Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

by Adam Minter

Dick walks me around to another display case, this one filled with Hummel figurines—small German porcelains, mostly in the shape of children, first manufactured in the 1930s in so-called limited editions that numbered in the many thousands. In the 1970s, collectors—generally Americans who’d benefited from the great post–World War II economy and had cash in their pockets—started collecting. “We used to sell them for three hundred to four hundred dollars each,” Dick says as he points to a 60% OFF! sign. “Now we can’t discount the damn things enough.” He throws up his hands. “Dolls. My wife and I used to make two thousand to four thousand dollars every weekend selling dolls in the nineties. Now they don’t sell at all.” “Why?” “Nostalgia. And for a few years [the people who loved them] had excess cash in their pockets. Mortgage paid, kids done with college. So they buy.” Eventually mortality catches up, and all those mass-produced items revert to a value that’s more reflective of their practical—not nostalgic—value. Which in most cases is zero.