olive

Jim Sargeant started collecting cameras in the early 70s. He was cleaning the basement at 12 years old when he came across an antique camera. “I started using it, and I used it all through high school,” Jim shares. He started collecting mainly box cameras, and his parents gave him a book on collecting cameras.
Over the years, Jim discovered eBay and was able to grow his collection that way. He would start by purchasing a camera that he could afford, and when he found a nicer one, he would purchase the new and sell the old. Today, Jim has around 325 cameras and five display cases, all organized by type. His collection has grown to include more than just cameras. “My wife says I’m a reincarnated Kodak worker,” he shares. “I have a lot of Kodak advertising memorabilia.”

Something in his collection that stands out are his Kodak petite cameras. “I have one cupboard filled with Kodak petite cameras that were made in all different pastel colors,” shares Jim. “They made them like this to get women into photography. I’ve got every color under the rainbow! Kodak made a lot of pretty things for women – they even made a clamshell case with a mirror, lipstick, makeup, and a camera. Those are pretty expensive now, because it’s hard to find one with everything.”

Kodak also made Boy Scout Cameras.  “I’ve got all the Boy Scout and Girl Scout cameras they made!” There’s also a Kodak-made camera called a Beau Brownie camera, designed in an art deco style and enameled on the front. “I have all ten of them, and they are very valuable.”

The cameras with the most value are those with the original silk bellows (a bellow is the accordion shaped portion of an old folding camera). “I’ve got cameras that go back to 1896,” Jim says. “I also have a booth in an antique mall where I sell cameras. It’s amazing how many people are into collecting them now! I got into them when there was no such thing as collecting cameras, and now it’s a worldwide business.”

While many of the cameras in the collection were originally purchased for $5 or $10, they have appreciated in value over the years. “I’ve got around $35,000 worth of cameras in my collection,” Jim says. “One camera alone is worth $3,000.”

Jim’s favorite camera overall is a green Kodak Petite camera with a lightning bolt pattern. “It’s the most valuable [piece I own], and it’s a beautiful camera. But I like them all – I wouldn’t have them if I didn’t like them all!”

Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

About 35 years ago, Robert Barker’s love of collecting began when someone gifted him a diecast car as a Christmas gift. The car was sponsored by Snickers and is still sealed in the plastic wrapper. Today, he has over 400 diecast cars, as well as lots of NASCAR-related memorabilia. “I raced for 25 years myself, and retired from that three years ago,” Robert shares. From this racing career, he obtained a lot of photos and autographs from other NASCAR drivers, as well as trophies.

After about ten years, he started realizing that he had quite the collection! People are in disbelief when they walk in and see the large museum he has acquired over the years – which is displayed on shelving in his 40-by-40 foot basement. “We have a 10-foot by 10-foot slot car track and a racecar!”

As a big Jeff Gordon fan, he has a couple hundred pieces of memorabilia, including mugs, cupholders, plates, and so much more – all taking up about eight shelves. “I have a tire off of Jeff Gordon’s car as an end table.” He also has an extremely rare Jeff Gordon Cabbage Patch doll, still sealed in the original box.

A favorite piece in the collection of nearly 2,000 pieces – and also the most valuable item – is an autographed visor from Jeff Gordon’s helmet. Besides the autograph, the visor has the race in which the helmet was used and the date. This is a rare and hard to find item, which is why it is so valuable.

Another hard-to-get item is the sheet metal from cars – such as a door of a racecar. Robert’s collection has plenty of sheet metal, all of which he displays by mounting it on the wall.
Overall, the collection has truly grown to include a vast variety of items! There are NASCAR banners and flags, a pedal car from the 1950s, over 100 hats from different racetracks and different drivers, NASCAR moonshine and soda, NASCAR-themed board games, race helmets, and so much more. Everything in the display area is checkered, including the floor, the bar, and the barstools. Topping it all off is a collection of about 30 NASCAR models that Robert has built over the years.

Overall, Robert estimates his collection to be worth well over $25,000, but he considers this collection to be priceless. “It would be hard to replace this stuff if anything ever happened to it!”

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

This collection of records is so uniquely large that the structure of Fred D.’s house had to be taken into consideration! “The size is kind of ridiculous,” shares Fred. “It’s large – it takes up multiple rooms. We had to have a structural engineer to come up with a plan to lay it out and not cause the house to crack too much.”

