How to get your objects valued by professional Dan Hatfield free of charge
Leap into your loft, prise open those dusty boxes in the garage and dig out your treasure – This is Money has an exciting new series where our expert will value your modern items and collections for free.
For me, there is a certain thrill when rocking up to a car boot sale, antiques centre or charity shop, not knowing what exciting items might be lucking inside ready to be given another lease of life.
Like sifting for gold in sand, I can spend hours perusing these spots, hoping to sniff out a bargain, either to keep hold of or sell on.
It’s a fun hobby at worst, but a money-making opportunity if you know what you’re doing.
Retro revival: Recently, I snapped up a mint condition Atari Jaguar games console from an auction for £200 – and the auction of toys was eye-opening
Lately, I have also got bang into auctions. Earlier in the month, I snapped up an Atari Jaguar games console complete with a copy of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story for £200, all in working order and mint condition, including inserts, box and manuals.
I’ll tuck it away, snap up a few good condition games for it in the coming years, and wheel it out from time-to-time to test them, and enjoy a bit of nostalgia.
That auction was of vintage toys not too far from my house (so no hassle with postage and packaging) but I bid online via The Saleroom and it’s safe to say, some of the lots went absolute crackers, showing just how much interest there is.
I actually had my eye on a mint condition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nintendo Entertainment System, but was outbid – that retro video games lot was incredibly popular.
But so were other more modern lots, such as vintage My Little Pony sets and Barbie figures.
All of this adds fuel to my notion that a new wave of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are snapping up joyful items for collections – not necessarily thinking about making huge amounts of money, but to have a tangible asset that’s a bit of fun.
Personally, I like collecting retro Nintendo video games and have hundreds of games for NES, SNES, N64, Gameboy and Gamecube.
My wife thinks I’m mad, but it puts a bit of fun into my investment fund – a small percentage of which now lays in a physical asset, video games, consoles, magazines and all things Nintendo (and now Atari Jaguar).
Some games now go for hundreds and even thousands of pounds, as examples in good, or mint condition, dwindle.
Why am I mentioning all this? Well, today sees the launch of a new bi-weekly This is Money series called Modern Treasures.
Video game collecting might not be your jam, but we want to delve into all genres – whether its toys, trading cards or trainers, or something completely off the wall.
The idea is you, the reader, send in your collections or items for our new resident expert, Dan Hatfield, to put a value on.
You may recognise him from This Morning on ITV and his own television show, Million Pound Pawn Pawnbroker.
Dan will be looking at your post-war items and tapping his book of contacts to give you an as accurate valuation as he can.
For his first column, he runs the rule over two first edition hardback copies of Jurassic Park and In Cold Blood.
He really goes to town with his expertise in his answer, so please do send in your items for an honest, expert opinion.
Dan is thrilled to be starting the series with This is Money. He says his obsession with interesting items and how to buy and sell them started in his formative years.
He told me: ‘I’m a proud history geek so any item with a story really grabs my attention, whether that’s a 16th century piece of art, a gold family heirloom, or a collectible from the 90s currently having a nostalgic revival – which is what we’re looking for in this series.
‘It’s hard to pin down a genre I love the most because everything and anything fascinates me although I’m a sucker for pottery, jewellery and silverware.
‘Having worked with people for over two decades to realise the value in their items, I really want to show the rest of the nation how they can make more money from items they didn’t even know held a financial value.’
You might be a serious collector, you might be someone who has inherited items that you are completely in the dark about – or maybe you’ve built an accidental collection over the years.
Whatever your story, get in touch – no matter how wacky or niche your items might be. You may be sitting on Modern Treasure…