Most Expensive Stuff: Collectibles

World’s Most Expensive Hello Kitty Item
Sanrio’s Hello Kitty, that adorable cartoon cat that comes to us from Japanese popular culture, has appeared on a host of commercial products from credit cards to the Hello Kitty Jet (an Airbus A330-220). The character, designed by Yuko Shimizu, debuted in 1974 as a decoration on a vinyl coin purse. To celebrate the 35th [...]
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Most Expensive Batman Comics of All Time
Batman has become one of the most popular comic book characters of all time since his creation over 70 years ago. This success may be due to the fact that, unlike most costumed crime fighters, Batman has no superhuman powers; he relies on his extraordinary detective skills, peak physique and an array of high-tech gadgets [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Books
Like any historical work, first edition books can fetch enormous sums when sold at auction. This is especially true of those books written by influential authors, scientists and other extraordinary thinkers. The most expensive books in the world are the works of seminal masters whose legacies are all but impossible to ignore. Ptolemy’s Cosmography – [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Vases
Some of the earliest pottery has been discovered in China, dating back to 9000 BC, and ceramic goods from the region can be traced back to the dynasties under which they were created. In fact, the first porcelain is believed to have been created under the Han dynasty from 202 BC to 220 AD. As [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Scotch Whiskies
Scotch whisky is produced and aged, as the name suggest, in Scotland. By law, Scotch must be made from malted grain, must be matured in oak casks for at least three years and must have an alcoholic strength of less than 94.8% by volume. The age statement on a bottle of Scotch is determined by [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Movie Posters
A movie poster collection may be anything from an extension of another hobby to a sign of serious passion for film history. One buyer may be willing to pay $10 or $20 for an original “Fellowship of the Ring” one-sheet while another pays $47,000 for one of the few remaining “Grand Hotel” posters. With the [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Halloween Costumes
Some people see Halloween as a day to do something really spectacular. These are the people whose parties have everything from spooky ambient sounds to animatronic monsters. Of course, the right costume is an important part of the mix, and one could hardly go wrong with one of the most expensive costumes in the world. [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Comic Book
Many people read comic books growing up as kids, but a certain few retain their passion and become meticulous collectors of expensive comic books. Other people think of comic books as juvenile superhero fantasies, but the sophisticated storytelling and artwork of modern comic books and graphic novels is changing that perception. The most expensive comic [...]
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Most Expensive Car in the World
If your passion for performance and luxury autos cannot be stopped, and your McLaren F1 is becoming a bore along with the rest of your exotic cars, it might be time to check out Top Gear’s “Car of the Decade,” the Bugatti Veyron. The most recent model, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, has an [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Board Games
Whether played for family fun or intellectual stimulation, board games have a long history and some even predate the written word. It isn’t surprising, then, that some are willing to shell out thousands—or even millions—of dollars to purchase the most expensive board games in the world. Zontik Games’ Trivial Pursuit – up to $6,200 A [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures
One major draw of the miniature wargaming tradition, from which the modern role-playing game evolved, was the collection of masses of miniature units, siege engines and single figures. Those minis came in handy for early Dungeons and Dragons players, as the original game system was a variation of the Chainmail wargame. While miniatures became an [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Model Car
To a collector of model cars, a model of the Bugatti Veyron might be the centerpiece of their collection. It is, after all, the world’s most expensive car. Of course, for the truly dedicated—and well off—collector, the only option is the world’s most expensive model car. The Bugatti Veyron Diamond Limited Edition, a collaboration between [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Zippo Lighters
An original 1933 Zippo lighter For more than half a century, Zippo lighters have been the lighters of choice for serious smokers, outdoorsmen and anyone else who might need to set something on fire in harsh conditions on a regular basis. While butane lighters are now preferred by some, Zippo still managed to celebrate their [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Soccer Ball
South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and local jewelry house Shimansky is celebrating with the world’s most expensive soccer ball. The ball took three months to design and is still in production. When finished, it will be festooned with 6,620 white diamonds and 2,640 black diamonds, for a total of 3,500 [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Stamps
Since the turn of the twentieth century, collectors have swooned over rare and unusual stamps. In fact, there’s even a field of research, called philately, devoted to the study of valuable stamps. You might ask why someone would spend so much time and/or money on a small piece of sticky paper that once graced the [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Barbie Dolls
The first Barbie dolls were introduced by Mattel, Inc. in 1959. Produced in Japan, their clothing was hand-stitched by home workers. Creator Ruth Handler based them on a German doll called Bild Lilli, which was itself based on a comic strip character. Since then, of course, the Barbie doll has become a household name. Having [...]
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World’s Top Ten Most Expensive Domain Names
For over half a decade, Business.com reigned as the world’s most expensive domain name after its 1999 sale for $7.5 million. That was shortly after the site was founded by former Walt Disney Internet Group chairman Jake Winebaum and Earthlink founder Sky Dayton. The domain retained its record until 2006, when Match.com founder Gary Kremen [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Cameras
