BOOKS!

Hi, again!  Sorry to take so long.

My topic this time is one of my favorites - books!  Books make a wondeful collection.  You don't need anything special except some appropriate shelves to keep them on.  You don't even HAVE to read them all, as long as they fit into your topic of collecting.  Of course, mine deal with CATS.  So let's start there.

Just recently, I discovered "Bunnicula", the vampire bunny!  What has a bunny got to do with cats, you ask?  Well, one of the characters in the book series is a cat, so this qualifies.  The bunny lives in a home with a Dad and Mom and 2 young sons, a dog and Chester, the cat.   This children's series was introduced in 1979.  Considering our culture's renewed interest in vampires, I'm guessing Bunnicula is popular, too.  (Bunnicula is a combination of bunny and Dracula.)

I belong to a great book swap group at http://www.paperbackswap.com/.  This is where I am in the process of collecting all the Bunnicula books which have Chester in them.  The author, James Howe, also has other children's books he has published, but I am not interested in those.  As far as I know, he is still writing.  Another good place to get books you might want would be Ebay and, of course, Amazon. 

Paperbackswap.com also deals in hardbacks which is all I would put in my collection.  The paperbacks I buy are books that I 'use,' like books on 'collectibles.'  I don't intend to ever resell these books for profit.  And I always try to get a hardback book in a First Edition.  These are the ones which resell the best.  Not that I ever intend to sell my cat book collection, but one never knows....

Speaking of places to find books....don't forget garage sales, rummage sales, etc.  Rummage sales are particularly cheap.  I also look for books which are very collectible which can be resold.  I once found a book at a thrift shop for about $1.50 and sold it on Ebay for $330!  So even if you don't collect books, per se, you can search for books to resell.  The book I am using right now to check prices of various collectible books is "Book Collector's Price Guide" by Richard Russell.  Amazon.com has it.  Very nice book.  You wouldn't BELIEVE some of the prices that books from the 1960s (or later) sell for! 

Here is an example - remember the movie, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?"  Well, a 'first edition' of the book (by Ken Kesey) which it was made from, sells for $10,000 in Near Fine/Fine condition!!!  This book was published in 1962.  Here are some more examples - "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, First Edition, 1932, $7,500 - "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller, F/E, 1961, $6,000 - "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller, F/E, 1934, $4,500.  And a modern day writer, like Stephen King?  A First Edition of "Carrie," 1974, goes for $2,000!  Mr. King is very collectible.  When I mention these books, they all are HARDBACK editions, of course.

If you have any questions about books, please leave me a message in my 'comments' box at the end of this article.  I need some feedback to encourage me to post more often.  Thanx Randy for egging me on!

And, again, you don't have to ponder too long on what subject to collect in books.  Just find a subject that interests you - dogs, horses, birds, nature, art, artists, autobiographies, biographies, politics, mysterys (by a particular author), childrens books, antique books, cars, etc., etc., etc.  Maybe you could even collect just First Editions whenever you found one (remember, condition is everything).  And also Cookbooks!  The subjects are endless.  So whether you collect to keep or collect to resell, it is always interesting and fun.

Just recently, I obtained a SIGNED (by the author), First Edition, of one of the Bunnicula books.  This was thru the book swap club.  I am elated!  How many times would THAT happen!  Yay!

Oh, I must calm down.  So there you have it.  I could go on and on about books, but please just ask me for further info if you want.  Would also appreciate stories of any of your 'finds' that you would like to share here.  Thanx.

Will try to be back sooner next time.  Happy Collecting! 

Of Postcards, Stamps, and Candy Bar Wrappers

Hi,

To continue a little with the topic of candy bar wrapper collecting - I came across an old newsletter in my collection, published by the candy-wrapper expert, Ray Broekel.  The title of the newsletter is:  CANDY BAR GAZEBO.  Just put the newsletter title and/or Broekel's name in a search and you will come up with lots of information.  Also search using 'box of rain candy bar.'  Great info here.  Mr. Browkel passed away at age 83 in 2006.

Other collectibles that take up less space, because you can store/display them in albums, are POSTCARDS, COINS, and of course, POSTAGE STAMPS. 

