Antiques Roadshow Report

We went to Raleigh NC this morning (yesterday but the event was this
morning) for the Antiques Roadshow and I gotta admit how disappointed
I was to an extent because I did not see Mark Wahlberg nor the Keno
Brothers. The guy who does the toys and does posters is the one who
appraised one of my items. I recognized only a couple of the
appraisers. We did the feedback booth but we won't make it in (no
comment on my sour husband... who didn't smile and mumbled....so
doubtful we'll get on). I didn't see a single person get filmed....I
don't even know where the green room was. It was quick in and quick
out.

We left the hotel and got there in about 5 minutes and waited in line
with our stuff only about half hour or 40 minutes. Then got into
another line and were done in less than an hour. We had four items
(you were allowed two each) and three of the four were "collectibles"
so we went to the "collectibles" table where two guys appraised the
items. Then I went alone to the "books" where my deed was appraised.
We saw quite a bit of people... they put you in half hour blocks (like
100-200 people or whatever in each block). So it's a continual flow
going in and going out. The most fun part of the experience was
seeing what people brought and talking to them.


What distressed me was the animation cels I brought. The good news
was that nothing I brought was less than what I paid for it so that's
good. The bad news was nothing was worth much more than I paid. I
didn't see anything there to oooh and aaah about. The lady in front
of me (it's fate; I always get the ones who have Star Wars stuff no
matter where I go) had a signed pressbook from ESB signed by three
people. One office worker, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. Her
brother in law worked for Lucasfilm up through the Howard the Duck era
she said. She also had a Return of the Jedi pressbook and a screening
ticket which I'd not encountered before but she said it was his and he
was on crew so... the odd thing about it is most of the crew only
moved to San Francisco during the prequels; so to me it was an odd
piece. I told her my quess about the value (nothing was terribly
valuable and the program with the signatures was smudged and had water
damage on the top). My guess was 200-250 max to a Star Wars geek such
as myself; those pressbooks are kind of common. I saw her later on
and she said they didn't want to look at her stuff at all as it wasn't
valuable! I saw a guy with a one of a kind LARGE (about 4' high 'x5'
wide) Coca Cola diorama (it basically was a wooden box (only about
6"-8" thick) that had coca cola on the background and a couple plastic
or ceramic men inside holding cokes... it was appraised at 15,000
dollars. They did not film him,. He thinks it was because of his
looks (he looked like a Hell's Angel).


The one thing I hate about Antiques Roadshow is the continual showing
of the same old types of items: ie Babe Ruth signed baseballs,
Tiffany lamps, Rookwood pottery etc. Over and over! I think that one
of a kind Coca Cola item was more interesting and different. Or even
someone had this GIANT (had to be 8' tall) bird sculpture. It wasn't
valuable and no filming, but at least it was interesting!


A lady in front of me had a piece of pottery that was appraised just
over a thousand dollars and they filmed her at the table (not for a
regular segment but one of those "interludes"). But pretty much I saw
people there with things I've seen a million times before at junk
stores/antique shops. Nothing super.


Now for what I brought and what was said:
1) Animation cels: 5, one signed by Jim Davis of Garfield, one of
Droopy signed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera and a Pink Panther signed
by Fritz Freleng (I bought all three of these direct from their
studios); the guy didn't want to look at them.... he told me not even
to take them out after I showed him my Chilly Willy cel signed by
Walter Lantz and my Wile Coyote cel signed by Chuck Jones. After
asking me what I paid, he told me they were worth about what I paid
for them and that animation cels aren't what they once were. I
disagree, as I did a ton of research on all my pieces before I left
and though I'd agree with him on generalality, I felt the Chuck Jones
one is worth minimum 350. Though he's right ... they have decreased
generally speaking which is odd considering it's a lost ORIGINAL art
form that's now all digital. But he said the main reason was "over
production". Whatever. That's my disappointed appraisal.


