Rare Collectables

Long before I knew anything about collecting, I was a kid at Cub football on a Saturday or during the week, generally in the playground in the early 1980s with a handful of football stickers in my pocket...

The excitement was simple.

“Got it?”
“Need it?”
“Swap you two for one?”

We'd open our albums, compare what we had, hunt for the ones we were missing and proudly show off the rare ones we'd somehow managed to find.

There was no internet. No apps. No online marketplace.

Just playgrounds, mates, albums, packets of stickers, a bit of bargaining — and the sheer joy of finding the one you needed.

Those little pieces of cardboard somehow became memories.

And decades later, I've discovered that the feeling hasn't disappeared.

I'm still hunting. Still collecting. Still getting that little buzz when something rare turns up — only now I'm looking at it through very different eyes. My first real World Cup memory, sticker-wise, was Spain 82...

A vintage football album isn't just an old book.

It's a time capsule.

It takes you back to the players, the teams, the tournaments and, perhaps most importantly, who you were when you first discovered them.

Maybe it's because we've a Bulldog called Bobby...

The mascot for England's 1982 World Cup campaign...

That's what makes collecting so special to me.

It's not simply about rarity or monetary value. It's about connection.

A sticker can connect us to a childhood memory.
An album can connect generations.
A piece of memorabilia can start a conversation.
And sometimes an old collectible can inspire something completely new.

That's where Dollarsandart comes in.

I've always believed that art, memories and culture have the power to connect people.

So this little collection is my way of celebrating the things that made me smile as a kid — and still make me smile today.

Moving from the Wirral to North Wales in 1983, with clear memories of the Mexico 86 summer...

Because perhaps we never really grow out of collecting.

We just get better at finding the things that are worth keeping.

Art. Memories. Culture. Collectables.

In the summer of 2026, during Football/Soccer World Cup fever in the USA, I got down to collecting completed Panini sticker albums...

The line-up during July 2026: Argentina 1978 was a big step...

Munich 1974 was added soon after...

With only Mexico 1970 to complete the full collection, 1970–2026! The plan is to auction the items off in 2030 — the last year that Panini will be the sticker album of choice for FIFA...

Subbuteo Hand of God: an AED 20 bank note signed by Maradona and a British £10 note signed by Peter Shilton, now aboard the QE2.

Not to be confused with the tongue-in-cheek 'Tubuteo', part of the Games 2020 collection during rather testing times — humour is needed in dark times!

Who ate all the......?

The things that stick with us.

That's Dollarsandart.

2. Late 1970s and early 1980s: Atari & ZX Spectrum

Let's celebrate two legendary machines from the early 1980s: the Atari 2600...

Having honoured the Atari 2600 in the 2014 Dubai Dollar Project — The Intergalactics collection...

Original 1976 Atari 2600 games console with space-related game cartridges, Space Invaders wallet, space money, bubble wrap and a red aerial Dollarshot on yellow, with sand elements and green and orange acrylic on canvas, plus a signed $1 bill by the artist.

Box frame: 41 inches x 50 inches

Al Quoz studio, Spring 2014: Atari work in progress.

28-day Dubai Dollar Project, Media One Hotel (2014)

Given the original is still for sale some years later, it was showcased at MyGolf Dubai...

Fancy a two-player game?

So my UK fix had to be acquiring another Atari 2600 — a full singing, dancing and amazingly well-boxed edition!

I've enjoyed celebrating this legendary 'machine' — what, like a washing machine? — from the early 1980s: the Atari 2600. The other was the Spectrum 48K!

At the time, these retro icons brought arcade excitement, creativity and unforgettable adventures into homes. Their colourful graphics, distinctive controls and classic loading sounds inspired a generation. More than old technology, they're time capsules — connecting us to childhood memories, family rooms and the family telly being taken over in the lounge...

“Aye, make this your last game, your Mum wants to watch the telly.”

Again, featuring strongly as the first artwork in The Intergalactics, none other than 'Spectrum on One'. Given my first Dubai brunch in 2002 was at The Spectrum on One, Fairmont Hotel, it was the first computer I actually owned — taking it in turns with my brothers — and at Media One Hotel, it all worked well.

• GAMING IN MY LOUNGE SINCE 1983
• BACK TO BA$IC$ — THOSE RUBBER KEYBOARD$
• I$ THI$ THE ONE?

Featuring the original 48K keyboard and associated games, coding books, glitter, sand elements and acrylic on canvas, plus a signed $1 bill by the artist.

Box frame: 33 inches x 110 inches

Given it sold in 2019, I had to get one back for the UK — all boxed up and, like me as a teenager, dragged out for family occasions...

Oh, the joys and tedium of the old Load "" cassette tapes and pixelated games. Collecting them isn't just about rarity or value. It's about connection: linking generations, starting conversations and inspiring new ideas. 

“Run VT, Errol.”

Art, memories and culture connect people. This celebration honours two remarkable machines that continue to bring joy, nostalgia and inspiration.

Retro Technology. Memories. Culture. Collectables.

The machines that changed everything - let's not go there!

3. SHOOT Football annuals

Nowadays, well it's a different game!