Postcards are great fun!  They are still relatively easy to find for purchase, either vintage or new.  I prefer the vintage ones, but am always on the lookout for any new ones in my collecting categories.  Of course, my largest category is CATS, but I also like GOLDFISH (kinda hard to find), and PEACOCKS, and more.  I also like vintage postcards of any bird which has REAL feather(s) attached to the card which forms the bird's body.  Another of my favorite categories is what I call ODD ANIMALS.  These are mostly vintage Real Photo PostCards (RPPCs) picturing animals with extra legs/feet or heads or whatever!  I just read news the other day of a 6-legged calf being born, but nowadays they don't publish postcards of the event!

Just think of the postcrds you could collect.  Just about anything is available, take your pick in the area of your interest.  Here are some suggestions:  vintage RPPCs of your hometown - any animal you like - RPPCs of lightning strikes - volcanoes - automobiles - ships - Christmas - Santas - other holidays - children - royalty - circus/sideshow - etc., etc.

To find a source of postcards, you could buy them by mail, right from the dealers, and/or you could attend any local postcard shows, which you could look for on the internet.  There used to be a nice magazine called Postcard Collector, but it stopped printing a few years ago.  Now the place to go is the website, http://www.postcardcollector.org/.  I haven't even finished checking it out, but what I have seen so far is very good.  Plenty of info on shows, dealers ads, supplies, and various article by authors about certain cards.  I am sure there are lots of other postcard websites, so don't be afraid to surf around.

Postcard collecting gets you doing research and learning more and more.  The same could be said of COIN collecting.  There are coin price guides to be had for info and prices, as well as magazines.  (Have you noticed there are 4 NEW pennies being minted this year?)

And how can I not mention postage stamp collecting?  I collected mostly cat stamps and made some really nice display albums, pairing up the picture on the stamp with a postcard of a similar design.  Depending on what you want to collect, there is a lot of help out there.  I haven't even checked the INTERNET for stamps since I stopped collecting my cat stamps a while back.  But you can go for it!

Well, I better wrap this up.  Please leave any comments or questions you may have at the bottom of this page, and I will see if I can help. 

Later.....

The Art of Collecting

30 May 2010

Hi, Everyone!

My name is Phyllis. Welcome to the world of collecting. I am here to help you with the great hobby of COLLECTING! A large part of the population collects - even the rich and/or famous. It doesn't matter so much what you collect - it's more the pursuit of the item - or the thrill of the hunt - that sustains this hobby.

One reason I decided to start this blog, is that I have actually read where people said they would like to start a collection, but didn't know what to collect. Come on, that's easy! Just think of the things you like and start there. For instance, you love chocolate - so how about collecting vintage or new chocolate recipe cookbooks? Then you could expand to vintage tins and/or candy boxes, even candy bar wrappers (so long as the candy features chocolate). How about dishes and toys that have a chocolate candy motif? There are many items being produced that feature well-known chocolate like M&Ms, Hershey's, etc.

Or, suppose you like/have goldfish. There are gorgeous books out there picturing all the different beautiful breeds of goldfish - it's not just comets anymore! And very nice artwork of goldfish can be found on sites like Ebay. And don't forget things like postcards and figurines and snuff bottles.

Personally I collect CAT items, so I may be using my collection(s) as a guideline as we go along. I have been collecting for at least 40 years. The early years were more like accumulating than purposefully collecting, but then one thing just led to another and then I started collecting in earnest. My collections really took off after I got a computer (1998) and got on the internet!

Where I ran into trouble was when I guess I got a little bored with just collecting cats, so I thought of other things I liked and started collecting in those areas, too. I like a LOT of things, so the money outlay started getting out of control. So just be careful. Particularly if you are just starting out.

The monetary amount you spend on your collection can be a little or a lot. It just depends on how much you can fit into your budget. But you can find cheap ways to collect. Like I said, candy bar wrappers don't cost much, plus you get the pleasure of eating the candy bar!! And, believe it or not, there are limited edition-type candy bars out there. For instance, I believe I have a candy bar wrapper with Michael Jackson pictured on it. And there are movie-themed candy bars that only come out once, then that is it. You don't see them again.

Or you can go high end and buy expensive porcelain pieces or rare items, etc. It is up to you. In this blog I also want to get into ways to store and display your collection(s). So we have plenty to talk about. But that's it for now. Have a nice and safe Memorial Day. Catch you later!