When asked why he started collecting, Fred answers, “I think it’s just my personality! That combined with the fact that I’ve loved music from the beginning.” In fact, he considers himself a bit more of a music lover than a collector, as his love for the music he listens to transcends his desire to collect.

The specific records that Fred collects are all dictated by his personal taste, rather than their individual value. “My taste has grown over time, and it’s a vicious circle that has you collect more records.” By college, his record collection was already quite sizeable, but when he started working and had more disposable income, that’s when things really took off.

Like most collectors, Fred is unable to choose a favorite item from his collection. “It’s like having children and calling one out as your favorite!” he says. “I tend to love all of it.” Despite this, he is able to call out a few specific items that are memorable. An early purchase that stands out for Fred is the Beatles single “Can’t Buy Me Love.” His grandmother purchased this record for him originally. “Fast forward to decades later, and it turns out that single was only available in the northeast for a specific time. It turned into one of the most financially valuable singles, and somehow, I didn’t lose it or trash it. It’s not in mint condition, but it’s in really good condition.”

Another stand-out item is a record by artist Laura Nyro. For years, people thought that this record had only been released as a promotional item and that there were no produced records available to the public. Fred is lucky enough to have the only stock copy of this record. “I’ve never found a record of anyone [else] having it!”

This collection of over 22,000 records is comprised of 7,800 singles, with the rest of the collection being LPs. To contain this collection, Fred has built plywood boxes that are 2 ft long by the width of a record. “Given the weight and size of this, I’ve bought industrial heavy duty metal shelving. They are stored in all of the second-floor rooms in my home.” The boxes also have plywood tops that Fred leaves on to keep things dry and dark. The rooms are temperature and humidity controlled, and each record is stored in a mylar sleeve. They are then organized by genre, with everything alphabetized within its genre. “It’s set up kind of like a record store,” Fred explains. Being in the computer business has given Fred a leg up on cataloguing his collection, as all his albums are documented in a digital system that also tracks their condition.

When he looks back on everything that he has amassed over the years, Fred is overwhelmed at how much he has invested into these records. “When you really sit down to summarize the value in your head, it can be kind of shocking how much it’s worth!” As Fred draws closer to the end of his career, he has no plans to pass this collection on to his children, believing that this would present them with an unmanageable task. “I know so much about this collection because it’s all curated. If it went to my children, they would have no idea of the value or what’s interesting. My retirement may be composed of [selling off] this collection!”

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

NFTs are quickly rising in popularity, especially in the sports collectibles market. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets (such as graphics, photos, and videos) that are often one-of-a-kind, and they utilize blockchain technology to protect their digital scarcity. The person who purchases the NFT is the sole owner of that digital asset.

As younger generations (Gen Z and millennials, specifically) are increasingly interested in digital assets, NFTs are a natural point of entry for them to get involved in the sports collectibles market.
The current sports collectibles market is ridden with problems, including high prices for collectible items. This makes collecting expensive and keeps all but the wealthiest from being able to collect and from being involved in their sports community. Counterfeits, forgeries, and fraud are also problems that plague the market.

Digital collectibles stand to bring about positive changes in the sports collectibles market, making it easier for more people, especially younger generations, to get involved in the hobby. And with blockchain technology, authenticating these digital assets will be easy.

Would you purchase a digital collectible?

Collectibles Insurance Services currently doesn’t offer insurance for digital collectibles.

Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

What’s next for Topps’ trading cards may mean big money for college athletes.
After the sports apparel brand, Fanatics, acquired Topps, it seems as though the collectibles powerhouse has developed an interest in some of the most talented and upcoming athletes: college students! They are launching a line of trading cards featuring student-athletes from more than 150 schools this fall. Notable names from this collaboration are members of the Power Five Conference, including Alabama and Texas A&M.

College logos have never been used before on trading cards, and this development can only be attributed to student-athletes’ desire to recreate the same direct interaction with fans that they experienced growing up with Topps baseball cards and their favorite MLB athletes.

The collaboration is not only intended to attract new collectors, but also to create appealing opportunities for student-athletes and their teams. Deals are estimated to bring in up to five figures for these athletes, however they also vary based on the player’s position and other factors such as where they are expected to be drafted.
Besides obvious monetary gains, these deals will also help strengthen Fanatics’ relationship with these upcoming players and help them to establish their brand networks and influence early-on in their professional careers.

