Richmond AuctionsThe gas-station game was much different back in the 1920s. Instead of being mostly owned by major corporations, like today, the early gas stations were often small, independent facilities like Musgo. Located in Muskegon, Mich., Musgo came and went in a span of less than six months during the '20s, and frankly, not much is known about its operations. A lot of people know about its signs, though — at least in the world of petroliana.It seems that Musgo exploited a bold, detailed drawing of a victim of genocide for its signage back in the day, the better to draw people's attention to its business. Well, the same look caught the eye of modern petroliana collectors, with expensive results. When Richmond Auctions sold a practically pristine example of a 4-foot porcelain Musgo sign in 2022, bidding didn't stop until the price reached $1.5 million. It was a new world record for antique advertising signs, breaking the previous mark by $1.1 million.Part of that was because only a few were made in the first place. Also, many of the ones that were created somehow ended up being used as the lids for septic tanks. The result was that many of the recovered signs were in pretty crappy condition. The record-breaking example was found safely stored in an attic, however, in practically new condition.AdvertisementAdvertisementAs for the Aston Martin Valhalla PHEV, it has an MSRP a little north of $1 million. So to put the Musgo sign into context, the same amount of money that bought you a 100-year-old sign would cover a brand-new Valhalla with hundreds of thousands left over for options.Read more: 10 Of The Largest Private Car Collections In The WorldHow expensive is a new Aston Martin Valhalla?Aston MartinAston Martin seems to follow the "if you have to ask" theory of pricing, so you'll search the retail website in vain for the Valhalla's MSRP — or the cost of its options, for that matter. Bring a Trailer recently auctioned a Valhalla, with its window sticker showing a before-options price of $1,058,500, with $56,800 of that being an import tariff, $5,000 being the destination and then $1,700 of it being the gas-guzzler tax. Aston Martin committed to building only 999, and that was back in 2024, so good luck getting a build slot for yourself. The Valhalla's powertrain combines a mid-mounted twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 with three electric motors. The result is 1064 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque, with the supercar boasting a top speed of 217 mph and a 0-to-60-mph time of under 2.5 seconds. The Valhalla could even do 87 mph in reverse before Aston Martin ruined the fun with a speed limiter. On the efficiency side of the equation, the plug-in setup provides an EPA-certified all-electric range of 6 miles, and it'll get 32 MPGe combined (or just 16 mpg without the hybrid system taken into account).AdvertisementAdvertisementThat Valhalla on Bring a Trailer had five-figure upgrades such as a Bowers & Wilkins sound system ($10,800), a semi-aniline leather monotone interior ($13,000), and the Theme 2 livery highlighted by lime-green striping and matching accents ($21,600). Yet even with all that and more, the car's original MSRP was still just $1,139,700. Another Valhalla that was recently sold by Mecum had $108,000 color-shifting Andromeda Red paint, and its original price remained below the price of that Musgo memorabilia — Mecum did drop the hammer at $2.2 million, thoughHow pricey is other petroliana?Richmond Auctions/YouTubeIt wasn't just the Musgo sign's condition and rarity that drove up the bidding. Collecting petroliana – and automobilia in general – may be losing some of its momentum. Experts believe that's due to overexposure from a flood of reality programming and social media posts, leaving collectors feeling burned out after years of strong demand. As a result, you'd be hard-pressed to find a seven-figure sales price for a single piece of petroliana since the Musgo auction.In fact, when a similar sign — albeit one that had been restored — appeared at the same auction house in 2026, it took home a mere $100,000. On the other hand, three other lots sold for higher prices, led by a 48-inch double-sided Red Hat Motor Oil Gas sign that went under the hammer at $418,000. The market for collecting actual cars is also slipping, despite some high-profile exceptions like Magnum P.I.'s Ferrari 308. It sold for nearly $100,000 more than expected at a 2026 Barrett-Jackson auction, with the winning bid reaching $345,000.There is one big exception to these collectible concerns, though: The global market for collecting auto-related diecast scale models topped $4.4 billion in 2025 and is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of nearly 6.8% on its way to a projected 2034 value of more than $7 billion. It turns out that collectors pay big money for small Hot Wheels cars when they're rare enough.AdvertisementAdvertisementWant more like this? 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