No.1 Funko Pops. No surprise there! Funko Pops are the not so recent collectible toy figures that seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Why? I think the secret is that as long as Funko can license it, they can make it. This means that Funko can keep on producing their figures just as long as pop culture keep delivering fandoms we fall in love with. Funko Pops cover everything from sitcoms like The Office to Anime like Dragon Ball Z, Marvel to DC, videogames, comic books, celebrities and fandoms both old and new. And Funko’s proven to deliver returns. According to MoneyWise.com a Chewbacca figure released at Comic-Con in San Diego in 2011 recently fetched $2,700 on eBay. Based on the usual retail price of about $20, that’s a 13,400% profit!

No.2 Recent first edition books. If you happened to be a fan of Harry Potter from the beginning, chances are you may own a first edition print run of the world famous novel. If that is the case, you may be sitting on a huge bag of cash if the time comes that you ever want to sell it. First editions are valuable and collection hunters will pay top dollar for a first edition print run of a super popular book. So, Twilight, The Hunger Games, or Game of Thrones could very well be worth keeping on the bookshelf for quite a while.

No.3 McDonald’s items. I said items instead of toys specifically because, get this: “The fast-food giant has begun shifting from plastic straws to paper ones, because of environmental concerns. In the U.K., where paper straws are already a thing, someone on eBay recently paid the equivalent of nearly $100 for 400 of the plastic sippers.” (MoneyWise.com) $100 for a pack of straws…really? Really! I also should mention what we all first assume is that those little Happy Meal toys can also fetch quite the dollar value if it’s old enough and well kept. In the case of the straws though, pay attention when things start to disappear, they can be a collector’s dream!

No.4 First generation iPod-shuffle. Speaking of things disappearing, Apple recently announced they’ve discontinued the last iPod model. As a new collector, this should make those collector hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. When something is discontinued that means in a decade or so it will be rare. Rare=valuable. Value=money! So, find your old iPod in that junk drawer everyone owns in the kitchen and move it to someplace it won’t get tossed. That iPod could be worth a lot more than what you first paid for it back in 2012.

No.5 Sneakers. Oh man, the sneaker game can be pretty intense! There’s a huge market for first edition or limited edition sneaker’s when they’re released! People love their shoes. Again, according to MoneyWise.com, “Used, original Nike Air Jordan 1’s from 1985 can go for more than $1,500, and a mint-condition pair in the box recently sold on eBay for close to $4,000. The original retail price? About $65.” When it comes to shoes, collectors don’t play. Even without age you can buy a pair of shoes that’s super popular and, simply because they sell out of them so quickly, turn around and re-sell it for those who weren’t first in line for double or triple your money. That’s an immediate turn around!