Soffieria de Carlini Cat Christmas Ornament

'Tis the season for lovely stories like this one in which a woman breaks a prized Christmas ornament that she purchased at Lord and Taylor  in the 1980s when she travelled there with her now-deceased brothers. 

Her daughter, seeing her mother remember that Christmas ornament each year, eventually reaches out online for help and readers help her locate the ornament on eBay. Given eBay's vast selection of listings and global community, the fact that they found it on that site really does not really surprise me but it is heart warming that people online helped put the person who wanted to replace a treasured memory together with a seller who had one for sale.

The ornament is a hand blown and hand painted glass Italian Soffieria de Carlini Christmas ornament. Unfortunately, the one shown here is no longer available on eBay but there are other pieces, which you can find by clicking right here.

Merry Christmas!

Brenda

Quick Links:

Find more glass Soffieria de Carlini Christmas ornaments here.

Vintage Pink Rotary Telephones

How cool are vintage phones? It was author and artist Sandra Boynton's picture of her pink pig rotary phone as shown that made me wonder if you can still buy a pink rotary phone. It turns out, of course, that you can.

I think rotary phones are pretty cool though you will not find one with a pink pig mounted on it like Ms. Boynton's phone, which was created for her by Frank Grusauskaws. You can find more information about Ms. Boynton's piggy phone on her page on Facebook.

In my opinion, pink phones are perfect for anyone who has a pig obsession. They're also perfect for someone with a very pink room. Or for someone wanting a singular stand-out pink accessory. Or for someone with a love of vintage phones or things vintage in general. Maybe a Mary Kay consultant, LOL?

It turns out that rotary phones in general are a sought-after collectible and a quick and unscientific look at the pink ones seems to show that they sell well on eBay.

As I write this, the highest priced sale of a pink rotary phone on eBay is a pink desktop version made by Western Electric that sold for $517 plus shipping. The most unusual one, surpassing even the very interesting and rare Pink Panther telephone, might just be the Stromberg pay phone that sold for $149 plus shipping, which you can buy new or used. Noteworthy in a more recent visit, is an interesting Wedgwood Jasperware style phone that sold for $360 plus shipping.

Click here to see a selection of pink rotary phones that are available via eBay today:

What do you think? Would you like to add a pink phone to your decor? Perhaps not a pink one but a vintage rotary phone?  Do you know if they even work with today's phone systems?

You never know
what I might have in store for you!
Brenda

 

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Video Game: Pop Culture Myth Proven True

Made for the Atari 2600, the E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial video game, unlike the movie, was a horrendous flop for Atari.

The video game was created in a short time period instead of the normal four months it took to develop a video game. It was rushed out to be ready for the Christmas market and it was a total disaster.

As a matter of fact, the game is considered to be the worst video game ever made and eventually, Atari decided to cut its losses and dumped the huge remaining stock of plastic video game cartridges in the desert in New Mexico.

That action lived on and became a pop culture myth that was only proven true this week when a Canadian studio from Ottawa named Fuel Industries quite literally (and deliberately) unearthed the stash of video games. If you are interested, you will want to stay tuned for a documentary movie on the subject.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if the cult status of the movie or even the news of its existence in a dump in the middle of the dessert has caused it to be a good seller on eBay.

I looked and I see that there are quite a few listed...the lowest priced one a used copy listed for $3.99 plus shipping. If it is a new copy you are after, you will find a new one with an opening bid of $50 and I can see that this item, when new, has sold for up to $150. Click here to see what is available on eBay today.

The news reports say that people want to buy a video game from the dump. They want to own a piece of the legend of Atari burying E.T. in the desert. I guess we will have to wait and see if those video games make an appearance on eBay.

And now for confession time. When I was a high school-er, I saved my dollars and cents and my first big purchase was for a used Atari console. It was most likely the one associated with this game though I do not actually remember.  I do not recall owning the E.T. the Extra Terrestrial video game but I did own Space Invaders and Pac Man.

Do you have any 'vintage' video game memories?

You never know what I might
have in store for you!
Brenda

Quick Links:

See eBay's complete collection of Atari E.T. video games.

Vintage Baldelli Owl Piggy Bank

I LOVED this little owl, I did and he turned out to be a learning experience for me.

