Antiques and Collectables – The Collectors Blog

Kristi O’Harran of The Daily Herald writes this report about men who are still collecting Hot Wheels:

Trucks and cars pull into the Lynnwood Target parking lot around 7:45 a.m. most weekday mornings. Just before the store opens at 8, grown men gather at the door where they share brief chitchat. When the key turns in the lock, they scoot, as if hurrying to the snack bar at a Seattle Seahawks halftime.

Jim Edwards joins other “Hot Wheels Guys” weekday mornings at Lynnwood’s Target and other department stores to see if any new collectible cars were stocked overnight.
Stand back. It’s not the day after Thanksgiving, it’s “Hot Wheels Guys” rushing to the toy aisles.

Sriwipa Siripunyawit of the Bangkok Post News writes that even with inflation, Thai collectors continue to buy watches and jewelry:

Luxury timepieces and jewellery continue to top the list of most-desirable collectibles among Thai investors. Even inflation has failed to shake the spending power of these connoisseurs.

Demand for luxury collectibles, particularly premium watches and jewellery, has kept growing over the past few years.

Michael Holtzman of The Call writes this article about a man who found a rare Napleon “Larry” Lajoie baseball card with his signature:

When Woonsocket’s Napleon “Larry” Lajoie went from pushing a broom in a local mill at age 10 to becoming a major league baseball player with the Philadelphia Phils at 21 on Aug. 12, 1896, he began a two-decade career that would see him inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with the likes of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Cy Young.

Along the way Lajoie – the French name pronounced Lah-Zhwa – would become the first superstar of the fledgling American League.

Elizabeth Day of The Telegraph writes this article about space memorabilia:

There is a healthy market in space memorabilia which capitalises on both the international appeal and the historical importance of items. The rarity of collectibles that have actually “flown” doesn’t hurt either – a would-be collector should keep an eye out for miscellaneous bits of kit that have been taken into space.

Lissa McGrath of AuctionBytes.com writes about the report posted by TIAS about antiques and collectibles trends for 2005:

During 2005, there were 27 times more U.S. buyers of antiques and collectibles from Tias’ U.S.-based antiques sites than any international country. This is according to end-of-year reports from Tias.com, provider of an ecommerce hub for 750 merchants, boasting approximately 190,000 unique customers each day.