A few years ago, I wrote about my hobby of collecting antique Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments from the 1940s-1960s. Since I retired in 2016, I’ve probably collected upwards of 50 of them.

Among all of the things you could collect, Shiny Brites were very affordable. I’d pick up a glass lantern, UFO, or a curvy tree for just $4-$6 on average. If I found a good selection somewhere, I’d nab the best 2-3-4 ornaments for less than $15.

Yesterday, I stopped in one of my favorite antique stores and found these three atomic-age Shiny Brites. They were from different booths in the store and cost $12, $10, and $10 (from left to right) each. At first, I was a bit taken back at how expensive they had become, but I guess have been paying more and more year by year.

I’m figuring that two things are happening: 1) everything is getting more expensive – Shiny Brites aren’t immune to the overall trends happening in the economy; and, 2) Anything mid-century modern is ‘on trend’ right now and getting more popular. As demand rises, prices rise. Even though I’m seeing more of these on the market than ever before (and replicas), demand is way up.

I’m certainly happy that I was ahead of the curve on these. I have a pretty nice collection. We set up my son with a Christmas tree earlier this month. He likes mid/mod design. I’ll have to ask him if he’d like to get a dozen of these for his house now – even though it will cost a lot more, I do enjoy hunting for them!

What collectibles do you see increasing quickly in value?

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