I sold him on ebay after picking him up for resale on a whim and discovering that he is a piggy bank that was made by Baldelli Ceramics, an Italian firm created by Ceramiche Baldelli that has been in business since 1943 in Citta di Castello, Italy.

This lovely green owl has gone to a new home in the United States. I don’t know if the buyer collects owls, Baldelli, mid-century modern pieces, piggy banks or simply was drawn to this little fellow. Whatever the buyer's reason, this owl is in my opinion a wise and handsome addition to his or her décor.

I checked and that there are a few other Baldelli pieces available on eBay. You can see more Baldelli piggy banks, in the form of owls, cats and other creatures for yourself by clicking right here.

You Never Know What
I Might Have In Store For You!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Check out the owls in my eBay store.

INTERESTING AUCTIONS: Emily Carr's The Crazy Stair

I am always intrigued by unique, one-of-a-kind auctions like those that include works by famous artists. In this instance it is a painting by Canada's Emily Carr that is known as The Crazy Stair and The Crooked Staircase, which is coming up for auction on November 28, 2013.

The painting, which hung previously at the historic Vancouver Club in British Columbia, Canada, was called The Crooked Staircase but recently, during conservation, it was discovered that this painting is really named The Crazy Stair by Carr herself. 

This work, which comes from Emily Carr's West Coast aboriginal artwork of the 1920s, features a looming totem figure, a crooked staircase and bright Pacific greenery.

The auction house, Heffel Fine Art, says this painting represents Emily Carr at "full maturity."   It is expected to fetch up to $1.6 million dollars with that figure being called conservative. 

Emily Carr is one of Canada's most known artists and this piece of art considered amongst the rarest of Canadian pieces. I would love to see it find a new home in a museum so that all of us can enjoy it but I have no idea if that is likely to happen.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I
might have in store for you!

Quick Links:

Read Heffel Fine Art's description of this auction.

Visit my Native American themed listings by clicking right here.

Vintage B. Kliban Collector's Items

The artist B. Kliban created Kliban the ultimate cartoon cat in the 1970s and his black and white cat achieved huge popularity from the publication of the first book and was eventually featured on every type of merchandise conceivable from calendars and t-shirts to mugs and cookie jars. (Shown above is the first B. Kliban book called Cat.)

The book The Collectible 70s says that official B. Kliban merchandise, that is merchandise marked BKliban, was only manufactured for about 6 years. Since Kliban the cat has retained his popularity, merchandise bearing his likeness is highly sought after, especially the older pieces marked BKliban. After the artist's death, other manufacturers produced pieces using Kliban's likeness and some of those items will be marked JKliban or BKcats. Find your copy of The Collectible 70s here on Amazon.

I love the striking teapot shown above, which was previously sold (and no longer available) on eBay by seller lkg0vvu.  However, that one has since been sold. You can, however, check for it and see what other Kliban teapots are available here on eBay. What Kliban collector wouldn't like to own a themed teapot?

I rarely find Kliban merchandise myself when I am sourcing but at one point, I did have the fun cookie jar shown above, which was manufactured by Sigma and Tastesetters in the shape of a pair of pants with not one but rather three Kliban the cat figures on top. If you are interested in a Kliban cookie jar, you can check eBay here and you can find oodles of other Kliban merchandise on eBay by clicking right here 

Pretty good, don’t you think, for a cat that is not considered particularly cute or mysterious but simply very funny?

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

Disney's Tale Spin Toys

Disney's Tale Spin was an animated children's television series that aired for two seasons in 1990. It featured two main characters: Baloo who we know from Disney's Jungle Book and Kit Cloudkicker who went on plenty of adventures that included air pirates, one of whom was Don Karnage.

In 1991, Playmates released a series of figurines and toys including as shown on the left, Disney's Tale Spin Toy Plane called Don Karnarge's Tri-Wing Terror.

Don Karnarge's Tri-Wing Terror included a "realistic" sounding turbo propeller, which I believe you had to manually turn to hear, a gun sight, a retractable pilot's canopy, aerial attack guns, tri-wing design, detachable bombs and high-flying pontoons. New but in an open box, Don Karnarge sold from the toy department of my eBay store for close to $200.

The Tri-Wing Terror is just one of a number of Tale Spin toys that are rare and sought after, fetching good prices on eBay.

The Giant Baloo Collector Action Figure shown here sold for more than $70 through the eBay store Tootsie's Toys, who is no longer selling on eBay.

