–noun

1. A category that is collected by such a small number of individuals that it is in danger of becoming extinct.

There are endangered collecting categories. Those who are unwilling to acknowledge this should consider the Borg’s signature phrase—Resistance is futile. Dozens of 2010 collecting categories will not be collected in 2050. By the 2100, that number will exceed 1,000. Collecting without Avon bottles, collector edition bells, figurines, plates, scale model vehicles and lusterware (copper, pink, and silver) is easy to imagine. Collecting without cast iron toys, Depression glass, Fiesta, Hummels, 18th- and 19th-century English soft-paste ceramics, and “Playboy” is more difficult.

Endangered collecting categories are not new. The concept has existed for centuries. Collectors failed to recognize this phenomenon in the past because the categories disappeared gradually. The process took centuries, driven by a growing lack of merchandise in the secondary marketplace and changing collecting tastes. Today, the disappearing process can and often does take place within the lifetime of a single generation of collectors.

The following is a checklist of 10 signposts to determine if a collecting category is approaching or has reached endangered status. If five or fewer of the signposts apply, the collecting category is nearing endangerment. If eight or more apply, the collecting category is endangered. It is critical that a person using these signposts not allow personal feelings to cloud their application.

SIGNPOST 1: The average age of collectors exceeds 60. An average age of 55-60 is a warning. New collectors must be attracted to the collecting category to keep it viable.

Why not 65 instead of 60? Value within any collecting category reaches its peak when the first generation of collectors is between the ages of 45 and 60. The ability to replace collectors who die or lose interest steadily declines once the average age exceeds 60.

SIGNPOST 2: It is possible to count the number of major collectors on two hands and/or the number of collectors is 50 or fewer. The pool becomes smaller and smaller. Death is only one of the enemies. Reduced living space, less and less contact between key collectors (the social aspect), and decreased discretionary income are others.

A collecting category’s vitality depends on everyone knowing the players. Everyone means collectors within the category as well as major collectors from spin-off and other collecting categories.

SIGNPOST 3: A collectors’ club or clubs disappearance. This is happening with alarming frequency, not just for 19th-century-focused collecting categories but for 20th-century-based collecting categories as well. I included the addresses for collectors’ clubs in the category heads for the price guides that I edited and authored. The decline in the number of collectors’ clubs began in the mid-1990s. Recently, I tried to confirm the existence of a Roseville collectors’ club. I did not find one. I failed to locate a Roseville discussion group on eBay. I did find a Roseville Web site, but this is a far cry from the connections a collectors’ club offers through its newsletter or journal, annual convention and other social networking opportunities. There was a time when it appeared as though there was a collectors’ club for almost every collecting category. It is not true in 2010.

SIGNPOST 4: Objects from the collecting category are no longer available or found in limited quantities at antiques malls, shops and shows. This is a Catch-22 situation. Dealers will not offer merchandise if it does not sell. Merchandise does not have a chance to sell if it is not offered. This is just one of a growing number of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-do-not situations developing in the antiques and collectibles trade.

Enthusiasm is essential to the survival of any collecting category. Collector enthusiasm is a given. Collectors love their things. Dealer enthusiasm is the key. Dealers sell the sizzle as well the as merchandise. Their role as collecting category champion is more important than that of the collector. When dealer enthusiasm disappears, sales flatten.

SIGNPOST 5: The sell-through rate on eBay drops below 20 percent. While there are many antique collecting categories where eBay is not the principal sale source, eBay is the primary sale source for mass-produced objects manufactured since the last decade of the 19th century. It is responsible for the explosion of collecting categories. More than 90 percent of these collecting categories focused on 20th-century objects.

Supply now exceeds demand in thousands of collecting categories. In hundreds of collecting categories, collector/buyer fulfillment has reached 100 percent. As a result, there are no buyers for new material listed for sale from the collecting category, no matter how cheap the initial bid request is.

“There is a price at which an object will not sell” is one of the marketing principles that evolved from the 1988-1990 recession. “An antique or collectible can reach a point where there are no longer buyers” is a 21st-century marketing principle. Its application will only broaden.

SIGNPOST 6: Nothing is able to check the steady decline in value. Value decline affects only the middle and low-end items initially. In 2010, many collecting categories are experiencing a major decline in value at the high end. Historically, the high end was immune from price decline. Now there are hundreds of collecting categories where high-end prices have peaked and are in decline.

Likewise, there are some categories such as baseball cards, gold coins, Gold and Silver Age comic books, and firearms, where the high end continues to set record prices. Investors appear blind to the speculative bubble on whose surface these prices rest. There is always a day of reckoning.