2) Bill Cosby script signed by 20 people (only Lisa Bonet, Earle Hyman
are missing on it and he signed for me separately). They told us it
was worth about 350.00 and that save it, they believe it'll increase a
bit but felt that because all autographs are "contemporary" and they
mostly all sign for people even now, that it's not worth more at this
time; but they felt given time it could be because it's early
signatures of Keisha Knight Pullam and Raven Simone, from when they
were little. That's the main draw of the script (not the fact it was
the final episode or Bill signed it too). Basically it was worth
about what we paid or slighly more.


3) Lady Carnarvon signed deed to Highclere Castle. I already had
gotten an email appraisal where the guy told me it was worthless so I
was hoping it was worth more than the 15 pounds I paid. The appraiser
showed interest; said it was a cool item because of the name and the
castle, but said because it's a deed, it's not terribly sellable. He
said it was probably 100 dollars or a little more. I was pleased about
that and he said to keep it; he thought it was an interesting item for
sure.


4) Lastly my Charles LeMaire Costume design from "The Egyptian". The
guy said it was a very nice thing (attractive) and he said he was
impressed with the framing of it. I showed him the book drawings and
the Autograph of Jean Simmons I got through the mail a couple years
ago and seemed excited to see the autograph (he knew right off the
signature was hers) and asked me what I paid. I paid 200 for the item
and 100.00 to frame it and the graph was free except postage; and he
said it was worth about 500.00 (not including the signature which he
didn't give me any quote on). Not a bad profit; but it's something I
love anyway as the painting is very well done (the gauze outfits would
be hard to do for any artist and close up you really appreciate the
skill he had).


It was an interesting experience though and glad I did it. If I do it
again, I'd try to find some piece of pottery or a Babe Ruth signed
baseball with a story behind it; that seems to be what they want.

I haven't seen AR in Mississippi, so if it ever comes to Jackson, MS,
I'd like to go there.
I would bring a couple of items, and hopefully not stand in line for
hours. But I would not
be on the show because I'm not the healthy type they usually show.

Chip
On Jun 27, 3:50*pm, Sue H wrote:
We went to Raleigh NC this morning (yesterday but the event was this
morning) for the Antiques Roadshow and I gotta admit how disappointed
I was to an extent because I did not see Mark Wahlberg nor the Keno
Brothers. *The guy who does the toys and does posters is the one who
appraised one of my items. I recognized only a couple of the
appraisers. *We did the feedback booth but we won't make it in (no
comment on my sour husband... who didn't smile and mumbled....so
doubtful we'll get on). I didn't see a single person get filmed....I
don't even know where the green room was. *It was quick in and quick
out.

We left the hotel and got there in about 5 minutes and waited in line
with our stuff only about half hour or 40 minutes. *Then got into
another line and were done in less than an hour. We had four items
(you were allowed two each) and three of the four were "collectibles"
so we went to the "collectibles" table where two guys appraised the
items. *Then I went alone to the "books" where my deed was appraised.
We saw quite a bit of people... they put you in half hour blocks (like
100-200 people or whatever in each block). *So it's a continual flow
going in and going out. *The most fun part of the experience was
seeing what people brought and talking to them.

What distressed me was the animation cels I brought. *The good news
was that nothing I brought was less than what I paid for it so that's
good. *The bad news was nothing was worth much more than I paid. *I
didn't see anything there to oooh and aaah about. *The lady in front
of me (it's fate; I always get the ones who have Star Wars stuff no
matter where I go) had a signed pressbook from ESB signed by three
people. *One office worker, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. *Her
brother in law worked for Lucasfilm up through the Howard the Duck era
she said. *She also had a Return of the Jedi pressbook and a screening
ticket which I'd not encountered before but she said it was his and he
was on crew so... the odd thing about it is most of the crew only
moved to San Francisco during the prequels; so to me it was an odd
piece. *I told her my quess about the value (nothing was terribly
valuable and the program with the signatures was smudged and had water
damage on the top). *My guess was 200-250 max to a Star Wars geek such
as myself; those pressbooks are kind of common. *I saw her later on
and she said they didn't want to look at her stuff at all as it wasn't
valuable! *I saw a guy with a one of a kind LARGE (about 4' high 'x5'
wide) Coca Cola diorama (it basically was a wooden box (only about
6"-8" thick) that had coca cola on the background and a couple plastic
or ceramic men inside holding cokes... *it was appraised at 15,000
dollars. *They did not film him,. He thinks it was because of his
looks (he looked like a Hell's Angel).

