Fascinating man, Charles M. Schulz. His first Peanuts cartoon strip appeared on October 2, 1950, published by the United Feature Syndicate. The title was suggested by United; Schulz never particularly liked it. His last original strip appeared on February 13, 2000, the day after he died of colon cancer. He had personally drawn every frame in that period.

By that stage, Peanuts was appearing in 2600 newspapers in 75 countries, translated into 27 languages including Serbo-Croatian.

According to The New York Times obituary, the strip had about 335 million regular readers. Peanuts made Schulz a very wealthy man. Schulz personally collected $46 million to $62 million annually.

He regularly featured in lists of the biggest earners in the entertainment industry, usually in the top five.

The merchandise that was responsible for a lot of that income is collected by thousands of people around the world. And a high proportion of those collections are dedicated to Snoopy, the most famous cartoon beagle in the world and, in the eyes of many, the most enduring Peanuts character.

There is more than enough to collect. Snoopy's name and image have been associated with everything from clocks to cookie jars.

According to the usual formula, the value of Snoopy memorabilia peaked in the few years after Schulz's death. Prices for certain items, especially ones from the 1950s and '60s, doubled or tripled in this period. Prices have since stabilised, even gone down in certain cases. It appears global recessions even have an impact on cartoon beagles.

For example, a pre-loved Snoopy Music Box, made by Mattel circa 1968, has been sitting rather sadly in the glass cabinet of one of my local op shops. It first appeared about a year ago with a price tag of $80.

As if to explain this to shocked bargain hunters, a note on the tag said that a similar one appeared in the 2002 Carter's Price Guide To Antiques In Australasia for $120.

In fact, these music boxes have been known to sell for $300 in the US if in mint condition in the original box. That was in 2000. The Vinnies valuer may have to lower that estimate slightly for the 2009 downturn.

Those music boxes are considered pretty desirable items by Snoopy freaks but they're far from the most valuable.

Nintendo made a series of Snoopy hand-held video games and these are fetching up to $770 each on eBay. Others to put on the top shelf where the kids can't touch them are Snoopy cookie jars, Snoopy "hot dog" money boxes and Snoopy radios, worth more if they are still operating.

A series of popular Snoopy trophies fetch about $50 each in good condition. Snoopy telephones are also in the most-wanted category.

Most collectors also like the novelty items, such as the pack of Snoopy Strips plastic adhesive bandages introduced in the '70s. You can still find these for $5 to $10 at garage sales. Another oddity was the Snoopy toilet-roll holder.

Most collectors will only collect items that have the official United Feature endorsement. Snoopy collecting is a global phenomenon that is especially popular in Japan. eBay is the most popular source for trading but there are still bargains to be found in garage sales and op shops - but only if the shop manager doesn't have a copy of the Carter's guide.

Since his death, a few signed drawings by Schulz have appeared on eBay, usually valued about the $620 mark.

Also collectable are the original Snoopy books and magazines, especially the first editions of the publications. There were close to 1500 of these published in Schulz's lifetime, mainly compilations of the newspaper strips. Perhaps the ultimate first edition would be a copy of an October 2, 1950, newspaper carrying the very first Peanuts strip.

It showed two children sitting on the footpath discussing Charlie Brown.

"Well, here comes ol' Charlie Brown!" one of them says.

"Good ol' Charlie Brown," the other says. "Yes, sir! Good ol' Charlie Brown."

Then, as Charlie Brown passes: "How I hate him!"

And so began what many consider the greatest comic strip ever created.

My collection

Melbourne collector Allison Cook first got into Snoopy when her son was born in 2001 and she was given a set of The Many Lives of Snoopy figures then available through McDonald's Happy Meals. She hadn't been a serious Peanuts fan before but these suddenly struck a chord.

Eight years later she is a self-confessed Snoopy obsessive who has just built a separate room in the backyard to hold her impressive collection. "There's probably 1000 items in total," she says. Almost everything in there is to do with Snoopy. "He's top priority."

As if to show who owns this place, the word Snoopy is imprinted in cement on the front step.

She buys mainly on eBay where she is better known to collectors and store owners as "miss-aly". She does the circuit as least one a week, buying and selling, mainly in Australia.

There are automated bidding devices known as snipers but she prefers to follow auctions live. "I like the adrenalin rush of bidding in the last 10 seconds," she says.

On top of her interest in cute cartoon characters, Miss Aly is also well known around the Melbourne car scene for her blue Ford XR6 Turbo muscle car.

$10

Snoopy Strips adhesive bandages are an example of the widespread merchandising of the Peanuts characters. This one is significant. Charles Schulz was an ice-hockey fan who still competed in his 70s.

$50

These Snoopy "hot dog" money boxes are now considered rare and valuable.

$200

The Snoopy Radio is a classic collectable, worth more if still in working condition and in the original packaging.