Although we cannot say for certain how this collaboration will shift the nature of college sports, these deals will surely bring many new opportunities for student-athletes across the country.

Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.

Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

Sources:
Fanatics strikes deal with colleges, student athletes to launch Topps cards (cnbc.com)
Fanatics And Topps Announce Historic College Trading Card Deal With Over 100 University Partnerships (yahoo.com)
Topps could shape the future of college sports | The College Fix

George’s interest in obtaining presidential autographs stems from a love of law, history, and politics. “I was a history major in college, so that always interested me,” he shares. In 1978, his work as part of a Senate political campaign afforded him the opportunity to meet George H.W. Bush before he became president. He wrote possible-Presidential candidate Bush a letter of support and received a personal note in return. “He was famous for being very diligent in his correspondence. After my wife and I got married over 10 years later, she had it framed really nicely with a great picture of him.”

Shortly after that, he visited an old bookstore in Houston and came across a book about the US Senate autographed by then-Senator, Lyndon B. Johnson. “I’ve always been fascinated with LBJ,” George shares. This became the second signature in a collection which continued to grow. Over the years, he collected autographs from every president of the 20^th century, as well as a few into the 21^st century; meanwhile, he started to pick up a few presidential autographs from the 1800s, such as Grant, Lincoln, and Monroe. He doesn’t have any autographs from the 1700s due to how rare and expensive they are to obtain. Lincoln’s autograph is also very rare, and it is one that George decided to splurge on.

Another interesting piece is a document—a Dallas Morning News 1960 election supplement—that then-candidates Nixon and Kennedy autographed, featuring paired photographs of the two men. This is a rare and treasured piece because, “It’s extremely rare to find a document they both signed,” George explains.
One autograph he has yet to collect is that of former President Barack Obama. “One of my best friends has President Obama’s signature, and I have first dibs if he ever sells it,” says George. “[It’s] on a copy of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, which my friend was learning for an acting part at the time.” The friend ran into then-candidate Obama at an airport and was carrying a copy of the play. He asked Obama for his signature on the book, as it would make the friend’s wife very happy, and Obama smiled and complied.

Over his 25-30 years of collecting, people have contacted George with valuable signatures along with an offer to purchase others. He always examines each one and then either rejects it or purchases it depending on supporting documentation, provenance, and comparison to proven signatures.

Besides US Presidents, George has a few other interesting autographs. He has Hilary Clinton’s autograph, for which his daughter stood in line for two hours at an Austin bookstore in 2015. He has a few autographed early edition books by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, and Harper Lee. He has Winston Churchill’s autograph on a bound volume containing Churchill’s secret wartime speeches to Parliament. He has Muhammed Ali’s autograph of the totemic picture of Ali looming over Liston on the canvas. He has autographs of Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura on an iconic picture of Ryan holding Ventura in a headlock after Ventura charged the mound.  He also has numerous album covers autographed by the artists, including Led Zeppelin, the original Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Jackson Browne, Dylan, and Springsteen.

Each Presidential autograph is displayed in a frame in his office, with a few exceptions. For example, his signature from President Bill Clinton is actually an autograph on Clinton’s memoir, which is not so easily displayed. He also has the book autographed by Lyndon B. Johnson, which is not displayed, though another LBJ signature collected more recently (and also autographed by former Speaker Carl Albert) is on display.

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

Lee Jones’ collecting journey began in 2004, when he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. At the time, only 7% of people with this type of cancer lived beyond five years. Says Lee, “I realized that if I ever wanted to get guitars, now was the time to do it!” With his decision to take as much time off from work as he needed to get better, Lee now had lots of free time, and a passion for collecting was born.
“As I was recovering from chemo or surgery, I would go on eBay looking for interesting guitars,” shares Lee. “It kept my mind occupied and enabled me to get through a very emotional time.” From his many guitar orders, Lee got to know the FedEx and UPS delivery men quite well. It even got to a point where every time she heard the doorbell ring, Lee’s wife was petrified that another guitar was coming! “If she answered the door, the delivery person would have a, ‘please don’t hurt me’ look,” recalls Lee.

