Junk Vs "Collectable"???

[FullClip]

I bought the old camp next door a couple years ago.  The place is in pretty bad shape but I've been picking away at it...verrrry slowly.   

 

Cleaning out all the junk the owner left behind has been an adventure.  Found some old magazines (July 1969 Playboy...Barbi Benton's first cover!!)

 

But some stuff is just wicked junk in my opinion, and I already have more than my fair share of that stuff.

 

My buddy is wicked into old wood stoves.  The camp has an old Henry N. Clark "Floral" parlor stove in rusty, but sound shape.  I told him I was gonna' set it on the ice this winter and take bets on when it goes through next spring.   He gets all :"oh...that could be worth money".  I said, it's yours for a 30 pack...he doesn't bite, so I worked it down to a 12 pack...then a 6 pack and he still don't want it.  Guess he doesn't take his own advice.

It's amazing that some people think just because something is old, it's worth a lot of money.

 

But I did find a big roll of 1910 topographic maps of my area and eastern Maine which is pretty cool.  I will frame a couple of those.

 

Do you find "collectable" stuff worth big bucks....or just junk??

 

 

By the way...think Antique Roadshow is on TV tonight if they don't preempt it with some more election propaganda from PBS.

[Batesmotel]

I’ve had to deal with a few hoarders. They think everything is worth a fortune. It is only worth what someone pays for it. So until they have the cash in hand it is worthless. 
 

Right now we are dealing with my brother in law. The house he was renting got sold and he got evicted. He has so much junk he mentally froze and was not able to bring himself to find a new place. 
 

The house was cluttered but the garage, two sheds and two storage units are packed with junk. There is possibly a third storage unit. He looks at this as his retirement fund and claims he will make a fortune selling it. 

[Swampfox762]

59 minutes ago, FullClip said:

Do you find "collectable" stuff worth big bucks....or just junk??

I've cleaned out 4 parents houses, and 2 Grand parents houses.  And, I'll have to clean out my aunts house in a couple years I'm pretty sure, she's 88.  I've never ever found anything of any Significant value.  Meaning, nothing over a couple hundred dollars.  Excluding any cars I had to dispose of.  Always hope though!!  But, that's ok.  I am still blessed in my life.  Where you at In Maine??  I was born in South Portland.  My Gramps use to own Anderson Garage in South Portland at 29 Robinson st.   It's been closed for quite a number of years now...

[FullClip]

4 minutes ago, Swampfox762 said:

.............................................  Where you at In Maine??  I was born in South Portland.  My Gramps use to own Anderson Garage in South Portland at 29 Robinson st.   It's been closed for quite a number of years now...

I'm just a little east of the greater Bangor/Brewer megalopolis area...head out the Airline towards Calais 16 miles from the last stop light.

 

Up here we don't consider Portland as part of Maine anymore.  It has rejoined Massachusetts. 

[Ramjet38]

I remember reading about someplace else that placed a car or something on the ice and people would enter guesses on when the ice would thaw enough to sink the car.

[FullClip]

1 minute ago, Ramjet38 said:

I remember reading about someplace else that placed a car or something on the ice and people would enter guesses on when the ice would thaw enough to sink the car.

They used to do that on Nickerson Lake up near Houlton when I was a kid.   Some of the best ice fishing was around the area where they parked the cars off the public beach where we went for swimming lessons.  It dropped off wicked quick a couple hundred yards from shore. 

[railfancwb]

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

It’s trash when you try to sell it and becomes treasure when they do.

My weakness is books. A few are treasure, very few, some are worth a few bucks, many end up in the library “sack for $5” sale. And some of those might be worth a bit more.

Lots of books on eBay and Amazon and AbeBooks in the $4 range - some even including shipping. So maybe $1 in pocket after paying listing fees and media mail. 

[Swampfox762]

3 minutes ago, FullClip said:

Up here we don't consider Portland as part of Maine anymore.  It has rejoined Massachusetts. 

Yeah, I know...Just too damn bad bout that.  The liberal lice have been spreading there for years.  Recon Collins will win again, or is her rino ass done?  I guess she'd still be better than a liberal democrap...