by Hunter Davis and Jeremy Harris When you hear the phrase “most expensive camera in the world,” you probably imagine a super high-tech digital camera—maybe one used by NASA to take pictures of Mars or the moon or some cool camera capable of going underwater to extreme depths. That couldn’t be further from the truth. [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Wig
Iconic pop artist Andy Warhol strove for a unique and trendsetting look—even going so far as to commission mismatched footwear with patches sewn onto the right shoe. Then, of course, there’s the famous wig he began wearing in the mid-1960s. While the silver-grey wig was originally intended to cover up his receding hairline, it became [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Rolex Watches
Rolex, according to BusinessWeek, is one of the world’s 100 most valuable brands. The Swiss company’s timepieces are almost synonymous with wealth and status, but Rolex is curiously absent from the list of the world’s top ten most expensive watches. That’s why we’ve decided to let you know about the most expensive Rolex watches in [...]
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Most Expensive Dirt
How much would you pay for a tablespoon of dirt? Before you answer, you might want to ask about the quality of the dirt, what nutrients a hungry plant might extract from it. Those, as the world’s most expensive dirt will attest, are the wrong questions to ask. No, you need to know where it’s [...]
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Most Expensive Chewing Gum
If anyone ever offered you “ABC” gum in elementary school, then you’ve probably had the distinctly repulsive experience of holding a sopping wet piece of Already Been Chewed bubble gum. Would you believe that the world’s most expensive bubble gum is exactly that? The expensive chewing gum was part of a minor eBay trend in [...]
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Most Expensive Tolkien Books
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World’s Most Expensive Cigars
Cigar tobacco is grown in many places throughout the Americas and Caribbean, but certain cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered the best cigars in the world. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. As expensive cigars are symbols of wealth and success, the world’s most expensive cigars may hold far more value than their [...]
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Most Expensive Mr. Potato Head
Originally released in 1952 as a collection of body parts and accessories that could be attached to a real potato (or many other fruits and vegetables), Mr. Potato Head has become one of the most widely recognized toy brands in the US. It was more than ten years before a plastic potato body was added [...]
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World’s Most Expensive Watches
Watch collecting may be one of the most expensive hobbies in the world, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. Many antique timepieces are a testament to the brilliance of early and modern innovators. Vacherin Constantin’s Tour de l’Ile – $1.5 million Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin marked its 250th anniversary in 2005 with the [...]
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Most Expensive License Plate
Talal Khouri, a Dubai-based stockbroker, made history recently when he became the owner of the world’s most expensive license plate. He won the expensive license plate after placing the winning bid during an auction to benefit individuals with special needs. Oddly, the expensive license plate displayed the number five. You would think the most expensive [...]
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Most Expensive Toy Car
Audi’s Auto Union Type C pedal car just took a back seat as Hot Wheels unveiled the world’s most expensive toy car. What makes this car more expensive than any other toy car? Well, it could be all the diamonds. To commemorate their 40th anniversary, as well as their 4 billionth car, Hot Wheels commissioned [...]
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Most Expensive Newspaper
You probably know that the advent of the web has caused a steady decline in newspaper circulation. Eventually, printed broadsheets may become a thing of the past entirely, relegated to museums and rare book libraries. In that case, certain newspaper copies may command exceedingly high prices for their historical value. For now, though, it’s the [...]
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Most Expensive Sweaters
How would you like to gain a piece of television and fashion history while helping out children with learning difficulties? Bid on one of the most expensive sweaters and you may be able to do just that. Erinn Cosby, one of Bill Cosby’s four daughters, is auctioning off three of her famous father’s notorious sweaters [...]
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Most Expensive Candy Bar
In 1981, select English consumers were introduced to Cadbury’s Wispa bar. In 1983, it was released nationally in the UK. Twelve years later, Cadbury launched the caramel-filled Wispa Gold. In 2003, the Wispa brand was discontinued due to declining sales. In 2009, a special edition of Wispa Gold—covered in actual gold—is being sold for £961.48 [...]
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Most Expensive Guitar Picks
If you’re looking for a guitar pick, there’s no shortage of different shapes, styles and materials available for you to choose from. Customized picks have been prevalent since the days when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick would throw hundreds of them out into the audience. In fact, most famous guitarists have their own custom guitar [...]
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Most Expensive Autograph
Getting the autograph of your favorite celebrity can be a thrilling experience for most. For serious philographers—autograph collectors—living celebrities’ John Hancocks are just the tip of the iceberg. For these collectors, the most valuable autographs are those of deceased historical figures. Still more valuable are those same signatures decorating handwritten documents and, especially, personal letters. [...]
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Most Expensive Magic: The Gathering Card
