Central Kentucky Antiques and Collectibles

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

Believe it or not, the history of Nintendo starts in Kyoto as far back as 1889 with a card game known as Hanafuda, and it was not until 1974 that the company broke into video games by purchasing the Japanese distribution rights for the Magnavox Odyssey video game console.

The company expanded into the video arcade game industry the following year, but it finally established its position when the then little-known designer known as Shigeru Miyamoto designed Donkey Kong, the first of the massively popular arcade games entirely designed and marketed by Nintendo.

Nintendo engineer, Gunpei Yokoi, was responsible for hardware development and came up with the Game Boy in 1989, offering Miyamoto a fabulous platform for his software development. In fact, the Game Boy is Nintendo’s most successful games platform of all time. But what was Atari doing all this time?

Atari was inaugurated in the USA in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who developed the famous Pong tennis game using a black-and-white TV, a laundromat coin mechanism and a milk carton to collect the coins. In fact, at one time the game seized up because the carton got over-filled with coins, blocking the mechanism. They developed the rest of the hardware themselves in addition to the game software.

The company then branched into the developing home computer market with the Atari 2600 that rapidly developed into the 800 and the smaller 400. These were perceived by many as more advanced than the Sinclair Spectrum, but the company was running into difficulties, probably due to its rapid success and a lack of business acumen. The Arcade, Home Computer and Video Game Divisions were operated as independent units, and there was very little cooperation between them. It might have been better had they been integrated, with each working for a combined cause.

A poor version of PacMan resulted in large losses, although by 1982-83 Atari led the video game market everywhere but in Japan. Nintendo was by this time in the ascendancy with its Famicon system, or NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in the USA. This was followed by the Super Famicon, then Nintendo 64 in 1996. Although the 64 was not very successful, the 2001 GameCube was even less so. It was not until the Wii was released in 2006 that the success of the GameBoy was at least partially emulated.

As for Atari, arguments of the distribution rights of Donkey Kong were the last nail in the company’s coffin and it was effectively finished in 1984. So what games will Atari be remembered for? What are the classic Atari games that people will be looking for as collector’s items? Pong consoles, obviously. The original consoles were large, around the same size of normal slot gaming machines.

These include Asteroids, Battlezone, Crystal Castles and Gravitar – all large console-based in their original form. Of the games produced for computers or hand-held devices, Yar’s Revenge was an original Atari 2600 game, and Adventure was the original adventure game. However, not all sell for over $5000 such as the ‘The Music Machine’ that fetched that on eBay. Nevertheless, if you have a copy of Pepsi Invaders (125 copies made) or Video Life (made for Magicard owners only), then you have a good chance.

Classic games are not rare: rarity comes from special editions and games developed for restricted distribution, and they do not become classics! However, Atari was ephemeral in comparison to Nintendo, so could any Nintendo games be rare enough to become worth collecting? In fact, several produced in the 1990s could be worth a bit today, including ‘1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition’, possibly up to $20,000 and ‘Nintendo Campus College’ is worth a few grand.

Lower priced, but still worth finding are ‘Bubble Bath Babes’, ‘Hot Slots’ and ‘Cheetah Man II’. ‘California Raisins’ is worth a bit, but many copies of these are already in the hands of those that are aware of their value. If you want to find a bargain, you are likely to be more successful trawling the junkshops and flea markets than searching online or in specialist games stores. You will be very highly unlikely to find classic Atari games of any real value in popular outlets, and the same is likely true of vintage Nintendo games.

Nintendo produced many more console and computer games than Atari, and you could conceivably be lucky at garage sales, flea markets, estate or moving sales and the like. Once you find an old game you think might be worth something, check out eBay and find if any other copies are for sale. If not, then make sure you have some idea of its potential worth before listing it: you could sell a $10,000 game for $1.99 if you are not careful.

Now that wouldn’t be good, would it? So get acquainted with the history of Nintendo games and of classic Atari games, and make sure that you know what you are doing buying or selling these potentially very valuable items. I sure wish I had an original Pong console! But I might know a man who . . .

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

The attraction of the Antiques Roadshow is, without question, enormous as evidenced by the show’s phenomenal success. But what have been some effects of this massively popular program? Has it changed a pervasive view of antiques being the domain of the elderly, of dark and dingy antique shops hidden away on some unpopulated side-street or snooty galleries reserved only for well-heeled blue bloods?

If its effect on the British, from where the series originates, is a yardstick, then it most definitely has, and indeed it certainly has had the same effect on viewers of the program in the U.S. For those that have yet to view the program, a quick explanation may be needed.

