Record Auction Price for Avengers Comic Book

What can you buy for $492,937?  Well many of us could buy a house and a car.  For others it can buy a college education at one of America’s fine colleges or universities.  Yet still for others, the people that have boatloads of money and are aficionados of the X-men, they could buy a comic book.

Granted, this was not just any comic book; this was a prime time quality Silver Age Marvel comic book from 1963.  It was rated a CGC grade of 9.8, in which a score of 10 is perfect, and is only one of two of the finest copies that have survived.  The X-men comic book record price at auction was realized at a recent auction at Heritage Auctions in California.

Antique Shows and Events for August 3-5, 2012

The weekend weather in the Mid Atlantic states is supposed to be beautiful this weekend, which means everyone will want to get out of their homes and outdoors.  This is a good thing since there are many good antique shows and events happening this weekend.  The first you could actually combine with a trip to the beach, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

The All Saints Antiques Show is being held on August 2-5 at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.  This is an annual antiques and vintage collectibles show that attracts many quality dealers and hundreds of visitors from New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC and New Jersey.  The show features antique furniture, vintage porcelain and glass as well as antique lighting, rugs and ephemera.  If you have never been to the Delaware shore, this is the best way to combine two events into one; relax at the beach after hitting the show.

If you are in the Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland, Washington DC metro area, you may want to hit the Civitan Flea Market in Arlington, Virginia.  We used to set up at this flea market many years ago and it really used to be a seller’s market.  We sold a lot of antique and vintage glass and collectibles.  Nowadays it is more a buyer’s market, and you can find some really good bargains here.  At this flea market you will find vintage collectibles and some antiques along with household items and products.

If you are in the Central New York or Northern Pennsylvania area, you may want to stop at the Park Avenue SummerArt Fest.  If you were to judge by the name, this art festival would be located in New York City, but it is actually in Rochester, New York.  The Park Avenue Summer Art Fest attracts over 300 artists and thousands of visitors and features paintings, jewelry, and furniture.

August 2012 Antiques Newsletter Published

The August edition of the NOVA-Antiques online Newsletter has been published.  This edition contains about vintage and antique rotary telephone dialers; what they are and how they came about as well as an article on how decorators and designers love antique fireplace screens; and the recent auction of an usual antique vampire hunter kit complete with pistol, garlic and silver bullet maker.

The August edition of the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter also contains information about upcoming antique shows including the Lucketts Fair which will be held at the end of the month near Leesburg, Virginia and the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show in Baltimore, Maryland as well as the Hillsville Flea Market and the York Antiques Show.  Lastly, the Newsletter contains information about two upcoming auctions; a Country Store Sale in North Carolina and large estate auction in Clarence, New York.

NOVA-Antiques is the Mid Atlantic website for all things antique and collectible.  If you enjoy reading the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter as much as I enjoy publishing it, please hit the recommend buttons at the top of the page so that your friends can enjoy it too.

Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Buying

If you are a vintage collectible or antique reseller like me, and if you are reading this you probably are in one way or another, then there is hardly a flea market, yard sale, estate sale or antique market that you can pass without stopping.  In fact, for me, the best part of being a vendor is being the hunter or picker.  I love to go out to find a bargain that I can turn a profit on; and for me the profit doesn’t have to be 100% or 200% . . . any little profit is good because I enjoy the hunt more than the actual selling.

When picking or hunting for antiques or collectibles, there are five questions you should ask yourself:

1.  Is the item rare?  If a company many hundreds of thousands, then chances are it isn’t rare.  If many were made but were fragile and many broke, they might be rare.  If only a few were made because only certain people could afford it, then it is more likely rare.
2. Does it look nice? Is it aesthetically pleasing?  This is one of the more objective questions because “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  However, you can still make a judgment call when you tie this question in to the next.
3. Would anybody else want it?  I made a bet with my niece one time because I bought at auction what she thought was a most hideous wall hanging ever.  She thought I would never be able to resell it.  It was the very first thing that I sold at my shop the next day.  My niece was flabbergasted.
4. Is it real?  Sometimes this is the one that gets even the experts.  There are many commemorative, replica or outright fake items on the market.  Anything from cookie jars to cufflinks can be faked.  Many unscrupulous sellers will not tell you when they are replicas or fakes.  Caveat Emptor always applies.  Can the seller provide proof that the item is the real deal?
5. Is the item in good condition?  Keep in mind that since the items are antique or vintage, they should absolutely not look “new.”  If they do look “new,” they could be fakes.  On the other hand, a beautiful vintage Murano glass bowl is not so appealing to others if it has a large chip or crack running through it.  