And eBay seller reddogedwards found a happy collector for The Molly Cunningham plush toy shown above, who was willing to pay more than $1,000 for this prized memory from the 1990s.

Not all of Disney's Tale Spin toys are so valuable. There are plenty of items that are affordable, like pins, comic books and McDonald's toys, but there are also a few really special pieces, like those sold items shown here on this page. You can see for yourself a huge selection of Tale Spin merchandise right now by clicking right here. 

You never know what
I might have in store for you!
Brenda

Quick Links:

See what new, used and vintage toys are in my eBay store.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin

My son has watched every episode ever of Doctor Who, which is considered the most successful science fiction series ever.  For the uninitiated, the series started in 1963 and was produced by the BBC. It features a time traveller known as the Doctor who has been played over time by a total of 11 actors.  Obviously, it is an extremely popular and enduring television program with people other than my son. 

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, the New Zealand Mint created a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin and released it in a limited run of 10,000 pieces.

On July 14, 2013, the first Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin sold on eBay for $2,026.  Others will be available but this one was a special one because it was number 00001 in the numbered series. Since then a number of other sets have been sold, with prices ranging from $123 to $910 depending, of course, on the number each piece was in the series. 

The coin is sold in an attractive Tardis box.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I might 
have in store for you!

Quick Links:

Find the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin on eBay.

Elizabeth Taylor's First Wedding Dress Sold At Auction

Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress, the one that she wore when she married Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton Jr, sold on June 26, 2013 at Christie’s auction house in London for twice the expected amount, £120,000 or $184,362.

The dress was a gift to Miss Taylor from MGM in 1950 when she appeared in MGM’s Father of the Bride movie. 

Reportedly, the dress took 15 people more than three months to create. The intricate gown was created by Helen Rose and featured 25  yards of shell-white satin decorated with seed pearls, bugle beads and a fifteen yard satin train.

The buyer was a mysterious telephone bidder but it is hoped that the dress was purchased by an institution so that it will one day be on display and available for viewing by the public.

How's that for interesting auction action? Pretty interesting, I'd say.

You never know what treasures I might have in store for you! 

Brenda

Treasures By Brenda

Quick Links:

Discover the best Elizabeth Taylor movies.

Original 1955 Lady and the Tramp Movie Poster

The Lady and the Tramp poster shown here is a modern reproduction from Amazon but recently a gentleman in Forest Lake, Minnesota  found an original 1955 Lady and the Tramp movie poster at a Goodwill store and picked it up on speculation, thinking it might be worth $100 or so. 

Turns out his instincts to pick the poster up were right as he has a rare 1955 Lady and the Tramp movie poster from Disney that is listed elsewhere online for $53,900.  

The news story reports that he has had the poster authenticated and hopes to be able to sell his treasure for $20,000 to $40,000.

BUT WAIT. The story isn't so simple.  

Comments on the original post where I read about this story say the poster isn't an original 1955 movie poster...despite the presence of one for sale online for more than $50,000 and despite the appraisal that the man had done.

Yikes. I hope this turns out to be a real find for the young man in question but it sounds like I'll continue walking by Lady and the Tramp Disney movie posters. How about you? What do you think you would have done if you had come across a vintage Disney poster? Would you have picked it up or dismissed it? 

Love treasure hunting? Be sure to follow my blog. You never know what treasures I might have in store for you!

Brenda

Quick Links:

Buy this reproduction Walt Disney Lady and the Tramp poster from Amazon.

Rare 1936 Canadian Cent At Auction

Here's a rare penny to be on the lookout for, a 1936 Canadian cent. However, given that it is one of only three known examples ever produced of the coin, finding one just isn't going to happen.

It's a complicated story entwined with the royal family.  The Royal Canadian Mint was concerned about a coin shortage in 1937 and so minted this coin using a picture of the old George V coin because they did not have an image to use of the unexpected new king when Edward VIII abdicated and George VI took the throne. 

Because the Mint did not want this coin to be confused with earlier pennies featuring George V, they put a dot under the date, which you can see in this image from the Ottawa Citizen. 

However, the shortage of pennies never happened and only three samples of this coin were ever made, making them extremely rare and sought after.  Some believe more coins may have been made but eventually used to create another coin.

This rare 1936 'dot cent' is expected to sell for as much as $250,000. 