Antiques Roadshow is a TV program to which the public brings their favorite antiques and collectibles for the experts to comment on them and give an all-important valuation. In the same way that you might consult an expert advice site such as http://www.lovemoney.com/ for guidance on how to make the most of your money, Antiques Roadshow gives ordinary people the chance to speak to antique specialists, and discover if their keepsakes have any financial worth. It is designed to offer an interface between experts on antiques and collectibles of every conceivable kind, and the general public. The show doesn’t focus on professional collectors and investors, but on “ordinary” people who have searched their attics or brought along items that they think might be interesting or have some worth.

The show is of particular interest to the viewer who is waiting for the ‘big find’: the painting in the attic worth a fortune or the small childhood doll worth thousands of dollars. However, the program also appears to increase the interest of viewers in what they are seeing: collectibles and antiques of every form. For instance, they notice that other people actually collect these spoons, horse brasses or Star Wars figures in which they’re interested, and that they are not alone in their collection of thimbles or miniature cars.

In short, the Antiques Roadshow shows the world what other people collect and educates us about these collections. People that would otherwise not give collecting a particular thing a second thought find themselves enthralled with the history behind autograph books, scrap books, crystal decanters and even locks of hair. The show has opened up a world to many people that they never knew existed, and without a doubt has converted many who were not especially interested in collecting into enthusiastic collectors.

In those countries where the Antiques Roadshow has been aired for a number of years, there is a significantly greater knowledge of collectibles in general than before the program was shown. Many now watch the show as a means to learn rather than hoping for that amazing find, though the amazing finds do keep coming – like the Navajo Ute blanket valued at a half million dollars. However, even that was beaten by a jade collection shown in a January 2010 show, valued at one million dollars.

So amazing finds do come along, and what makes them so fabulous, and what ultimately adds to the show’s entertainment cache, is that the owners have no idea at all of their value. It is one of the fundamental attractions of the Antiques Roadshow: these are not items brought from a museum or by professional collectors, but just stuff that ordinary people have inherited, and often kept in their attics or basements because they didn’t like them. Most of the individuals appearing on the show are amateur collectors like you and I.

However, there is also a potential down side to this, and it is that viewers can be given a false impression of the value of their junk. What is not aired on the show are the large numbers, hundreds and even thousands of people, whose items are of little or no value at all. What you don’t see televised is that the experts start on the morning of a show’s filming, and endure hours and hours of evaluation to get to those items worth televising when the final edited show appears. The vast majority of items brought to the show are either worthless, or not of sufficient interest to be broadcast.

It is important, therefore, that viewers do not get the idea that everybody has thousands of dollars worth of junk in their attic, because that is not the case. Most people will realize that, and take the show for what it is: entertainment mixed with good information about antiques and collectibles. When you hear how a person may have purchased an item at a garage sale for a few dollars and it is valued at a few thousand, this offers the hope that it can happen to you. But, in your heart you must realize how highly unlikely that circumstance may be – especially if you don’t attend garage sales!

But finding that one rare treasure is not an impossibility, and if you get involved in collectibles then it can happen. With the continued popularity of programs such as Antiques Roadshow, hope springs eternal! The show, and others like it, give you an indication of the wide range of things that people collect and how even the strangest collections can potentially be worth a lot of money.

What the Antiques Roadshow has achieved with their program is to inform the public of

• the variety of things that people collect

• the potential rewards of finding that rare item

• what might be lurking in our cupboards and attics

• the joy of collecting, no matter how strange the items collected or of their value

It is important though that you collect because you love what you do – not that you have a high expectation of the value of your own collections. One of the important things that Antiques Roadshow has shown us is that the vast majority of people who have had high valuations on the show did not sell their collections, but hold onto their antiques and collectibles or continue to collect because that is what they love doing.

Copyright 2010 – By Kimberly Clay

Vintage clothing is HOT! You see it in magazines, on television or when you’re simply walking down the street. Funky, colorful, jazzy and cool, it’s put a bit of spice into the current fashion flavor.

What’s interesting is that generally, we don’t think of vintage clothing in terms of antiques and collectibles because it’s a fashion thing. But connoisseurs of vintage clothes are just as passionate about their interests and collections as the rest of us.

Take Michelle Rose for example. Featured in the Lifestyle section of the March 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine, Michelle has turned her passion into a business, selling high-end vintage duds from her converted New York studio apartment.