Collectibles As An Investment

Do you have a curio cabinet full of Hummel or precious moment figurines?  If you do, you are not alone.  Many people in the 70s, 80s and 90s started collecting them and were paying a lot of money for them.  Today, unfortunately, they are only worth a percentage of what people paid back then.  Hummel figurines that were going for $200-$300 back in their heyday are now bringing in $50-100 if you are lucky.  The same holds true for many other collectibles and the reason is simple, they were made to be collected.

Most collectibles that are made specifically for collecting purposes are a fad.  People become interested in collecting them, build a huge collection and then most people lose interest.  Such is the way with Beanie Babies, cabbage patch dolls and gum cards.  In the 1960s gum cards were imprinted with photos of the Beatles and an “autograph signature.”  Everything Beatles is collectible right?  You are lucky if you can get a buck or two for the cards in today’s market.

In today’s market, what is selling are collectibles that were not made specifically for collecting, but had a functional and specific purpose.  Some examples are coins or stamps, which had a specific use.  In our recent NOVA-Antiques Newsletter, we wrote about a Leica camera that sold at a record auction price; other things that can bring in top dollar include memorabilia, such as Elvis’ jumpsuit or Michael Jackson’s glove.  These things were not only functional but due to the fact that they were not mass produced, they are rare.

So if you have some extra money, not many of us do in this economy, and you want to invest in collectibles, what is the best bet?  The best bet is to stay away from the mass produced collectibles: Hummels; prints from Thomas Kincaid; and Pokeman cards are probably not good investments.  Memorabilia, especially autographed items; political or historical objects or even vintage automobile hood ornaments are probably good investments.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter & Calendar Updates

On Friday this past week we posted a new edition of the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter.  In this edition of the newsletter, you will find articles about Vintage Radios Appealing to the New Collectors; A Short History of Emerson Radio; The Desk as an Antique; and Zing Zing – Vintage straight razors.  Additionally, the newsletter contains information about a recent auction price for a Leica camera as well as upcoming auctions, antique shows, flea markets and much more.

Additionally, we updated the June AntiquesShow Calendar with dates and information for many shows in the Mid Atlantic region.  Coming up this month, the shows include the Richmond Antiques Spectacular; Sully’s Annual Father’s Day Antique Car Show; The Summer Antiques Extravaganza in Adamstown Pennsylvania; The Tiffin Collectors Annual Show; and the Fabulous Finds Barn Sale in Vienna Virginia as well as the International Petroliana Collectors Show.

Antiques & Collectibles Shows May 19-20, 2012

There are a couple of antiques and collectibles shows this weekend at great historical locations.  The first is the Gettysburg Antiques Show that will be held at Lincoln Square in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; the site of the historic Gettysburg Address.  The second show is the Armed Forces Day Toy Soldier Show, which is held in Newport News, Virginia.  Both shows are on Saturday, May 19, 2012 and both attract hundreds of vendors and visitors from around the country.  This is great entertainment for the whole family considering the history behind the locals and the significance of the shows.

Our personal favorite this weekend is the Lucketts Spring Antiques Show, which will be held on Saturday & Sunday, May 19-20, 2012 in the hamlet of Lucketts, Virginia, just north of Leesburg.  This antiques and collectibles show attracts visitors from around the country and features antique and shabby furniture and décor as well as vintage pottery, glass, lighting and functional antiques.  This is another show where the whole family is entertained as they provide live music, good eats and an overall party atmosphere.

Government and Police Auctions

As you are going through security at the airport, the alarm goes off and you get nervous.  You know you don’t have any contraband or illegal items, but with the levels of security that are employed nowadays, the small pocket knife that Uncle Tony gave you is still in your pocket. What to do?  You can either leave the line, try to get back to your car, and put it away, or the TSA will confiscate it.  Although sentimental to you, you decide that there is not enough time to go back to your auto.  What happens to Uncle Tony’s knife?

