Normies Have Realized Automotive Signs Are Valuable

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Everyone, stop the presses!

Because I’ve never worked at a newspaper where they have those giant printing presses, I’ve never been able to scream “stop the presses!” after getting some amazing scoop on a story. In this day and age of the internets, such things are only in the movies. Still, when I see stories about long-standing trends in the automotive collector hobby, with mainstream news outlets breathlessly acting like they’ve scooped some unbelievable story, stopping the presses is exactly the first thing to run through my mind.

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The latest example of this silly trend comes via Post Bulletin, a newspaper based out of Rochester, Minnesota. It explains the shocking revelation that old automotive signs go for big bucks. I know, I know, try to stay calm as you realize your vintage Mobil sign isn’t junk you should just throw out.

Of course, gearheads have known this for a long time. We collect either original metal signs or the reproduction versions if we don’t want to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on them. Same goes for neon signs, gas pumps, oil drums, oil cans, gas cans, push cars, coin-operated rides, etc. Some use the catchall term “automobilia” for these items. Others just call them collectable items or something else generic.

Now here’s the bad news: as the normies start to realize these items are worth serious money, you’ll have a harder (read: more expensive) time buying them. That’s right, regular, non-gearhead folks are about to learn the stuff they thought was basically junk sitting in their garage, attic, basement, barn, or wherever is actually pretty valuable. This is how the market inflates even more.

For those who like to collect automobilia because it’s fun or you just like decorating with it instead of putting up cat posters, this is really bad news. Sure, guys who have been hording a big collection so they can cash in will be laughing all the way to the bank. But for everyone else who buys the stuff because they actually want to just keep and display it, the recent market inflation is probably only going to get worse.

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Check out the Post Bulletin article here.

Photos credit: Steven Symes

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