Sundays Score, 4 little pieces of...

[diggummup]

Tile made by J.G. & J.F.Low circa 1881 & 1882. They've been out of business since 1907. Paid less than the $3 per tile price listed in the 1884 catalog. Illustrated catalogue of art tiles made by J. G. & J. F. Low (1884) :: Low Art Tile Book Collection
I can't find any other example of the Ben Franklin one, except in the catalog. I think he may be a little more rarer than the other 3. There was a large cache of unopened crates of tiles discovered in a Cambridge warehouse in the 1950's. I'm hoping it didn't contain any Ben Franklins. A little damage on a couple but not too bad overall considering. Here they are-

 

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[apush]

Now those are some neat finds! Beautiful tiles par none!
apush

 

[bazinga]

Wow, now those are impressive. I've yet to ever find a tile for sale (well, outside of the expensive ones at antique malls).

 

[diggummup]

I found a Marblehead tile a few years ago at a thrift store. I may have to dig it out and see what it's worth nowadays.

 

[bazinga]

So how much of this stuff do you keep?

 

[diggummup]

That's funny. You know what I actually collect? Postcards and salt 'n pepper shakers. For me it's all about the hunt. Everything has a price for the most part. If I kept everything I liked i'd need a 100,000 square foot warehouse to store/display it in. About the only thing I won't sell are gifts from friends and family members. My problem is, I'll buy something and it usually gets put in a box and forgotten about. I'm trying to change that and lighten my load a little. I'm trying to relocate to another part of the state in the next year or so and I need to get rid of alot of stuff before I do that. Plus the extra money won't hurt either with work being so slow. I used to buy things as an "investment" for the future, but the things I bought back then, are worth less now, than they were then. So I figure there's no sense holding on to anything anymore, I guess the future is now. It may lose even more value. If I wait for the economy to turn around or the market to change, I may be waiting forever. I've got stuff packed in storage I haven't seen in literally 10+ years, plus my house is still overloaded with glass and pottery. What do you keep/collect?

 

[jerseyben]

Diggum:

I am in a similar boat. That is why I have been actively selling everything I have that is already sitting in any kind of storage (boxes, drawers, my van, garage). I also significantly increased my discrimination when buying. I really only buy stuff I know I can make a profit on or something that I really truly want for myself. I agree though, there is very little that I wouldn't sell. I could count on one hand the stuff I would never sell.
Stuff I collect: Coins (my main focus), records, stereo equipment, DVDs (limited), bottles (limited), anything with early American historical value, NJ related historical items, tools, Magic the Gathering cards.

 

[diggummup]

Okay, I guess I collect many things but like I said, almost everything has a price. My buying strategy has changed alot too. I try focus on items that will sell for higher prices versus items that will only make me $10-$20 bucks. Unless it's something small that will fit in a padded mailer, it's really not worth it. I do still buy certain things of less value though, if I already have other related items that could be sold in a lot, together with it.

 

[bazinga]

That's funny. You know what I actually collect? Postcards and salt 'n pepper shakers. For me it's all about the hunt. Everything has a price for the most part. If I kept everything I liked i'd need a 100,000 square foot warehouse to store/display it in. About the only thing I won't sell are gifts from friends and family members. My problem is, I'll buy something and it usually gets put in a box and forgotten about. I'm trying to change that and lighten my load a little. I'm trying to relocate to another part of the state in the next year or so and I need to get rid of alot of stuff before I do that. Plus the extra money won't hurt either with work being so slow. I used to buy things as an "investment" for the future, but the things I bought back then, are worth less now, than they were then. So I figure there's no sense holding on to anything anymore, I guess the future is now. It may lose even more value. If I wait for the economy to turn around or the market to change, I may be waiting forever. I've got stuff packed in storage I haven't seen in literally 10+ years, plus my house is still overloaded with glass and pottery. What do you keep/collect?

Any specific kind of SP shakers? Porcelain, glass, eapg, etc? Any specific ones that you are on the lookout for that you can't find?

I've been collecting / hoarding old victorian novelties, covered animal dishes, and other pieces that many would consider rare and unobtainable to the average collector at full retail. But, like you said, the reality of price decline really hit home last week. I went to an auction and items were just being given away. Items that were an EASY $200-$500 just 2-5 years ago were struggling to reach $20-$50. The only items that really seem to be able to hold their value are the exceptionally rare. Like fewer than 10 known pieces kind of rare. But even those are only worth $4000 now instead of $6000 that they were worth 10 years ago. A lot of people argue it's the economy, but when it comes to victorian era glassware, I believe a lot of it has to do with the collectors of those pieces passing away / having every piece already and no new collectors my age entering the marketplace. My generation doesn't collect. They buy, use, throw away, repeat. They don't want that old bowl that was sitting on Grandma's table for 50 years cluttering up their "modern" apartment.

