Alitalia, collectibles boom online. Too bad no one has turned the old planes into key chains yet

Ex-flag carrier, piece of history and ... collector's item! Alitalia has been the talk of the town in many ways and has undoubtedly been the cross and delight of Italian aviators For almost a century.

Perhaps because of this, as well as the unquestionable appeal of a lapsed brand (but who knows that it will not be recovered with LH?), the Alitalia collectibles market is as vibrant and alive as ever.

Not only there is a market related to merchandise products and intended for the public as one might expect (business class beauty kits, menus, pens, gadgets, key chains), but also a veritable army of items from the smallest to the largest that were intended for the use of flight attendants or ground staff.

From trolleys to bar carts, from model airplanes to travel agency signs, via plates, cutlery, playing cards, and even down to the various uniforms that have followed over the decades. It might also be an idea to take one of the many abandoned planes at Fiumicino e turn it into gadgets, as so many companies have done and specialized companies and achieve the double result of Eliminate the havoc and make many avgeeks happy.

I would gladly participate in some auctions like the one done with the parts from the first A380 decommissioned by Emirates.

On ebay, the world's most popular auction site, there are nearly 7000 items for sale related to the Alitalia brand. Obviously uniforms and in-flight services are the ones sold at a high price, but you can really find everything on the net.

But who is the Alitalia collector? Doing a bit of research for this article usually he is male, 40-60 years old and several among them worked in the aviation field or had relatives in the company.

Since that October 14, 2021, the supply has increased considerably, and not a few flight attendants and flight attendants have put up their former uniforms for sale, but many of the bids also come from children of former employees, relatives, etc., who finding themselves with something marked "A" put it up for sale hoping to find luck.

Will it be a bubble? This curious market tied closely to civil aviation will surely have many admirers, there are for all (usually flag) airlines, so we asked the basic question: "why do you collect Alitalia?"

One former employee told us that he does it to "Preserve, rather than collect, gadgets and anything that reminds me of the wonderful and honored experience of having worked for the national airline," another told us instead, very candidly, "boh, I collect everything." 

So if this is a market that has always existed, a passion that people have been carrying on for a long time, surely the surge that it has had is related to the closure of the company, which allowed all those things that bore the A-brand to crystallize, and which initiated a whole new generation of collectors.

The curiosities do not end, on one of the major online buying and selling sites you can even find an old Alfa Romeo "ex-Alitalia."

Do you have gadgets from your flights? Post them in the comments.