash*
*PROBABLY
V I N TAG E
L I G H T B U L B S
Thanks to the interior-design
world’s fetish for retro bulbs,
originals by Thomas Edison are
now changing hands for up to
£100,000. An investment of
around £1,000 will buy you an
1880 Joseph Swan – the first
commercial lightbulb. Its value
will only rise as accidents diminish
supply. Buff up at The Science
Museum’s bulb collection.
Price: £10-£5,000
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I N V E ST M E N TS
FILM
POSTERS
I N STA N T I C O N S
The value of Porsche 911’s has doubled in the past four years.
“Any 911 that is rare, has limited numbers left and is in good
condition will offer an investment opportunity,” say Heritage
Classic Car Insurance. “Buy the performance versions [GT2,
GT3, RS, turbo], ideally with documented history. A famous
previous owner is even better.”
Price: £10,000-£80,000
“The rarest posters are
from the Twenties – often
only a single poster
survives,” says London
poster dealer Simon
Dwyer (simondwyer.
co.uk). “By the Eighties,
the collectors’ market had
emerged.” So go for rare
exceptions, such as the
Pulp Fiction poster that
was recalled because
they didn’t have clearance
to use the Lucky Strike
cigarette packet.
Price: £1,450 for a Pulp
Fiction ‘Lucky Strike
Advance’ poster
R A R E
F R AG R A N C E S
C L ASS I C V I N Y L
“In 2000, EU regulations
meant that many formulas
were discontinued and people
started paying silly money for
their favourites,” says Sarah
McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays.
Price: 50ml of vintage Chanel
Antaeus costs around £70
“NO, MY OTHER CAR?
A VAUXHALL NOVA”
“First pressings are always
a good bet,” says Alison
Wressell (vintageandvinyl.
co.uk). “But look out for the
‘solid blue triangle’ edition of
Dark Side Of The Moon: it can
fetch from £150 to £2,000.”
Price: from £60,
vintageandvinyl.co.uk
C O M I C B O O KS
THIS 1949 BATMAN POSTER
IS ON SALE FOR £1,475
H AVA N A C I GA RS
F I N E W I N E
“Investing in cigars can provide
excellent returns,” says
Robert Emery of 1A St James’s.
“There are no guarantees, but the
market for Havana cigars made
before the US-Cuba embargo
lifts could be strong in coming
years. Look for limited editions
from prestigious brands.”
Price: £200 for 20, 1astjames.com
“If the stock market collapses,
all you have left is a piece of
paper to wipe your eyes with,”
says Thierry Thomasin of
London’s Angelus Restaurant,
“so better to invest in wine!
It’s a gamble, but this year’s
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is
looking very good.”
Price: around £40-£60 a bottle
FUTURE
CLASSICS
The market for US comic
books overheated a few
years ago and prices are
down by as much as
50 per cent. European
comics by the likes of
Hergé, however, are
increasingly soughtafter. “Original Hergé
cover art is now worth
millions, but you can still
find original, signed
Tintin comics for £500,”
says auction site
barnebys.co.uk.
Price: from £500
“YOU COULD HAVE
PARKED CLOSER
TO THE TROLLIES”
“As we move into an era of
high-efficiency engines,
consider big-engine vehicles,”
says Mark Wilkinson of
heritagecarinsurance.co.uk.
“The Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0
is currently undervalued.”
Price: £5,000
F I RST- E D I T I O N
B O O KS
M O D E R N
M AST E RS
STA R WA RS
F I G U R E S
According to rare bookseller
AbeBooks, anything from the
culturally explosive Sixties is
a good bet. The Godfather is
considered a ‘classic’, while the
BFG is set to appreciate ahead
of the 2016 film adaptation.
Price: £500-£1,000 for a first
edition of The Godfather
“Artist Hayden Kays’ work
still varies in price, but with
celebrity admirers including
Liam Gallagher and Brad Pitt
snapping up his pieces, now is
the time to buy,” says Gabrielle
du Plooy of Zebra One Gallery.
Price: signed limited-edition
screenprints from £50
A rare bounty hunter Boba Fett
figure recently sold for £18,000,
but Pontus Silfverstolpe
(barnebys.co.uk) suggests a
Blue Snaggletooth: “So rare
because they were a mistake –
they were supposed to be red.”
Price: £100-£500 depending
on condition
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R A R E SWATC H E S
Swatch watches tended to be
bought by teenagers and
discarded – hence rare models
make great investments. The
eccentric 1993 Kama Sutrathemed ‘Sextease Swatch’
wasn’t released in conservative
markets, so its censorship
created instant demand.