Federal, state and local laws and statute require that government agencies, sell seized, found, unclaimed and recovered property at public auctions. Most of the proceeds find their way back into our communities.  With this in mind, there are a lot of unscrupulous people on the Internet or through SPAM mail that will offer to sell you information about government auctions for a price.  However, most of this information is available on the Internet for free and can be found simply by using a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. 

The Federal Government announces many auctions on through the GSA (General Services Administration) website.  On this site you can find auctions for various items including furniture, photographic equipment, jewelry and exotic collectibles.  Other government auctions can be found on the U.S. Marshalls Service website, which includes auctions for vehicles, clothing and handbags.  One commercial website, propertyroom.com has contracts with many police departments around the country and features online auctions for fine art, electronics and coins.

Antiques Newsletter Published for May 2012

A new edition of the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter has been published this morning.  This newsletter features articles and information on Harker Pottery, the Oldest Pottery in America; Collecting Vintage Cameoware; A Slow Economy Making Antiques a Buyer’s Market; and Selling Scrap Gold & Silver Metal. 

Additionally, the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter contains information about upcoming Antiques Shows such as the Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show and the Lucketts Spring Antique Show as well as Estate Sales in Maryland and Virginia; Antique Auctions at Weschler’s and Laurel Auctions; and other flea markets and shows.

Rare Star Wars Collectible Up for Grabs

eFX Inc and 501st TK Project are teaming up to auction off one of the most unique Star Wars collectible today. An eFX Stormtrooper Helmet featuring the autographs of, among others, Star Wars creator George Lucas and actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. The auction is being held on EBay and the best part of this is that it benefits the Make a Wish Foundation.

501st Legion is an organization that was created by Star Wars fans to help raise funds for needy causes and the Make a Wish Foundation attempts to grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions.

Michael Jackson Photos Sold at Paris Auction

The King of Pop still rakes in the cash as one of the all-time greats in collectibles and memorabilia. About 700 prints of the King of Pop sold at Paris auction house Pierre Berge & Associes. The prints, some of which were classified as portraits of Jackson were taken by French photographer Arno Bani and some were originally intended to be used on the Invincible album cover.

The photographs brought in more than $265, 000, which is consistent with past sales of Jackson memorabilia. Since his death in July 2009, collectors and fans have fueled a buying frenzy for anything related to his life and lifestyle. One of the gloves sold last year for over $350,000 and a crystal studded shirt sold for $52,500. However, fans and collectors have to beware of fakes. Additionally, some collectors fear that there will be a glut in the amount of collectibles available and prices eventually will plummet.

Brief History of the Tea Caddy

Ahhh . . . a refreshing cup of tea. The same tea that the patriots dumped into the Boston Harbor was introduced to the English from China in the mid 1600’s. Believed to be a healing drink by its early connoisseurs, tea was originally for the well to do because of its extremely high price. Tea was packaged and imported in large quantities and the tax man then levied heavy taxes on the shipments. Tea remained very expensive for about 100 years, until many people started buying the tea illegally from the black market. Because tea was associated with the mighty and powerful, it had to be stored in only the best boxes or what was known as the tea caddy.

The word caddy is from Malaysia and was a unit of measure equal to about 3/5 of a kilo. In the early 1700’s a lot of tea caddies were made of wood in very intricate design, many featuring tortoiseshell and ivory. These boxes were shaped like small chests and some were even carved in the Chippendale style. These antique early boxes are very rare and collectible today. In the 1800’s the tea caddies began to take different shapes, with influences coming from both China and Egypt. Many of the tea caddies from this era featured pagoda tops and tapered sides as well a concave and other linear combinations.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archives - August 3, 2007 . . . .

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Edition Updates on Upcoming Events

The October 24, 2008 edition of the NOVA-Antiques Newsletter has been published and contains information about How to tell a First Edition Book; the Fabulous Finds Annual Barn Sale; a Bob Hope Memorabilia Auction and information about upcoming antiques and collectibles auctions, estate sales, flea markets and antique shows.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter is published twice per month by NOVA-Antiques and currently has a subscriber base of about 2500 subscribers. NOVA-Antiques is the Mid-Atlantic website for all things antique and collectible.