The one thing I hate about Antiques Roadshow is the continual showing
of the same old types of items: *ie Babe Ruth signed baseballs,
Tiffany lamps, Rookwood pottery etc. Over and over! I think that one
of a kind Coca Cola item was more interesting and different. *Or even
someone had this GIANT (had to be 8' tall) bird sculpture. *It wasn't
valuable and no filming, but at least it was interesting!

A lady in front of me had a piece of pottery that was appraised just
over a thousand dollars and they filmed her at the table (not for a
regular segment but one of those "interludes"). *But pretty much I saw
people there with things I've seen a million times before at junk
stores/antique shops. *Nothing super.

Now for what I brought and what was said:
1) Animation cels: *5, one signed by Jim Davis of Garfield, one of
Droopy signed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera and a Pink Panther signed
by Fritz Freleng (I bought all three of these direct from their
studios); the guy didn't want to look at them.... he told me not even
to take them out after I showed him my Chilly Willy cel signed by
Walter Lantz and my Wile Coyote cel signed by Chuck Jones. *After
asking me what I paid, he told me they were worth about what I paid
for them and that animation cels aren't what they once were. *I
disagree, as I did a ton of research on all my pieces before I left
and though I'd agree with him on generalality, I felt the Chuck Jones
one is worth minimum 350. *Though he's right ... they have decreased
generally speaking which is odd considering it's a lost ORIGINAL art
form that's now all digital. *But he said the main reason was "over
production". *Whatever. *That's my disappointed appraisal.

2) Bill Cosby script signed by 20 people (only Lisa Bonet, Earle Hyman
are missing on it and he signed for me separately). *They told us it
was worth about 350.00 and that save it, they believe it'll increase a
bit but felt that because all autographs are "contemporary" and they
mostly all sign for people even now, that it's not worth more at this
time; but they felt given time it could be because it's early
signatures of Keisha Knight Pullam and Raven Simone, from when they
were little. That's the main draw of the script (not the fact it was
the final episode or Bill signed it too). *Basically it was worth
about what we paid or slighly more.

3) Lady Carnarvon signed deed to Highclere Castle. *I already had
gotten an email appraisal where the guy told me it was worthless so I
was hoping it was worth more than the 15 pounds I paid. The appraiser
showed interest; said it was a cool item because of the name and the
castle, but said because it's a deed, it's not terribly sellable. *He
said it was probably 100 dollars or a little more. I was pleased about
that and he said to keep it; he thought it was an interesting item for
sure.

4) Lastly my Charles LeMaire Costume design from "The Egyptian". *The
guy said it was a very nice thing (attractive) and he said he was
impressed with the framing of it. I showed him the book drawings and
the Autograph of Jean Simmons I got through the mail a couple years
ago and seemed excited to see the autograph (he knew right off the
signature was hers) and asked me what I paid. I paid 200 for the item
and 100.00 to frame it and the graph was free except postage; and he
said it was worth about 500.00 (not including the signature which he
didn't give me any quote on). *Not a bad profit; but it's something I
love anyway as the painting is very well done (the gauze outfits would
be hard to do for any artist and close up you really appreciate the
skill he had).

