Greg wrote:
> The world is filled with things that have been Marketed as "future
> collectables." The vast majority never panned out. You generally can't
"make"
> something collectable or desireable. The 1988 BMW M5 (multiple lawsuits
were
> filed over that one...), 50th Campy groups, Franklin Mint junque, etc.
come
> to mind...... Usually, the only ones that make a killing on these items
are
> the original makers (not the dealers/retailers that get stuck with selling
> them at a loss, either).
I don't believe you should include the 50th anniversary gruppo in this description as it has indeed become very collectable. In Italy, the wholesale price on the gruppi was about Lit 900,000 back in 1983, with the retail price being about Lit 1,300,000. A mint gruppo now sells in Italy for the Euro equivalent of between Lit 3,000,000 and 4,500,000. Not a bad return on your money! I came across a few never opened gruppi while in Italy over the last 10 days. They were in the hands of dealers who were 'stuck' with them. None of the people who has them ever believed they would ever be in a situation where they would need to sell them at a loss (unlike the Dura-Ace group!)
For cars, the depreciation curve generally continues for about 20 years before appreciation then begins. Anybody who expects to have the value of a car appreciate earlier than this is foolish and has simply not looked into the market. Having said that, I have personally earned money on the long-term ownership of a few classic cars and am almost guaranteed to do the same on the ones I still own too. I did not buy them to earn money however! I bought them for other reasons. I would expect the Ducati/Bianchi bikes to have their value go down for the first few years after their production and then see them go up. Long-term in 30 years or so, they will almost certainly be highly sought after, therefore to pay a slight premium for one of these bikes over the price of a standard Bianchi is probably not a bad idea. I would however still recommend spending the same money on an equally rare 15 or 20 year old bikes instead. They have likely finished most of their depreciation and will soon appreciate once again.
Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
---