Vintage Sex Goes Up in Smoke

This past Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida a church congregation gathered to set fire to a cache of vintage sex films from the 1970’s -1980’s. It turns out, that the collection of more than 100 reels of the vintage sex were found in an old drive in movie theater building that the church had recently purchased. The church paid close to $1.4 million for the drive in and found the cache of X-rated movies when they were cleaning up . . . imagine their surprise. The most amusing part to me however is not that they found a cache of porn, but that they thought it best to bless the water in the fire trucks that were used to keep the fire under control.

Isn’t there something in our constitution about separation of church and state? We can’t have our children pray in schools, but we can let our fire trucks spew out holy water? There is something wrong with this picture. Got to give the padre of the church credit though, some Catholic priests or other ministers would have hid the cache for themselves. Others would have found a way to sell it; in case you all in Jacksonville hadn’t heard, sex sells and aren’t the churches always looking for donations? I guess they don’t really need to ask for any more donations though if they can afford to buy a drive in for $1.4 million and set fire to vintage collectibles that would have brought in thousands of dollars for the church.

Andy Warhol Paintings Not Recession Proof

Many years ago, when I was a lot younger, I owned an Andy Warhol Coca Cola T-Shirt and boy do I wish I would have kept it around. Although probably not worth as much as one of his paintings, it is always nice to have pieces of memorabilia from your past. It wasn’t too long ago that all Warhol collectibles were going for a premium price, however in these days of economic recession prices seem to be down. This is even more evident in the art world. At a Sotheby’s Auction yesterday, many pieces of art went either unsold or brought it less money than they were expected to bring including the paintings by Andy Warhol.

A compilation of 10 silkscreen paintings of skulls, which was expected to bring in more than 12 million at auction, brought in a mere $7.5 million. This compilation of paintings was first put together by a Zurich art dealer, Thomas Ammann, in 1976 and is said to represent the “the literal multiplication of death.” Each of the 10 canvases in this compilation was painted in different and contrasting colors and were signed by Warhol, who was one of the central figures in the Pop Art movement. Last year, Christie’s, sold Green Burning Car I, by Andy Warhol for a record breaking price of $71 million.

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928. Better known for his paintings and artwork, he was also a filmmaker, author and illustrator. In addition, he is also well known for the phrase that he coined regarding everyone’s “fifteen minutes of fame.” As with most artists, his work evolved as time went by. His works, which are as highly sought after today as they originally were, were the subjects of many scandals in the 1960’s. In the 1970’s, he toned down his celebrity and started getting more portrait commissions from the rich and famous including the Beatles’ John Lennon and Diana Ross of the Supremes.

Warhol was to evolve again in the 1980’s after some criticized his works of the 1970’s as too commercial and without substance. He started hanging around with other artists that were up and coming at the time including Jean-Michael Basquiat and David Salle. He had very successful exhibitions of his art and a resurgence in the interest of Warhol paintings again gripped art collectors. Unfortunately, his life was cut short and in 1987 after routine gall bladder surgery, Warhol had a heart attack and died. However, many would agree that Andy Warhol has overly exceeded his fifteen minutes of fame.

Nostalgic Petroliana Collectors

With gas prices jumping through the roof and drivers in some areas driving around for hours trying to find a gas station that even has gas, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone would be nostalgic about the good ole gas station. Petroliana are those collectible items associated with gas stations including advertisements, maps, old gas pumps and globes as well as oil cans and bottles. In recent years, Petroliana has been one of the fastest growing segments of collecting in the United States, as baby boomers nostalgically remember those times that were far less complicated and a gallon of gas cost less than a dollar. Now, there are tens of thousands of collectors and they are not just the boomers but their X and echo boomer generation offspring as well.

The nice thing about Petroliana, like a lot of other segments of collectibles, is that it goes across other segments of collecting. For example, a person collecting ephemera may collect Petroliana in the form of old street and city maps or a person who collects advertising memorabilia might collect Petroliana in the forms of old Esso or Texaco signs. And because there were so many different gas stations around the country, there is an abundance of collectibles to be had for the avid collector. You can find many collectibles at auctions, flea markets and antique shows as well as at yard and garage sales. If you are decorating in Petroliana and you can’t find an original of something you want, there are many reproduction pieces out there as well.

There are many websites dedicated to Petroliana and can help you to determine pricing and identify collectibles. One that I particularly like because it helps with picture identification is Gas Pump Index.