Lee now owns around 200 guitars. “I’m one of those people that has a collecting mentality,” he explains. In the beginning, he would purchase Gibson guitars, and then eventually he moved on to Fender and other guitars that he had never heard of before. Lee explains that the time period of 1969 or earlier is when classic Gibson guitars of higher quality were made. “There are some classic Gibson guitars that I really enjoy. One’s a 1964 Gibson Tal Farlow Custom.” He also owns a 1951 Gibson ES5. Both guitars are beautiful and in excellent condition. “Those are really something special that you don’t see every day. They are probably worth about $7,000 each.”

Lee also once purchased some reissued classic Gibson guitars. “I read an article in Vintage Guitar magazine that Gibson was doing some reissues of their Les Paul guitars. Les Paul was a well-known designer and jazz guitar player – he helped Gibson design these guitars. Gibson started reissuing these classic models, so I started buying!” There were 1957, 1958, and 1959 reissues that were made in much the same way that guitars were back then. To top it off, they weren’t factory-made – they were custom made.

Lee admits that his collection isn’t very organized. “The only organization is that the acoustic guitars are all up in one bedroom with a humidifier and dehumidifier depending on the season.” Acoustics can expand and contract based on humidity, so it’s important to keep them in the right environment to avoid cracking. Most of the electric guitars are down in the finished basement, and there are some in a closet in a guest bedroom. “I don’t have them displayed because the safest way to keep the guitars is in their cases!” explains Lee.
Lee’s kids have no interest in guitars, so when he wants to keep the numbers in his collection under control, he sells.

When he sells, he uses a website called Reverb, but he’s not always guaranteed to get the price that he originally paid. Though a few of his guitars have appreciated in value, some of the guitars have not gone up. Despite this, Lee considers each of the guitars in his collection to be special in their own way. “I always hate selling something because I’ll never see it again!”

Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

Scott got his start dealing in antiques about 45 years ago. His interest began in the 1970s when his parents were cleaning out their basement and had a lot of items to get rid of. There were Indian baskets and other items that his great-aunt had picked up from her years teaching on an Indian reservation in Wisconsin.

After this experience, Scott started going to flea markets and shopping around to see what other people were selling. “Collecting can be an expensive hobby if you are into high-end stuff,” shares Scott. “Although I’ve been dealing for 45 years, I started collecting about 20 years ago, but it has taken me a while to acquire what I wanted.”

Scott’s interests mainly include French cameo glass by makers such as Galle & Daum Nancy, art glass, Tiffany glass, and antique French dolls. “Even non-collectors are attracted to Tiffany art glass,” shares Scott. There is a specific kind, favrile glass, that really stands out. It comes in different colors, with the most common being gold and the more desirable colors being blue or even red. “It has a rich, iridescent finish; even those not into antiques can appreciate its beauty.”

When it comes to antique dolls, Scott mentions that there is a special doll maker, Leon Casimir Bru. A specific doll, known as a Bru Jne doll, is a pricey doll for which prices have recently skyrocketed. “Some of these dolls can command north of $30,000,” he explains. “The dolls are a piece of art!” Also popular are dolls made by the prolific French doll maker, Jumeau, who began making dolls in the mid-19th century. “Some of their bisque bebes can command a high price.”

Scott’s personal collection of about 60 dolls and 60 pieces of glass is on display in curio cabinets in his home, but not organized in any particular way. “It’s a curated collection of items that are special to me, because I like them.” Of collecting, Scott’s mantra is to always, “buy what you like.” The value of collectible items, especially antiques, is always fluctuating. If you curate a collection of items that you love, then if the value changes, at least you are left with something you enjoy.

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

About 30 years ago, Bruce Feller and his wife found a home in an old community in Long Island – the first home  they occupied, which had a library. “There were no books, but my wife wanted to fill the library with books!” shares Bruce. “That was our first foray into the world of collectibles.” The house dated back to 1910, so the two of them resolved to bring in books with a publication date of 1910 or earlier.

In New York City, they visited a famous bookstore called The Strand. “That became our date night!” Bruce says. They would wander over to The Strand after dinner and select books – not ones of particularly high value. It was fine graphics and beautiful interior illustration that held their interest. “We collected a couple hundred books in a short time. That was the genesis!” Bruce explains.
From there, they moved on to a new goal: to fill their home with special objects that were over 100 years old. They started with the kitchen, and the focus was on filling the room with items that would make sense to find in the kitchen. They collected coffee tins, spices, and more until the kitchen was filled. They continued to go from room to room until the entire house was filled with things that belonged in a room of that type.