So now I'm trying to sell off the higher dollar items while they are still higher dollar. And like you, I will be keeping anything that I've gotten as a gift over the years (which is surprisingly quite a lot, I can't imagine how much I will have in another 20 years). I've got stuffed packed away in storage that I know hasn't seen the light of day for at least 5 years. I have a general idea of a few items that are packed away, but I'm otherwise clueless. I remember there is a pair of Imperial Green Cathay Bookends packed away and as I look them up now, their value has certainly declined since I packed them away. Now they don't even sell even though I've never even seen them for sale at any antique mall in my area.

 

[diggummup]

I like figural salt and peppers the most but I usually buy all that I see, as long as they are vintage or unique. About the only thing I'm looking for is a match to a sterling silver Pagoda salt shaker that I only have one of. Looks like this- 364 Japanese Sterling Silver Salt Pepper Pagoda Lamp : Lot 364 The bad part is most of them are packed away and not even displayed. Why? Because I have too much other "crap" filling my cabinets.

It's funny how you can have items that are considered antique and rare and not get a decent bid on it yet you can list something that is less rare and barely vintage and get way more than you expected. I have to agree with you, I think the serious collectors of old glass and pottery are dying out and a new breed of kitschy crap collectors is evolving. Example, I found a piece today I had packed away in with a box of Disney stuff. It's a 1940's Daffy Duck figurine from American Pottery Co. It's a little ceramic figurine. To look at it you figure, okay it may be worth $5-$10 bucks because it looks vintage. Ha! The last one sold for over $100 on Ebay and others have actually sold for $200. That's what I mean by Kitschy crap.

 

[jerseyben]

People buy/collect stuff they can relate to. That explains the Daffy Duck thing. Who can relate to a piece of Depression glass? Look at vintage video games. That market is absolutely exploding and I think it is painfully easy to see why.

 

[reapp]

As for my scope of collecting, I collect real photo postcards, WWII military helmets, vintage photography, and old guitars. As for the selling aspect, I agree with the previous statement regarding collectors dying and no one new entering the field. I could see that happening with the postcards, but I hope not. I have alot of chinese and japan postcards which are worth a pretty penny, and I would hate to think that they would loose their value.

As for my best re-sale, I picked up a 1963 gibson sg special in polaris white from an older lady for $900, and found out that it was one of 300 made that year in that particuluar color. It was the same which was Pete Townsend's guitar of choice (used on Live at Leeds album), and he would smash them at the end of his concerts. Sold it via ebay to a buyer in Italy for $7100. Of course, this was before the market melted.

 

[bazinga]

I like figural salt and peppers the most but I usually buy all that I see, as long as they are vintage or unique. About the only thing I'm looking for is a match to a sterling silver Pagoda salt shaker that I only have one of. Looks like this- 364 Japanese Sterling Silver Salt Pepper Pagoda Lamp : Lot 364 The bad part is most of them are packed away and not even displayed. Why? Because I have too much other "crap" filling my cabinets.

It's funny how you can have items that are considered antique and rare and not get a decent bid on it yet you can list something that is less rare and barely vintage and get way more than you expected. I have to agree with you, I think the serious collectors of old glass and pottery are dying out and a new breed of kitschy crap collectors is evolving. Example, I found a piece today I had packed away in with a box of Disney stuff. It's a 1940's Daffy Duck figurine from American Pottery Co. It's a little ceramic figurine. To look at it you figure, okay it may be worth $5-$10 bucks because it looks vintage. Ha! The last one sold for over $100 on Ebay and others have actually sold for $200. That's what I mean by Kitschy crap.

That's a pretty cool set of shakers there. I really dig the one pictured below it of the mushrooms. I've never really even paid attention to anything that isn't glass. When I see a display case at the antique mall that is all sterling, I just look on to the next case since I don't know enough to make money on the stuff unless I'm at a yard sale or auction and think I can get it cheap.

What's funny about milk glass and other glassware is people spend more money on the reproduction pieces now than they do the originals that they were copied after. That just makes no sense to me at all, but then again, i'm not the buyer. I just try to cater to what they want to buy. The same goes for furniture around here. My friends look at old furniture and think it's ugly and think $200 is too much for an 1890s dresser. Then they go to the furniture store and see a dresser made of pressed wood in the exact same style and color of the old piece for $800 and just have to have it. There is virtually no difference between the two pieces aesthetically, but they prefer old over new.