Michael Vick Memorabilia Storage Unit Auction

Many years ago, when I owned a shop in Buffalo, New York, a friend whom I had met at an auction came by and asked me if I would deliver some things he had bought at auction. He told me that he had bought the contents of an unpaid storage unit and needed to get some big items home. In return for my help in delivering his goods, I could have whatever was left in the storage unit. I agreed after he told me that the unit contained clean used furniture. He had bought the contents of the unit at auction only because he wanted some chairs that were in there. It was a win win situation, because the cache I got out of the storage unit amounted to thousands of dollars in free furniture, which I quickly sold. When you buy the contents of a storage unit at auction, you just never know what you are going to end up with.

This week, Edward Howard purchased the contents of a storage unit at auction and ended up with a cache of former NFL football star Michael Vick memorabilia. According to wordpress.com, the storage unit in Williamsburg, Virginia went unpaid and Ironbound Road Mini Storage decided to sell off its contents. Edward Howard, although skeptical at first about it actually being Vick’s storage unit, purchased the contents and to his surprise found that it did indeed contain Vick’s property. Mostly, it was property that was given as presents to Michaels son, Mitez. Inside the storage unit were a signed football, signed pictures and books and Michael Vick flags. Unlike me however, Howard has said that he will give the contents back to Vick after he is released from prison.

Butter Molds – Collectible Kitchen Utensils

In the August 24, 2006 NOVA-Antiques Newsletter, we talked about utensils (egg cups) that have become very collectible. Butter molds are from the same family (utensils), in that they were originally intended for home use, and not intended as the pricey collectible items that they have become. Originally used by women to adorn their dinner tables, the butter molds later were used by farmers to differentiate their product from others, thus becoming a marketing tool.

There are many types of butter molds, with many different origins and designs. First there is the hand carved wooden molds used by the farmers in the late 1700-1800’s. Later butter molds were made by machine. Although both are very collectible, obviously the older wooden ones are the most sought after and the most expensive for collectors. Many of the wooden butter molds are intricately carved, which drives the price even higher.

Believed to be from the late 1800's, this unusual bird shaped butter mold pictured recently sold on Ebay for over $344.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archive – September 14, 2006 . . . .

Sarah Palin Action Figure Doll

No matter you’re partly politics or whom you decide to vote for in the November election for President of the United States, history will be made, thus started my NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Article on September 5, 2008. The article talked about political memorabilia and its worth in years to come because of the historical significance of this upcoming election. What I didn’t know at the time was that a new Sarah Palin action doll manufactured by Herobuilders.com was going to come along and take the political memorabilia market by storm. Reports on the Internet have stated that thousands of the dolls have been sold.

The dolls, which can cost up to 29.95, come in three different poses in different outfits, including Super Action Hero Palin, School Girl Palin and the plain Sarah Palin action figure. However, all the dolls have the same Palin hairdo and glasses. I have to say that I find that the Vice Presidential nominee’s doll does not do her any justice, whether that was intentional or not I guess we will never know. What is known is that if the company has received thousands of orders for the doll and they don’t cap their sales at some point or come up with a special edition with limited numbers the dolls will probably not have a lot of value in the future. Although a great novelty item and conversation starter, you'll be able to stick the Palin doll in the worthless collectible drawer.

Back to School – Vintage Collectible Lunch Boxes

It’s that time of the year again when parents are looking forward to their kids returning to school and kids dreading the idea of having to return after having fun all summer. Although a lot of children brave the lunches by buying them in the cafeteria, a lot of others bring the good old standby, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, from home. How they carry those lunches to school is one of those things that epitomizes “the more things change, the more things stay the same” saying.

In the early 1900’s lunch boxes were metal pails or re-used (read recycled) tin cans that formerly held biscuits, tobacco or sweets. As time progressed, the tin containers evolved into what most of us remember as being the box with our favorite cartoon, TV and movie characters and a matching thermos to hold our milk. One of my most memorable boxes had none other than the robot and Will Robinson from the Lost in Space television series. Some of these boxes have become very collectible today and are worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Nowadays kids carry their lunches to school in insulated lunch totes of many different shapes, sizes and colors. Some are made of plastic or metal and some are even vinyl. However, the one thing that remains the same is that these are designed with today’s cartoon, TV and movie characters including Hello Kitty, Harry Potter and Shrek. The good news for collectors is that some of these new lunch totes are being made in limited quantities or limited editions and which will make them collectible in the future.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archive - August 24, 2007 . . . .