5 Items From the Early 2000s That Are Worth a Lot of Money
Nostalgia is a hot commodity, especially if you can immortalize it and keep it on your shelf for everyone to admire. Depending on when you were born and the era you grew up in, you might have certain ephemera that harkens back to a golden time in your life.
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For millennials, those who grew up in the era right at the turn of the century, the early 2000s is filled with collectible items from a time where the internet was just taking off, cell phones started to appear in everyone’s hands and fashion was…questionable.
If you are a millennial or if you just have a fondness for the early part of the 21st century, check out these items from the early 2000s that are worth a lot of money if you can get your hands on them.
Screen Prints
There was a lot of art being produced in the early aughts, though two names stand out above the rest: Shepard Fairey, who would go on to create the famous Barack Obama Hope poster and Banksy, the masked architect of anarchy art.
“Most known for his Andre the Giant Obey stickers that began popping up throughout NYC in the late 20th [century] and early 2000s, [Fairey] mainstreamed into the canon of art history for his 2008 Obama Hope political campaign posters, one of which recently sold for $25,000,” said JustAnswer appraisals expert Nora Curl. “Anyone who has a penchant for graffiti and street art knows that having a Shepard Fairey print in their collection is de rigueur.
“Banksy is an enigma, his identity has yet to be revealed or confirmed,” Curl went on to describe. “His works have been known to mysteriously pop up on buildings in random places around the world. The mystery is part of the marketing machine’s success, along with his sharp, often scathing wit.”
Curl said that Banksy’s most well-known works from his original, early series of screen prints — including “Love is in the Air,” “HRH Queen Victoria,” “Rude Copper,” “Have a Nice Day” and “Bomb Middle England” — can now resell for five to six figures and his spray-painted originals fetch well into the millions.
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Comic Books
2003 saw the premier issue of “The Walking Dead” hit comic stores and the rest is history, according to Metropolis Comics president Vincent Zurzolo, who calls it one of the most highly coveted comic books of the last 20-plus years.
“I’ve read the entire series three times. It is one of the best-written comics I’ve ever read, and I’ve been reading comics for almost 50 years” stated Zurzolo, who noted that high-grade copies sell for $3,000.
Other famous comics that had big turns in the early ’00s included “Batman: Under The Hood, #635,” which showcases the first appearance of Jason Todd (the second Robin) as The Red Hood, a very popular villain steeped in Joker history. Zurzolo dubs this comic “a classic issue.”
First-Generation iPhone
The first Apple iPhone was released in 2007 for the original cost of $599. Cut to 16 years later and almost everyone in the U.S. has a smartphone, whether it is made by Apple or not.
“In July 2023, a first-generation iPhone, owned by a member of the initial engineering team at Apple, sold for $190,372.80,” Curl said. “That same year, others, without the pristine provenance, sold for $63,356 and$40,320 in February and March.”
Supreme Skateboard Decks
In the early 2000s, to use Curl’s words, “Supreme-brand decks and their clothing lines reign[ed] supreme.
“Based on the business model of limited supply of skateboard decks, with collab designs [with] luxury brands and big-name artists, the gamble paid off with high demand,” explained Curl. “In the early 2000 Supreme’s limited supply skate skateboard decks sold for an average of $60.”
Curl said that “enthusiasts would line the sidewalks to anxiously get their chance at purchasing new releases. In 2019, a single buyer purchased a collection of 248 decks at auction at Sotheby’s for $800,000. That is an average of $3,225 each. Individual and triptych sets can now resell for $1,500 to $5,000.”
Star Wars Legos
While the new generation of Star Wars films was dominating the box office — despite lackluster critical and audience responses — the Lego memorabilia connected to the franchise was in a whole other galaxy far, far away. Specifically, the Star Wars Lego Millennium Falcon Ultimate Collector Series Set No. 10179.
“Lego is an iconic learning and building toy brand that has spanned decades of keeping children busy and parents biting their tongues when they step on that stray brick on the floor,” Curl said. “The Star Wars Lego Millennium Falcon Ultimate Collector Series Set No. 10179 [was] released in 2007 at a retail asking price of $500. That was a hefty price for a ‘toy.’ Since then, the set has resold for several thousand to as high as $16,000.”
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