Ever wonder what someone does with a mathematics degree other than teaching math? Richard Garfield, while studying combinatorial mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to apply his arithmetic skills to game design. He earned his PhD in 1993, the same year role-playing game publisher Wizards of the Coast first published a card game of [...]
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Most Expensive Monopoly Set
Parker Brothers’ famous game of economics, Monopoly, has been called “the most played board game in the world.” It’s certainly a believable title when you consider that, according to Hasbro, the game has been played by over 750 million people since Parker Brothers originally published it in 1935. Monopoly is actually based on a game [...]
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Most Expensive Toy Robot
If you balk at dropping $40 on a Transformers toy for your kid this Christmas, then you’ll be happy to know that the world’s most expensive toy robot wasn’t made for retail. In order to bring more exposure to one of their flagship toy lines, Japanese toymakers Bandai teamed up with well-known jewelers Ginza Tanaka. [...]
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Most Expensive Handgun
The Luger, more correctly known as the Parabellum-Pistole, is a semi-automatic pistol design patented by Georg Luger in 1898 and manufactured by DWM (Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft) in 1900. Originally designed for 7.65x22mm Parabellum cartridges, US Army trials in 1906 demanded a semi-automatic pistol with a larger caliber. DWM’s submission, a Luger adapted to [...]
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Most Expensive Beanie Baby
Beanie Babies may have dropped out of the spotlight since their heyday in the late 90s, but that doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared entirely. While he nearly discontinued the line in 1999, Ty Warner was persuaded by popular demand to continue producing Beanie Babies. The formula that made Beanie Babies so popular was that each doll [...]
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Most Expensive Dice
Dice have come in many different shapes and sizes over the year, particularly those used in war games and the role-playing games that followed them. From the gold-plated six-sided die to the colossal and somewhat awkward 100-sided die, there have always been special dice for gaming enthusiasts to drool over. The smallest and most expensive [...]
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Most Expensive PEZ Dispenser
PEZ may be one of the most iconic candies of the modern era. Invented in 1927 by Viennese confectioner Eduard Hass III, the first PEZ flavor was peppermint. In fact, the name PEZ is derived from the German word Pfefferminze, meaning “peppermint.” The most remarkable aspect of PEZ candy, though, is the PEZ dispenser. These [...]
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Most Expensive Dime
Rarity usually determines the value of a collectors’ item, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes the story behind the item sets its price. Such is the case with the 1894-S Barber Dime. Recently sold for $1.9 million, this Barber Dime is the most expensive dime in US history. Barber, or “Liberty Head”, coinage was [...]
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Most Expensive Penny
Bearing Liberty’s head on one side and a circular chain on the other, the most expensive US penny is the 1793 Sheldon NC-1 Chain cent. The chain’s fifteen links surrounding the words “ONE CENT” represent the unity of the fifteen colonies extant in the US at the time. The design was simple enough to allow [...]
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Audi’s Auto Union Type C
Audi’s Auto Union Type C pedal car may just be the world’s most expensive toy car. At an unofficial price of over $14,000 USD, the pedal car hearkens back to the days when Audi was known as Auto Union, a joint venture of four German auto manufacturers. The original Auto Union Type C dominated the [...]
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Most Expensive Golf Ball Marker
The ball marker may be one of the most insignificant pieces of golfing equipment. It’s simply used to mark the position of your ball when it needs to be cleaned or if it’s in an opponent’s putting line. Who would want to mark the location of their ball with some cheap piece of plastic, though? [...]
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Most Expensive M&M
Space travel buffs have been collecting items that were flown into space for years. The demand for items that have been to outer space increased with the sale of the world’s most expensive M&M candy. Strangely enough, it was not a package or several pieces. It was one single brown M&M flown on board Paul [...]
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Most Expensive Trivial Pursuit Game
The game Trivial Pursuit® has been a favorite of board game enthusiasts since its official introduction in 1982. The game was invented back in 1979 when two Canadian friends decided to test each other’s knowledge of trivia, which led to the creation of their very own board game. A few years later in 1988, Parker [...]
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Most Expensive Teddy Bear
The German teddy bear company, Steiff is responsible for the production many expensive collectible bears and also the most expensive teddy bear ever made. The Steiff company claims to have made the world’s first teddy bear and is has made this golden bear to commemorate its 125th anniversary. The expensive bear has a mouth made [...]
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Most Expensive Drum Kit
by Hunter Davis Becoming popular in the late 1800′s, drum kits were revolutionized by the invention of the bass drum pedal that allowed a drummer to play on several percussion instruments at once like the snare, bass, and cymbals. Drum kits were popularized in the roaring twenties when their deep sounds and bright tones became [...]
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Most Expensive Backgammon Set
Artist Bernard Maquin has crafted a backgammon set resembling the exotic traditions of the Middle East. More of a luxurious work of art than a board-game, the inspiration for the design of this expensive Backgammon board and game pieces came from fusing geometric patterns with eastern art and architectural designs. Created for the Charles Hollander [...]
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Most Expensive Chess Set

