Friday, August 23, 2013

Columbus Ohio Pop Up Flea Market - Labor Day, Monday September 2nd

Hey sellers and shoppers here in Ohio - Caring Transitions of Central Ohio is having a pop up flea market on Labor Day! Spots are available for vendors if you are interested in selling, if you are buying I have no doubt it is going to be a fun event! Here are the details, click the image to enlarge:


Thursday, August 22, 2013

The super score of 2013? Vintage Raul Coronel wall art at auction on eBay now!

Sometimes in this business you just get lucky. I could say it was my vast knowledge of mid century modern collectibles that prompted me to pick this item up, but in reality, I just thought it was cool and so I bought it to hang on my wall. I figured since it was so big and heavy, the cost of shipping it would be too high and it wouldn't be worth listing online. In my defense, I DID recognize it as something super cool - just not as something super valuable. That counts for something, right? ;)


When I got it home I decided to research the signature on it - Coronel. It wasn't long before I realized that it was definitely worth listing, and the potential selling price on it trumped any desire I had to keep it for myself! Click the link above to see the current high bid - the auction ends on Sunday, I'm expecting most of the bidding activity to be happening then, towards the end. That's how it usually goes anyway...

If you want to see the prices some sellers are asking for Coronel pieces, head over to 1st Dibs. Yowza. I don't know if my piece will go as high as all that, but if it goes even half as high I will be extremely happy! :)

The most helpful spot I found information about the designer / artist, Raul Coronel, was a thread over on the 20th Century Forum. Those folks over there know their stuff, and they were super helpful when I posted there, looking for more information on my find. From the info in their posts there I'm estimating my piece to be from the 1950s or 1960s, and there is a chance that it is one of a kind, rather than one that they produced multiples of - I haven't been able to find another one just like it anywhere online. Believe me, I've combed through Google a few times looking for it!

Super scores don't come around every day, but man it sure is fun when they do turn up! :)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Featured Collectible - Vintage Telephones

Since most telephones that people use today fit in your pocket, old land line telephones have become very collectible. I found one a couple of weeks ago (I haven't listed it yet - we don't have a land line, so I have to take it to my parent's house to test it out!) and it occurred to me, I haven't done a Featured Collectible post about phones yet! How I've gone this long without doing one is beyond me... Let's remedy the situation, shall we?

For me, these "donut" phones are the cream of the crop when it comes to vintage telephones. I've only found ONE in all my days of treasure hunting! This one is at auction now, new old stock no less!

I love the Trimline phones because they are the phones that remind me of my childhood the most. There are push button and rotary styles, and TONS of colors to choose from!

These Ericofon phones are probably one of the strangest telephones ever designed - you've gotta love it! I've never found one of these before, hopefully I will someday!

It seems like a LOT of the vintage phones are Western Electric phones. Great keyword to use if you are searching for a retro phone!

You can't go wrong with the classic black rotary style...

If you ever come across one of these Western Electric phones that has a little light on it, snatch that puppy up - apparently they are worth the BIG bucks!!

Vintage Blue Rotary Princess Telephone
And then you have the iconic Princess phone - these also come in a wide variety of colors. I'm in love with this blue one!!

The Starlite phones are kinda similar to the Princess phones...

There are a lot of different styles of these fancy cradle telephones, I tend to think of them as boudoir phones, like a Hollywood movie star would chat on at her vanity while wearing a frilly nightgown. They are sometimes referred to as Princess phones, or French Style phones.

WHOA - Glass!!!

Of course you can't go wrong with character phones - here's Hello Kitty!! Too cute!

Here's Mickey, a classic...

And last but not least, we can't forget Snoopy! I love that this phone has Woodstock on it too. :)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Vintage snap back hats - new at auction on eBay!

Here is a fun find I have to show you all - a bunch of 1980's vintage college team snap back hats! I never would have thought to pick up something like this, but I've been watching the pickers on YouTube lately, and I kept hearing them talk about snap back hats and how some of them can go for a lot of money...

Anyway, I went to an estate sale a couple of weeks ago, and lo and behold, there is a huge collection of hats! I only grabbed maybe 1/4 of what was there, the dude must have been either a collector or an employee, to have so many... Most of them were in new condition too, the guy running the sale said they were all stored in a trunk.

I won't show them all here, just a few of my favorites... Click on over if you want to check them all out!




Saturday, August 3, 2013