Some collectibles, I completely understand… comic books, action figures, video games, baseball/basketball… heck, even football cards. Then you get into weird stuff like Beanie Babies, giga pets, pogs and slammers, Furbies!! Nah, not for me, I can’t see eventually shelling out thousands, hundreds or even tens of dollars for such mundane or even atrocious finds. Hey, did you know that CD longboxes are now considered rare collectibles? If only I kept my longbox to Paula Abdul’s Spellbound!!
But if I were to whip out my Sword of Omens and invoke Sight Beyond Sight into the future, I’d put my money on catalogs from The Sharper Image.
December 1994
images via WoodyNorris.com
If you’ve ever set foot in a Sharper Image store or seen one of their catalogs, you’d notice they have all these items that are some cool, some funky, some wave-of-the-future, but all fascinating to some degree (I always dug the cool massage chairs). Now, what if you had their original catalogs dating all the back to the 1980’s? Heck, even the 1990’s, when things that were considered futuristic can be looked at as punchlines today?
The Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy in 2008, but was recently bought and re-released in 2011. Whether or not they stay in business, those catalogs have to be worth something as time capsules for past generations.
Not to mention, Darth Vader boombox!!
Collect these other posts this week from around The League!
Fortune and Glory Days: http://fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-league-has-spoken-collectibles-of.html
Achievements in Gaming: http://rgendres.blogspot.com/
30ish Year Old Boy: http://thirtyishyearoldboy.blogspot.ca/2013/02/playstation.html
Cool and Collected: http://coolandcollected.com/collectibles-of-tomorrow/
William Bruce West: http://www.williambrucewest.com/2013/02/07/loeb-presents-collectibles-of-tomorrow/
My Eidetic Memory: http://myeideticmemory.blogspot.com/2013/02/collectibles-of-tomorrow.html
The CSPN 
Wow, this is a great idea! I can totally see people collecting these in the future. The Sharper image really is a great peek back at glory days of the 80’s and 90’s. I have a fascination with old magazines and catalogs, and if I came across a stack of Sharper Image catalogs, I would probably scoop them up. Great call!
Thanks Brian! I was originally going to go with CD longboxes until I realized from searching on google that they are already considered a hot collector’s item! I still have a few longboxes around from the early 90’s (Ooooh! on the TLC Tip, Paula Abdul “Spellbound”, Tony! Toni! Tone! to name a few) but they’re obviously damaged past mint condition.
Given how sought-after old Sears and JC Penney’s catalogs have been, I figure Sharper Image would be the next big thing, especially if it doesn’t last past 2020,
Whip out your “Sword of Omens”? This is gonna end with these catalogs covered in Crunchy Nut, isn’t it?
Great post!
The only thing to say about this outside a great post: Sharper Image is small part of only the greatest treasure trove in the history of gadgetry and magazine: Skymall! For that reason only, it gets appreciation.
Does anyone know where to buy a collection of Sharper Image catalogs?