It was an interesting experience though and glad I did it. *If I do it
again, I'd try to find some piece of pottery or a Babe Ruth signed
baseball with a story behind it; that seems to be what they want.

i actually think this stinks.... i think we touched on this when you
had tickets..and you've just confirmed what i said then and what i was
told before....who knows..
mike

Yeah, it pretty much was like NOT about the fans of the show. What it
seems like to me (and this includes me reading their rules and the
booklet I got) that this is geared to what the appraiser's like
personally. I got a feeling the producers let the appraiser's talk
them into certain objects etc. I think from there, the producers take
all the suggestions and weed some out (for example if they had two
people with the same type pottery or too many that had baseball
related items they'd nix the ones who either didn't show well on
camera etc. I think for the feedback booth they want people perky,
funny or who say unique things. I don't think looks of people have
anything to do with if you get aired but you have to be able to
communicate; but the star of the show is the item.

Furthermore, I learned that the people who appraise (with possibly the
exception of the Keno brothers but I am not sure) do it FREE. I heard
they even pay their own airfare and hotel. So I think they do it for
two reasons: 1) National exposure for their career or business and 2)
so they can buy at a good price the items people have (I think people
will contact them after the venue because they leave their business
cards on the table; so say that guy thinks 15k for his diorama is
good, he'll call the guy to buy it after (and it really might fetch
20k or perhaps the guy will buy it for 10 and sell it for 15).

That's my take. It wasn't glamorous one bit; but like with most of
the events I go to, the best fun is the people watching and
interacting with others.

On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:44:01 -0700 (PDT), barefoot
wrote:

i actually think this stinks.... i think we touched on this when you
had tickets..and you've just confirmed what i said then and what i was
told before....who knows..
mike

Oh yeah, the bad news from though was if you go there, don't bring any
contemporary autographs at all unless you have Marily Monroe or James
Dean etc. But even on those, they are looking for either a special
story or something like you found it in a dumpster. They don't want
"I bought it on Ebay". So don't take anything you got from Ebay
unless it's something super rare, valuable and you've no doubt it's
legit and interesting. Pretty much all this convention stuff and ebay
and even like my Star Wars collection, it's worthless to them. Now
mine MIGHT be of minor interest because of the sheer amount and the
type of ones I have, but all these Dave Prowse and stuff you are all
paying 40-60 bucks for and all this crap, it's worth less than half
what you paid for it on the secondary market and in a few years it'll
be worth less than 5 bucks. It'll be only when you're 90 that the
prices will go back up and by then your families will have thrown the
crap out. It's all "mass produced" and everyone is selling graphs and
they are common now. So nothing unless it's 1960's or before they
proabably won't even look at (unless you have a story about your mum
working for Princess Di and she gave you a signed letter with a story
etc). LOL You think I joke; but I know my stuff.

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:51:36 -0400, Sue H wrote:

Yeah, it pretty much was like NOT about the fans of the show. What it
seems like to me (and this includes me reading their rules and the
booklet I got) that this is geared to what the appraiser's like
personally. I got a feeling the producers let the appraiser's talk
them into certain objects etc. I think from there, the producers take
all the suggestions and weed some out (for example if they had two
people with the same type pottery or too many that had baseball
related items they'd nix the ones who either didn't show well on
camera etc. I think for the feedback booth they want people perky,
funny or who say unique things. I don't think looks of people have
anything to do with if you get aired but you have to be able to
communicate; but the star of the show is the item.

Furthermore, I learned that the people who appraise (with possibly the
exception of the Keno brothers but I am not sure) do it FREE. I heard
they even pay their own airfare and hotel. So I think they do it for
two reasons: 1) National exposure for their career or business and 2)
so they can buy at a good price the items people have (I think people
will contact them after the venue because they leave their business
cards on the table; so say that guy thinks 15k for his diorama is
good, he'll call the guy to buy it after (and it really might fetch
20k or perhaps the guy will buy it for 10 and sell it for 15).

That's my take. It wasn't glamorous one bit; but like with most of
the events I go to, the best fun is the people watching and
interacting with others.

On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:44:01 -0700 (PDT), barefoot
wrote:

i actually think this stinks.... i think we touched on this when you
had tickets..and you've just confirmed what i said then and what i was
told before....who knows..
mike

To bad about AR, you're right Sue, same old stuff. I have resorted to
watching the British Version on BBC America.