Twenty or thirty years ago, the people interested in vintage clothing usually fell into two distinct categories; those who bought used clothing because they couldn’t afford to buy new (or couldn’t afford to buy the type/quality of clothing they desired new) or those individuals generally considered to be outside of the societal mainstream (retro, grunge, punk, hippies, hipsters…you get the idea).

I can remember when Goodwill, thrift and vintage clothing stores were only found in working-class or poorer sections of town, because that’s generally where their clientèle came from. Now they’re located in suburban shopping centers or strategic locations of trendy neighborhood shopping districts.

So, if you’re interested in shopping for vintage clothes, what should you look for?

Shop for what’s in style. Look for vintage clothing that resonates with what’s currently fashionable. Select items from current color palettes. Look for design patterns that will make your outfits “pop”, and select pieces that will complement your overall ensemble. In other words, even though you’re shopping vintage, make your fashion decisions using the same criteria you would when shopping for new creations.

Choose items with a Classic look. The cut, shape and lines of a garment, pair of shoes or boots and accessories are fundamental to their design. Search for pieces that possess tried and true characteristics in shape and cut, that can be mixed and matched to a number of different overall looks. By doing so, you will be investing your money in pieces that will provide you with years of use and enjoyment, not just a short season.

Shop for Quality. One of the best reasons for buying vintage clothes is that you can buy quality items for much less than what they were priced when new. Spending a couple hundred dollars on a exquisitely designed leather bag or fashionable suit that originally cost hundreds or even thousands more is not only a smart financial move, but it also allows you to accumulate a much more desirable, fashionable and longer-lasting wardrobe than you would otherwise have. Now you can afford things like hand-stitching, tailor-made and authentic, natural materials – those characteristics that together define quality and thus make for a better investment.

One last thing to consider when buying vintage clothes is size. Size doesn’t lie. Younger fashionistas may not be aware of it, but today’s clothing industry has been lying to you for quite a while. In what way you may ask? Well, the complete answer to that question is not one we have time or space for here, but in the context of this discussion, I’m referring to size.

The current industry has adjusted the measurements for clothing sizes to accommodate an ever larger portion of the population; literally. In simple terms, a size 10 from twenty or thirty or forty years ago is not the same as a size 10 today. It’s smaller and tighter. And twenty or twenty-five years ago, there was no such thing as size 0. So as you shop for vintage clothing, be mindful that it’s always recommended that you try on clothing and shoes to ensure that what you think will fit you, actually will.

So whether it’s Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Sarmi, Mary Quant, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Pendleton, Fendi, Coco Chanel, Liz Claiborne or any number of countless other vintage designs and brands in which you’re interested, shop smart, shop well and revel in the fun and adventure vintage clothing can bring.

Shop for vintage clothing in Central Kentucky!

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

The enormous success that began with Antiques Roadshow, and was followed by the likes of History Detectives and most recently, American Pickers is about to be attempted again. The Discovery Channel is reportedly entering the fray with a new offering, ‘Auction King’, to be broadcast beginning in late Spring or early Summer of this year.

As evidenced by the phenomenal popularity of Antiques Roadshow, there seems to be a huge amount of public interest in the subjects of history, antiquing and collecting, both from the perspectives of those who are collectors and from those who are curious about collecting. Shedding light on the world of dim and dusty shops and snobbish high-end boutiques about what makes antiques valuable, how to search for and discover rare or unusual antiques, or the sometimes overzealous and obsessed behaviors of collectors appears to be attractive subject matter for television viewers.

Just as the name implies, Auction King reportedly will focus on auctions – more specifically about how auctions are organized, what goes on behind the scenes, how an auction house operates and more. The show will feature Paul Brown, son of the owner of the renowned Red Baron’s Antiques, and the activities of his very successful Gallery 63 in Atlanta, Georgia. Even though his gallery is a mere 3 years old, Brown has quickly built a reputation for acquiring one-of-a-kind collections including the acquisition several years ago of a substantial collection of tapes of Dr. Martin Luther King from the 1960’s.

While nearly a half-dozen major TV shows about antiques and collectibles may make you wonder about whether the television market in this genre is becoming saturated, so far it seems that viewers haven’t yet had enough. There seems to be a heightened interest these days, probably due at least in part to our country’s current economic climate, where people want to know the value of old things they may have laying around the house, tucked away in an attic or stored in the basement. Many are interested in their items as possible sources for extra cash or they’re interested in acquiring otherwise unaffordable furnishings and objects on the secondary market where they’re likely much less expensive, and possibly have a great story behind them to boot. Stay tuned!