Collectibles

By Riel Nason

Today it seems collectibles are everywhere. At the grocery store, there are collectible toys and stickers packed in cereal boxes and pop is sold in collectible cans. Fast food restaurants and gas stations run special promotions with items like collectible glasses available for purchase. In the mall, DVDs, CDs, magazines, books and even newspapers come in collector’s editions. And entire gift stores are filled with collectible dolls, plates, teddy bears and figurines. While the idea of promoting items as collectible isn’t a new one, recent years have seen an absolute proliferation of these objects. It makes you think that business must be good.

Which it probably is. If the sellers are keen on collectibles and collecting, then it must mean the buyers are too. The collectibles market does exist, and existed before so many millions of items were made specifically for collecting’s sake. But the collectibles of "antiques and collectibles" are not the same as the new ubiquitous collect-the-set favourites of the business world. The collectibles sold at antique shops and shows simply can’t be declared as such by a word on a package. These are items that must somehow earn their collectible status. It is difficult, but a vintage collectible (as opposed to one that is made new) can somewhat be described in terms of age, function, availability and interest.

The age of an object is something that many collectors are curious about. "How old is it?" may be the most common question antique dealers hear. Though it is assumed by definition that antiques are always from another era, just how old must an item be to qualify as a collectible? Is there a cut-off date? A general rule? If only it was that clear. In actual fact, the answers are as varied as the items desired. Sometimes what is called a collectible is simply what isn’t quite considered antique. So if an item must be at least 100 years old to be an antique (as some suggest) then everything younger may be a collectible. Or if a guideline of 50 years is used (as some assert) then anything newer may be the same. There are these and many other possible age categories for antiques, and picking an exact number can be the source of long discussions. For collectibles the challenge is similar.

Some suggest that it takes about twenty-five to thirty years for an item to become collectible. This is so because in this amount of time, someone who once had an item or remembers seeing it around the house as a child has become an adult with perhaps enough extra income to start buying up memories. Would you buy back a Beatles or Barbie lunchbox that you once had but your mother put in a yard sale? Would you feel nostalgic about a bowl similar to the one your mother served Sunday dinner veggies in? Some things are termed collectible once the manufacture of an object ceases, such as record albums or the original Atari 2600 games. Glass refrigerator storage containers, match safes and sock stretchers count too. Many items considered collectible today are simply these everyday type things.

In fact, many items that have earned collectible status today are things that were originally intended for a specific function other than collecting. Kitchenware items like egg beaters, rolling pins and cream pitchers are among the best examples. When these items were first sold, it was assumed a person would buy one to use, not buy many in every possible variation to decorate a room. Would you today buy multiple cell phones? It sounds silly, but who knows what will be collectible in the future?

One thing that future collectibles will likely have in common with the collectibles of today though is wide availability. Some suggest that one defining characteristic of collectibles is that they were mass-produced. And while that doesn’t consistently hold true for some things such as artisan-made pottery that was turned out in smaller numbers and sometimes in a local area, it still points to the idea that there must be enough of a certain type of object around for whole collections to be assembled. While many antique items are unique and are valued as such, often for collectibles, the interest is more in the sum of the parts.

Finally, interest is important, because an item can’t be a collectible if no one wants to collect it. Many factors make people interested in vintage objects, all the way from the aforementioned memory or nostalgia, to historical knowledge of, or an appreciation for, a certain person, place, artist or maker, to just a desire to have something different (Would you wear a vintage rhinestone brooch to a special occasion? Use old ruby glass tumblers with Christmas dinner?). With interest also comes shared knowledge of items that may be collectible. Items become more sought when price guide books are written, collector clubs are formed and special collector shows and events are held. It is collectors who make things collectible with their demand.

So whether old or new, it’s great that people do. Collect, that is. Collecting and collectibles is a huge market. And appropriately, just like collectors’ collections, it’s getting bigger.

Riel Nason

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Riel Nason worked for the Canadian Antiques Roadshow as the first point of contact for Roadshow attendees, both in Saint John and Halifax. A professional antiques dealer since 1995, Riel specializes in depression era glass, mass produced glass from the 1940s-60s and collectibles from the 1920s-60s. She writes a regular column on collectibles for the New Brunswick Reader.