[FullClip]

1 minute ago, railfancwb said:

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

It’s trash when you try to sell it and becomes treasure when they do.

My weakness is books. A few are treasure, very few, some are worth a few bucks, many end up in the library “sack for $5” sale. And some of those might be worth a bit more.

Lots of books on eBay and Amazon and AbeBooks in the $4 range - some even including shipping. So maybe $1 in pocket after paying listing fees and media mail. 

Yup...I was surprised how cheap I found the First Edition of General Tecumseh Sherman's Memoirs on line as a Christmas present for my older brother.   The map was still inside the second volume.   It was a lot more than 4 bucks, but not the kidney I had expected.   I hate to see the downloadable books taking over the market.  I like to have the real things in my hands, and not some glowing black mirror. 

[FullClip]

5 minutes ago, Swampfox762 said:

Yeah, I know...Just too damn bad bout that.  The liberal lice have been spreading there for years.  Recon Collins will win again, or is her rino ass done?  I guess she'd still be better than a liberal democrap...

Yup....I'll be going to the town office tomorrow and will hold my nose and vote for her.  As bad as she is, she is a better choice than the other option. 

[Valmet]

Junk you say? Or do you mean “priceless treasures?” 
 

 

I was born in 1981 and am kind-of a Simpsons head (the Golden era, 1992-97) and I accumulate stuff- but I have no illusions, I just enjoy them, they def aren’t valuable. 

Edited November 3, 2020 by Valmet

[railfancwb]

2 minutes ago, Valmet said:

Junk you say? Or do you mean “priceless treasures?” 
 

Are you buying or selling?

[Valmet]

2 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

Are you buying or selling?

Mostly buying depending on what it is. I’m really after the Hamilton “There’s No Place Like Springfield” Wizard of Oz piece. Burns as Oz kills me ?
 

Edited November 3, 2020 by Valmet

[Historian]

4 hours ago, FullClip said:

Do you find "collectable" stuff worth big bucks....or just junk??

By the way...think Antique Roadshow is on TV tonight if they don't preempt it with some more election propaganda from PBS.

That is a great question.   I like somethings...that might be considered collectable.   In the room i'm sitting there's some stuff from WWII hanging on the walls.  I doubt there's more than $200 worth of cool stuff there.  But i like it.

So i guess what makes something collectable is someone wants it.

The coolest item are the gas mask inserts that belonged to an LT who landed in Normandy.  It has the prescription so i was able to do an Freedom of Information Act request on his service record....and was able to track him pretty much from college to the Army to Europe and home.   Paid $20 for it at a gun show.

That and i have about 400 history books at home.  The wife is glad i moved to a kindle for some of it.

She did make me put a rack of books in the closet to make space....so i still all my books on espionage in there.   Might has well keep it clandestine.

[Historian]

4 hours ago, railfancwb said:

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

It’s trash when you try to sell it and becomes treasure when they do.

My weakness is books. A few are treasure, very few, some are worth a few bucks, many end up in the library “sack for $5” sale. And some of those might be worth a bit more.

Lots of books on eBay and Amazon and AbeBooks in the $4 range - some even including shipping. So maybe $1 in pocket after paying listing fees and media mail. 

Yeah...you too?   Ok, at least we're reading.

I love old books.

[FullClip]

There is a local pawn/coin shop that has a radio ad that says, "Anything can be collectable, but not all collectables are valuable".  I think this pretty much sums things up.

[Historian]

22 minutes ago, FullClip said:

There is a local pawn/coin shop that has a radio ad that says, "Anything can be collectable, but not all collectables are valuable".  I think this pretty much sums things up.

That's a good one.  I like to rebuild old radios but haven't done that in a while as the wife complains about the number of radios in the house.

I always ask...is it the receiving radios or those that transmit...or those that transmit and receive?

[railfancwb]

43 minutes ago, Historian said:

That's a good one.  I like to rebuild old radios but haven't done that in a while as the wife complains about the number of radios in the house.

I always ask...is it the receiving radios or those that transmit...or those that transmit and receive?

I recently got an old radio from my sister-in-law. My late brother had taken it after our father and mother passed. They had probably bought it shortly after marriage. A mid-1930s one. His children didn’t want it and neither did his widow. Not working, as one would expect. Debating whether to get it rebuilt.