If that's a bit out of your price range, but you're interested in seeing what Canadian pennies usually sell for on eBay, click here to see a sampling of one cent Canadian coins available right now on eBay.

See you
at the auction!
Brenda

Early Canadian Hockey Cards at Auction

Personally, I have never sold a hockey card on eBay but, of course, a quick glance at an eBay search for rare hockey cards turns up plenty of sellers who do sell them and buyers who do buy them and shows that many of them are quite valuable.  For instance, I found a Darryl Sittler card that sold on December 12, 2012, for $6,250.

It was with interest then, that I read of a recent auction sale for a set of the earliest Canadian hockey cards. The hockey cards in this set were originally sold between 1910-11 to adult collectors in packs of cigarettes. 

Called an "almost unheard of rarity" this complete set of 45 cards included the card shown in this image from the Ottawa Citizen that features Montreal Canadiens goaltender Georges Vezina. This single card alone is said to be worth up to $50,000.

This morning, Wikicollecting said that the auction on this rare set of early Canadian hockey cards closed late Tuesday, March 5, 2013, for $158,678.  That's one pack of hockey cards I wouldn't mind finding!

How about you? Are you a collector or maybe a seller?

Brenda

Quick Links:

Visit eBay to see what rare hockey cards

Olympic Basketball Expected To Go Home To The United States

 

Deflated. Lumpy. Old. All words used to describe this BERG basketball.

American Basketball enthusiasts will be watching with interest when it comes up for auction this week in New York. It is, according to the Ottawa Citizen, the only Olympic gold-medal game ball that isn't owned by someone in the United States.

This basketball is from the Canada versus United States 1936 gold-medal basketball game at the Berlin Olympics. The United States won the game that day but it looks like the Canadian who carried this ball home or at least his family will be a winner when this ball is sold for an estimated $150,000.

See you

at the auctions!

Brenda

 

The Serta Counting Sheep

Spurred on by eBay seller Mandicraft's purchase and subsequent sale of four Serta Sheep mugs, I went looking for more information about the famous or perhaps infamous Serta Counting Sheep.

Turns out the Serta Sheep are actors who were very carefully hand-picked by the Serta Mattress company and who have gone on to phenomenal commercial success.

If you are blissfully unaware of WHO the Serta Sheep are, I offer up this YouTube video, which is perhaps my favorite of the numerous Serta Sheep commercials. I love it because it is so heartfelt and, perhaps, because the lady in the commercial shares my name, LOL.

If you are looking to buy Serta Sheep plush toys, I recommend turning to eBay and, if you are wondering if Serta Sheep are a good thing to sell on eBay, the answer is a resounding YES. They are definitely something to sell on eBay. See for yourself all of the Serta Counting Sheep by clicking here to eBay.

Brenda

What to Sell on eBay? Hubcaps!

Sometimes it is funny what one person might think to sell that another might not. I know little about cars so I definitely would not think of selling something like hub caps, the product which has made Hub Cap Annie famous. 

Hub Cap Annie's journey was from working in pharmaceutical sales to 'queen' of the hub caps. I'll call her that, I'm not sure if anyone else has.

When Annie no longer wanted to work in pharmaceutical sales  she opened a store for used hubcaps in Denver, Colorado.

Hubcaps turned out to be an industry that was fairly dirty to work in but also quite interesting. As she herself said in The Star Pheonix, "I  love this collection. The designs are so ornate and the craftsmanship is so exquisite."

Hub Cap Annie started off with 600 hubcaps that she purchased from a police officer.   Eventually she owned a business that sold hubcaps and had a collection of 20,000 hubcaps.

She sold the business in 2008 but kept some of her favorite hubcaps including those from many manufacturers the likes of Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Willys Knight, Chandler and Houk.

Yesterday's local newspaper shared the fact that Hub Cap Annie has put her personal collection up for sale on Craigslist.  She is asking $25,000 for her "Rare Vintage Grease, Center & Hub Cap Collection."

And yes, it looks like used hubcaps are a good candidate for something to sell on eBay. Click here to see for yourself all of the new, used and vintage hubcaps available on eBay. There are more than 170,000 hubcaps listed and more than 33,000 sold in the last ninety days. 

Is there a
hub cap in your future?
Brenda

Photo by Blind Rhino Media on Unsplash