by Hunter Davis Renowned French artist and master of jewelry, Bernard Maquin created the Royal Diamond Chess set in 2005 bringing the game of chess to a whole new level. Noted for its abililty to combine fine art, jewelry, and the classic game of chess, this is one of the most expensive chess sets in [...]

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Most Expensive Action Figure

Well known for their popularity in the 1970s and their resurgence in the late 80s and early 90s, G.I.Joe has long been a fixture of the American toy market. Originally issued as large 12” figures that featured posable arms, the G.I.Joe series has since been continuously expanded upon. The toy line branched out to include [...]

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Most Expensive Pocket Watch

In 1933, Patek Phillipe delivered a gold coach watch to New York banker Henry Graves Jr. dubbed the “Supercomplication”. For over a decade, Graves had taken part in a vain competition with another of America’s richest elites, Ohio automobile engineer James Ward Packard to have commissioned a watch with the most complications in the world. [...]

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Most Expensive Coin in the World

Coin collecting is a hobby to many people who often begin collecting simply by saving noteworthy coins they have found in circulation. Old and rare coins are often more valuable than their printed amount. This may lead a curious person to ask, what is the most expensive coin in the world? In 1933, 445,000 gold [...]

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Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

This article has been archived and is no longer accurate, please view the most expensive painting ever sold. What’s the Most Expensive Painting in the World? By David Klemencic Making your art-snob friends jealous can be a full-time job. With the regularly fluctuating market and exorbitant prices that fine art fetches these days, you’ve got [...]

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Most Expensive Doll

Most people play with dolls, figures and replicas as toys when they are young. Some dolls are simple stuffed animals with plastic heads, and others are action figures complete with body armor and weapons. Certain dolls are exquisite works of visual art and engineering. L’Oiseleur (The Bird Trainer), a 4-ft-tall automaton doll, comes complete with [...]

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Most Expensive Horse Sold At Auction

Horses have long been one of the most important domesticated animals, helping transport people and cargo and being used in the field of battle. As the horse has been replaced in work activity by machines, many have not abandoned their amazement of the horse’s speed and power. The ancient sport of horse racing now showcases [...]

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Tour de l’Ile, Vacheron Constantin

The Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin marked its 250th anniversary in 2005 with the year’s most expensive watch. Its name refers to one of the historical sites of the venerable company, located next to the current Maison Vacheron Constantin on the Quai de l’Ile. At $1.5 million, this is the most expensive watch this year. Tour [...]

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Most Expensive Photograph

The Pond-Moonlight by Edward Steichen has become the most expensive photograph ever, as it was just recentely sold for more than $2,900,000 during a Sotheby’s sale which began in New York on February 14, 2006. The expensive photograph was taken on Long Island in 1904. There are three known copies of the most expensive photograph [...]

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Most Expensive Guitar in the World

by Heather Strobel “Blackie”, Eric Clapton’s favorite mid-career modified Strat has been surpassed in value and is no longer the most expensive guitar ever, despite that it was bought for $950,000 USD in 2004 by a guitar archaeologist. The latest most expensive electric guitar in the world dethroned its predecessor at an auction in Doha, [...]

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