“My wife and I carry the same worldview when it comes to clutter and filling the house with antiques,” Bruce says, noting that this is perhaps the reason why their relationship works so well. “We continue to be very enthusiastic about it!” They go to antiques shows within a couple of hundred miles of their home in order to amass more items for their collection. “We are in retirement at this point, so our time is largely our own,” Bruce says of his ability to spend so much time at antiques shows.

A huge portion of their collection is comprised of apothecary glass, which is glassware originally used by pharmacists to hold medicines, and watermelon glass, which is a depression glass where the base is green and the rest of the vessel is pink. In Vermont last summer, Bruce and his wife splurged on what is now considered a favorite part of the collection: four large apothecary glass vessels, ball-shaped and with a narrow neck. They were originally used as bulk storage vessels. “That was a find for us!” shares Bruce. “We generally don’t spend a lot on purchases, and these were in the low four figures. We never spend that kind of money – maybe $100 on a mint condition coffee or spice tin.”

Today the collection, which is displayed beautifully throughout their home, has around 2,500 items, and is comprised of a variety of things. There are Amish quilts in the bedroom and an old tool collection occupying the dining room. There is a collection of old agricultural hand tools, which fascinate Bruce for the fact that they were handmade rather than manufactured. There are old barber bottles, advertising tins, stacking blocks, puzzles, and even a few contemporary rocks and butterflies.

“The master bedroom, other than the Amish quilts, is the only room untouched,” shares Bruce. But he notes that in the future, should they ever need to find more real estate for the collection, he knows exactly where to go next.

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!

“My wife says I have a disease!” says Timothy Wagner of his still-growing collection of over 700 diecast cars. This large collection stems from a genuine passion for real vehicles. Many of the cars in Tim’s collection are based on real-life vehicles that have special meaning to him.

The first car in Tim’s collection was a red 1956 Chrysler New Yorker. This was the same car that his grandparents owned when he was a teenager – a car in which he drove his grandfather to the hospital when he was just 15 years old. Tim loved this car, but, “My mother had the audacity to tell me I was too young to have a car, and so she sold it for $300,” shares Tim. “I cried!”

Tim is a collector of mostly Chrysler products, as well as Plymouths, Dodges, and some racecars. His most prized car is a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere Sox and Martin car signed by racecar driver Ronnie Sox. “I was into drag racing as a kid,” he shares. Another prized possession is a 1968 Roadrunner model, of which he owns both the model and a real full-size car. “I’ve had this car for 35 years, and I love it!” He also has a 1965 Ford Galaxy model that a friend is helping him change to a convertible. His mom owned a 1965 Ford Galaxy 500 convertible for 14 years when he was a kid.

Tim’s collection has grown in value. He purchased many of his model cars for under $50, and now they are worth well into the $200 range. “All my Sox and Martin cars were bought for under $100, and they are now worth over $200.” He has a whole collection of just 1/18 scale diecast cars valued at $25,000.

Tim has become interested in collecting diorama figurines to go with the diecast cars. “They are plastic figurines called Diorama Classics. They help set up the scenery for the cars in my collection!” He has a glass case with about five cars in it, and they are the cars that he stages with the figurines.

Most of his cars are on display in Tim’s family room, which his family refers to as the “toy room.” He built wooden shelving on which to store the cars and is in the process of lighting them. The cars are sorted by type – Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler – and then there is a section with trucks and a few other odd items that defy categorization. “My daughter and my son always give me diecast for Christmas and birthdays, so I end up with a lot more of them. They just keep growing!” In addition to the cars, Tim’s “toy room” also has a track with a Lionel train that runs around it.

Tim’s collection has become an outlet for his love of cars. “It gives me the chance to have [model-versions of] the cars that I would’ve loved to have but couldn’t,” shares Tim. “I’ve had over 290 full-size cars, but now I’m down to just seven full-size cars and two trucks. My wife says I’ve got enough!”

 
Collectibles Insurance Services was founded by collectors, for collectors! Homeowners insurance often falls short when it comes to providing coverage for collections, so that’s where we step in. We help insure collections of all kinds — from LEGOs to sports memorabilia, and comic books to toys, and so much more.
Find out what types of collections we insure or get a quote today!