classic phones to collect

[luv2liv]

hey guys, what phones do you think will be worth a fortune in the future...say 20 years from now?

off the top of my head, i can think of Motorola StarTAC and Razr v3.
anyone collect phones instead of baseball cards?

 

[Carson Dyle]

None. There will be no nostalgia or value for flip-phones that were produced by the tens of millions.

 

[MongGrel]

None.

Got me.

 

[shabby]

The ipho... oh nevermind.

 

[MongGrel]

The ipho... oh nevermind.

:sneaky:

 

[MongGrel]

Ever heard of Beanie Babies ?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

http://mowned.com/ shows you some of the top phones over the years. I'd say a couple are definitely memorable:

- iPhone 4/4s
- Galaxy S2
- Original iPhone
- Nokia N95 (all variants)
- Sony Ericsson K750i
- Motorola Razr v3
- Motorola Startac
- SE T610 or T616?

Oddly I've played with or owned a good number of phones on there.
- Nokia 3310

 

[HeXen]

None. There will be no nostalgia or value for flip-phones that were produced by the tens of millions.

People probably thought that with the Neo Geo, Amiga/Commadore computers or even the crappy Tiger electronic handhelds.

 

[Spineshank]

I loved the N95. I look at some of the pics I took with that back in 2008 and they almost compete with smartphones today. Way ahead of their time.

Also, didnt an original sealed iPhone go for something crazy on ebay a few months ago?

 

[SKORPI0]

Collect?

 

[luv2liv]

http://mowned.com/ shows you some of the top phones over the years. I'd say a couple are definitely memorable:

- iPhone 4/4s
- Galaxy S2
- Original iPhone
- Nokia N95 (all variants)
- Sony Ericsson K750i
- Motorola Razr v3
- Motorola Startac
- SE T610 or T616?

Oddly I've played with or owned a good number of phones on there.
- Nokia 3310

wow. i remember the nokia n95 now. back then phones were getting super skinny, but the n95 was the complete opposite.

 

[openwheel]

in 5 years, if you can find a iPhone 6+ in perfectly straight condition. It will be worth a fortune.

 

[Red Storm]

I would hazard a guess that an unopened 1st gen iPhone might fetch some money years down the road.

 

[maxi007]

Nokia 1100

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

wow. i remember the nokia n95 now. back then phones were getting super skinny, but the n95 was the complete opposite.

The phone was fat but remember that thing had a small screen (2.8"). Funny how the N95 back then was pretty damn powerful already. It had a solid 5 MP shooter and a front camera too. You could use offline GPS... you could tether devices to it, AND you can get like 2-3 day battery life even while syncing email all day long.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I need to fix up my iPhone 1 just because it was the start of the modern computer industry.

 

[Murloc]

I don't think any phone will be rare in 20 years. You can always find some underdeveloped country with a huge dump of them.

 

[gorcorps]

not a single one

they're all massive consumer device, hence they aren't rare and won't be worth anything more than scrap

 

[NutBucket]

That's what they said about ghetto blasters and Walkmans.....

 

[Crono]

 

[pm]

Don't forget that the internal batteries on these won't last 20+ years. In fact, they won't last 5+ years. Most of them are prone to "swelling" - where the breakdown on the internal chemicals of the lithium batteries break down and create hydrogen gas. This can be a safety issue - although spontaneous ignition is highly unlikely. But it can also be a cosmetic one - the swelling of the cell could cause the shape of the phone to change - like the whole backplate of the phone to come off. And then, lastly, the phone won't work in 20+ years because the battery will definitely be dead. And while there's some value to something just because it is what it is, the fact that it doesn't work will reduce the value.

If I had to say which phone I think would be worth a lot, my guess would be an original iPhone 1 in the original box with the wrapping still on it. But if you don't have one of those, then I don't know that I would recommend anything.

 

[Mopetar]

Unless you were making a collection for some type of museum exhibit, I'm not really sure if there are any that will be actually worth all that much. Perhaps in 50 years someone might be willing to buy one in really good condition as a curiosity, but by then we may no longer even be using phones if something else comes along.

 

[luv2liv]

Don't forget that the internal batteries on these won't last 20+ years. In fact, they won't last 5+ years. Most of them are prone to "swelling" - where the breakdown on the internal chemicals of the lithium batteries break down and create hydrogen gas. This can be a safety issue - although spontaneous ignition is highly unlikely. But it can also be a cosmetic one - the swelling of the cell could cause the shape of the phone to change - like the whole backplate of the phone to come off. And then, lastly, the phone won't work in 20+ years because the battery will definitely be dead. And while there's some value to something just because it is what it is, the fact that it doesn't work will reduce the value.

If I had to say which phone I think would be worth a lot, my guess would be an original iPhone 1 in the original box with the wrapping still on it. But if you don't have one of those, then I don't know that I would recommend anything.

if what you say is true in the first paragraph... then how can anyone collect the iphone1?
i will follow your advice and remove the battery from my old cell phones. but its not easy to remove the battery from the iphone1 in "mint" condition