 

[Historian]

13 minutes ago, railfancwb said:

I recently got an old radio from my sister-in-law. My late brother had taken it after our father and mother passed. They had probably bought it shortly after marriage. A mid-1930s one. His children didn’t want it and neither did his widow. Not working, as one would expect. Debating whether to get it rebuilt.

Sure! There are lots of people who can get an old radio like that working again.  It would be so wonderful to hear something period play through those old speakers.

Could you imagine the news of the times that was heard by that radio?  News of Hitler invading Poland?  Election news?   How about a baseball game on that old radio?

We'll need some ice cream and some iced tea.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Historian

[FullClip]

44 minutes ago, Historian said:

Sure! There are lots of people who can get an old radio like that working again.  It would be so wonderful to hear something period play through those old speakers.

Could you imagine the news of the times that was heard by that radio?  News of Hitler invading Poland?  Election news?   How about a baseball game on that old radio?

We'll need some ice cream and some iced tea.

Ha-Ha.  Just got my grandfather's old Motorola working a few months ago.  I redid the cabinet as the veneer was peeling off.  Last project I was on the electrical engineer there fixes old radios as a hobby and a very poorly run business.  Took him a year to get around to it, but he changed all the "waxes" and one resistor and it more or less works again/  I gotta try hooking up an AM antenna to it and see if it helps.  I remember my Aunt saying that my father bought it for my grandparents when he came back from the war.

 

 

[Historian]

2 minutes ago, FullClip said:

Ha-Ha.  Just got my grandfather's old Motorola working a few months ago.  I redid the cabinet as the veneer was peeling off.  Last project I was on the electrical engineer there fixes old radios as a hobby and a very poorly run business.  Took him a year to get around to it, but he changed all the "waxes" and one resistor and it more or less works again/  I gotta try hooking up an AM antenna to it and see if it helps.  I remember my Aunt saying that my father bought it for my grandparents when he came back from the war.

 

Back then having a radio was an expensive item to have.  Something like having a TV back in the 50s.   People would crowd in front of department store windows to look at a TV.  

That is a fine looking radio for sure. I like the lines of it.  Classic looking.  

[blueiron]

I love old Motorola stuff. Many in my family worked for them. Their gear was over-engineered and over-built. 

Collectables run in cycles. Baseball cards, muscle cars, 50s stuff, etc. all had their day and now have declined in value. Once upon a time, Nazi memorabilia was big - now, the political correctness has run that market into the dark recesses of the internet and people who know each other. 

American bicycles from the 1960s and early 1970s are big now. They too will fade. Got an early Apple Lisa computer? People want them now - in twenty years, who knows?

Chasing collectables is like chasing the stock market - you are always behind the trend and the easy money.

[Historian]

52 minutes ago, blueiron said:

Once upon a time, Nazi memorabilia was big - now, the political correctness has run that market into the dark recesses of the internet and people who know each other.

Depends on what it is.   The high end collector spending $20,000 on a uniform is generally not some guy living in his mother's basement.  Even then some of them seem a bit odd some times.

I am rather astonished at the prices for some of these items.

I don't think i'd feel too good sitting next a an SS uniform while drinking my cup of coffee.

Just weird.

[blueiron]

A lot of serious collectors of German WW2 memorabilia have gone underground. One can be a serious academic of the period and if one's neighbors, business associates, relatives, or others find out; there is hell to pay. 

You either have to know who they are or know their reputation before they will acknowledge or sell.

Even gun collectors of relatively innocuous guns such as the Winchester High Wall have to be careful in certain areas, lest they be branded as militia, arsenal hoarders, etc.

[railfancwb]

9 hours ago, Historian said:

Sure! There are lots of people who can get an old radio like that working again.  It would be so wonderful to hear something period play through those old speakers.

Could you imagine the news of the times that was heard by that radio?  News of Hitler invading Poland?  Election news?   How about a baseball game on that old radio?

We'll need some ice cream and some iced tea.

Here is the back side of the American Bosch I pictured earlier. Learned that three wires out the left back are for external antennas - AM broadcast, Short Wave broadcast, and Police. Doubt there is much to hear now except AM