According to the press release, the 1959 brunette version of Barbie #1 is the most expensive Barbie doll in town, worth $9,000 in top condition. It’s also provided the best investment since 2005, up 6.6% year-on-year.
Prudent investing is all about asset allocation, of course – both blondes and brunettes make it in the top 5 most valuable (1959’s Roman Holiday Outfit Barbie is a personal favourite), while the long-suffering Ken makes for a good diversifier.
Apparently, some of the more infamous dolls are also valuable, due to their notoriety, including Growing Up Skipper Barbie, whose, ahem, breasts grow with a twist of her arm. $150 if you’re keen.
Don’t fret, dear readers. SHAM is not going to jack it all in to become a plangonologist (look it up), but it’s all part of my research into alternatives, and I mean REAL alternatives.
Perhaps more fitting with the tastes of City chaps is classic cars, or perhaps property or wine. According to one source, investment-grade wine has not only beaten the return of traditional asset classes over the past decade – in part due to demand from China – but also boasts a correlation with mainstream assets of less than 0.4.