Daffy duck, people can relate to. Even my generation grew up with Daffy on the tv. Little Orphan Annie, Hopalong Caddidy, etc, nobody can relate to them. their audience is now on the last legs of life and selling their collections and not adding to it.

Like another poster said, video games are booming. My generation now has disposable income and they want the things that take them back to their youth. Speaking of video games, I've got an original XBox still sealed that I need to remember to list someday. But, I RARELY find any video games at yard sales, or anything from the 1980s/1990s outside of over priced Star Wars items.

 

[diggummup]

People buy/collect stuff they can relate to. That explains the Daffy Duck thing. Who can relate to a piece of Depression glass? Look at vintage video games. That market is absolutely exploding and I think it is painfully easy to see why.

I can relate to a piece of depression glass. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. I've always been drawn to old glass and pottery. As for the vintage video gaming systems, I have a few boxfuls of that junk in my spare bedroom, ps1's, ps2's Atari 2600 and games to go with them. I have sold some games in the past and a handheld system or two but I didn't make a killing of off them. I pass up video games every weekend because I got tired of buying them. I do keep an eye out for the Japanes anime and manga type games though and do buy those when I see them, which isn't too often.

PS- I just noticed while typing this reply that you can actually have your games sent in to be graded and carded like a coin or comic book. That's just crazy.

 

[jerseyben]

Diggum: I hear you. I was referring to the changing market in terms of depression glass vs video games. There are still lots of collectors of glass, etc. My "in real life" mentor is a baby boomer with plenty of disposable income. He is constantly buying and selling glass, dishes, books, silver, and i love lucy paraphernalia. I think the point that has been established here is that the collector's market is actively changing.

 

[diggummup]

I think the point that has been established here is that the collector's market is actively changing.

Yeah I hear you, point taken. We need to follow the trends in order to keep making money.

 

[OldSowBreath]

Agree with the above. Good God, remember when baseball cards ruled? How I've been burned on those. Of course, this was before Topps and Fleer and the like flooded the market.

The only stuff I've seen go up in price are the tags on estate sale stuff. I wonder when it is going to dawn on the estate sellers that this isn't four years ago. I also agree with Diggumup that a 10 -20 dollar profit isn't worth it to me. I've really cut back on my buying at garage and estate sales.

I have a jones for NASA and the space program, robots, graphing calculators, Texana, some clocks and watches, select postcards, and really, trying to find the valuable stuff that people overlook. In my town, gold, silver, and coins do not exist at garage sales; people are too educated. Of course, when they don't sell it non-garage sale, they'll run to a "Gold and Silver Buyers" joint and get (sorry, all bad words I can think of would be inappropriate here).

Of no particular interest, but at a recent estate sale, the pro lady running it did have a quart bag full of various US silver coins in their cardboard holders. She would not piecesale any of it and wanted $900.00, non-negotiable. I happened to see her notebook at the cashier table and you could see where she added them up via ebay pricing and totaled it to $918.00. Right, I'm going to dump 900 bones on a off chance of making 918.

 

[bazinga]

Of no particular interest, but at a recent estate sale, the pro lady running it did have a quart bag full of various US silver coins in their cardboard holders. She would not piecesale any of it and wanted $900.00, non-negotiable. I happened to see her notebook at the cashier table and you could see where she added them up via ebay pricing and totaled it to $918.00. Right, I'm going to dump 900 bones on a off chance of making 918.

Next time remind her that she would make more money selling to you for $800 right now than she would selling it for $918 on ebay. Then wait for the look of confusion on her face and enjoy your grin as you walk away.

 

[OldSowBreath]

I like that, bazinga. Gonna use it next time I see one of those ebay print-outs at a sale.

 

[diggummup]

Agree with the above. Good God, remember when baseball cards ruled? How I've been burned on those. Of course, this was before Topps and Fleer and the like flooded the market.

The only stuff I've seen go up in price are the tags on estate sale stuff. I wonder when it is going to dawn on the estate sellers that this isn't four years ago. I also agree with Diggumup that a 10 -20 dollar profit isn't worth it to me. I've really cut back on my buying at garage and estate sales.

I've weeded out the estate sale companies down here for the most part. There are 3 that sell for really good prices and one that almost gives stuff away. I'm trying to cut back on my buying at garage sales. I just can't resist though on the small easy to ship items. If I can pay a dollar or two and make $10-$20 on the small stuff, I will. It's the larger items that take time and packing materials that I have tried to stop looking at.