Price: £100 on eBay
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I N V E ST M E N TS
V I N TAG E
W H I S K Y
A F FO R DA B L E
A RT
Prices of the mostwanted whiskies have
risen by 250 per cent
since 2008. But Rare
Whisky 101 claims that
the real growth is in
the distilleries that no
longer exist, such
as Banff, Littlemill
and Glenugie.
Price: £899 for
a bottle of
Littlemill 1965
Silent Stills
“I love Dan Pearce’s use of
bold and bright colour within
his work,” says Zebra One
Gallery’s Gabrielle du Plooy.
“He creates interesting
mixed-media works. A friend
bought a Pearce for £500 last
year, and I’ve seen some of his
new work go for £1,500.”
Price: an original is £995 at
renniesgallery.co.uk
TRAINERS
V I N TAG E B I CYC L E S
With Bradley Wiggins hailing Eddy Merckx as ‘the greatest’,
the legendary Belgian’s range of Merckx-branded bikes are
appreciating rapidly. Classic bike store steel-vintage.com ranks
two Merckx models in the top 10 collectible bikes: an early Eighties
Professional and a late-Eighties/early-Nineties Corsa Extra.
Price: £1,135 for a late-Eighties Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra
The 2012 Nike Air Yeezy II trainers cost
just £150 new, but are now worth north
of £2,500. To make the biggest gains,
invest in the Holy Grail of sneakers, the
Nike Air Mags – replicas of the shoes
worn by Marty McFly in Back To
The Future Part II. But not until after
8 September; new Air Mags are
rumoured to be launched then.
Price: expect to offer
a collector around £5,000
“WAIT? TACHES ARE
OUT, BEARDS ARE IN?
I CAN’T KEEP UP”
FROOME FINALLY
HAD A BIKE THAT
MATCHED HIS JERSEY
VINTAGE RACING WATCHES
British Military watches are top of every watch
collector’s shopping list, but supply is plentiful.
Sixties and Seventies Heuer Autavias continue
to prove a big hit with collectors, especially the
1163T blue ‘Siffert’.
Price: £5,000-£10,000 depending on condition
MOVIE
MACHINES
David Howarth of the UK DeLorean
Owners Club bought his first
DeLorean in 1990 for £15,000 –
and was immediately offered
£50,000 by an American collector.
Made famous by Back To The Future,
a generation of nostalgic Eighties
kids are pushing prices higher and
higher. Stake out the Club’s ‘for
sale’ forum (deloreans.co.uk).
Price: £25,000 for a good
condition car
“DON’T FORGET TO
KEEP YOUR TRAINERS –
THEY MIGHT BE
WORTH SOMETHING”
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WORDS: TOM BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHS: SETTY, REX FEATURES, THINKSTOCK, ‘BELIEVE’ (C) HAYDEN KAYS, TYPEWRITER ORIGINAL ON 220GSM
CARTRIDGE PAPER, SIGNED, FRAMED, 32.5CM X 42.5CM, £200 - NOWALLSGALLERY.COM, KATE MOSS COLLECTION, SPRAY PAINT ON DEEP
EDGE CANVAS FINISHED IN RESIN COATING, 100CM X 75CM , £950, © DAN PEARCE; DANES-ART.COM / @DAN_PEARCE_ART
H I STO R I C
V I D EO GA M E S
Atari created a home version
of Pong – Home Pong – in
1974. “Buy a working version
and keep it in good condition,”
advises auction site barnebys.
co.uk. “You’ll own a piece
of video-games history.”
Price: £10-£100 depending
on condition
LET THE 50 YEARS
OF HURT COMMENCE
FO OT BA L L
M E M O R A B I L I A
V I N TAG E
CA M E R AS
“With the 50th anniversary of
the 1966 World Cup in 2016,
put together a final ticket, plus
both final and tournament
programmes,” says sports
auctioneer Graham Budd
(grahambuddauctions.co.uk).
Price: around £400-£500
for ticket and programme
“Thirty years ago, I was selling
Leica MP cameras for £30,000,
now they’re fetching £250,000”
says Andy Riley, owner of The
Classic Camera Shop in London.
“If I were investing today, I’d go
for a Leica M2 or M3 ‘Black Paint’.”
Prices: £5,000-£10,000
depending on condition
THE 2015 ROLEX
Rolex is one of the few companies that puts its retail prices up
after launch, hence they are considered a ‘currency’, just like
gold. Collectors prize the special editions or unusual dial colours,
and the James Cameron-inspired Deepsea Sea-Dweller with
D-Blue Dial ticks both boxes. Pre-owned models are already
changing hands for £600 over the RRP.
Price: £8,995 for a pre-owned 2015 model
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