SIGNPOST 7: Objects disappear or are sold in lots at auction. Major collectors refuse to sell their collections in a declining market. They pray for a price reversal. It will not happen. When these collectors die, their heirs are more willing to accept whatever an auction brings.

It is hard to watch 18th-, 19th-, and early-to-mid-20th-century objects that once sold by the piece now being offered in lots. Lot sizes of two or three are in the past. Today lots include four to 10 examples. The local auctioneer’s goal is to exceed an average of $100 to $200 per lot. Christie’s and Sotheby’s have raised their lot minimums to more than $3,000.

SIGNPOST 8: No new specialized price guide or reference book on the collecting category has appeared within the last five years. Five years suggests endangerment. Fifteen years is the kiss of death. Ten years is the divide.

Reference books, with or without price guides, are checklists. They are an essential tool of the new collector. They are critical to keeping collecting interest alive. Check the 2010 Spring-Summer lists for Collector Books, House of Collectibles, KP (Krause Publications) and Schiffer Publications. Compare the title count to 2005. The 2010 number is greatly reduced. Antiques and collectibles price guides and reference books are tough sells in the electronic/Internet age.

SIGNPOST 9: Trade periodicals provide little to no coverage of the collecting category. Trade periodical editors are not the saviors for any collecting category. Their job is to publish articles their readers want. The periodicals focus on what is hot. What is not is ignored. Little wonder the readership of the “Magazine Antiques” is decreasing.

SIGNPOST 10: The collecting category disappears, is grouped with other collecting categories, or is totally ignored in general antiques and/or collectibles price guides. The number of antiques and collectibles categories has grown so large that it is impossible to list all of them in a general price guide, even one limiting its coverage to antiques or collectibles. Many of the specialized general price guides—such as toys, for example—are experiencing a similar problem.

Information fuels interest. When information about a collecting category is no longer readily available, the collecting category is approaching endangerment. When information vanishes, the collecting category is endangered.

Apply these signposts to the collecting categories you collect. Then again, maybe you should not. It breaks my heart to see grown people cry.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show “Whatcha Got?” on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on the Genesis Communications Network.

“Sell, Keep Or Toss? How To Downsize A Home, Settle An Estate, And Appraise Personal Property” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site: http://www.harryrinker.com.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected queries will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. You can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker [at] aol [dot] com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2010

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Spelter figurines and busts of this type were produced in great numbers during the late 19th Century, most were based on Greek and Roman Classical works or originals of famous 19th Century sculptors. The spelter examples were made as an inexpensive option to the expensive bronze examples produced by noted artists such as Frederic Remington, Auguste Rodin, P.J. Mene and A.L. Barye for the fine art market. Generally the spelter examples were given a bronze patina finish to make them appear as the more expensive bronze examples. The faux bronze finishes on these pieces have not proven to be very durable, either wearing off or removed in a misguided attempt to improve the figure’s appearance. Values for these spelter figures and busts varies a great deal, depending on size, subject matter and condition.

Saturday & Sunday, July 12-13: French Library Cabinet
Neal Auction, Summer Estates Auction

New Orleans-based Neal Auction Co., the South’s pre-eminent auction house, is not feeling the summer’s heat. Instead, it is raising the temperature with its Summer Estate Auction. Estate collections from New Orleans, Natchez and San Francisco make this particular sale a connoisseur collector’s dream come true.

Take a look at Lot 62. Going in with an $8,000-$12,000 estimate, and believe me that estimate will be blown out of the water within minutes, this period Louis XIV, carved, ebonized, inlaid and paint-decorated library cabinet is definitely one of a kind. Strongly architectural with a variety of exotic inlaid woods, interior compartments, panels paint-decorated with saints Mary Magdalene, Catherine, Barbara and Faith, in pristine condition, this is the investment piece to buy. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000.

Keep your eye on the movement of this interesting piece in Lot 357, an 1885 American aesthetic-brass and mixed-metal pedestal jewel casket made by Charles Parker in Meriden, Conn. This fascinating piece of American design is similar to one in the Dallas Museum of Art and to one that sold at the Doyle New York February 7, 2007, sale for $15,600. These two facts alone, plus the uniqueness of the piece, will influence the hammer price. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000.

Lot 475 offers an excellent opportunity to purchase a late-17th-century reprint of English mapmaker John Speeds’ version of the most famous parts of the world. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000.

Friday, July 11: Porcelain Figurines
Freeman’s Fridays: Furniture & Decorative Arts

Freemans’ Furniture and Decorative Art Sale is something of a mixed bag collection but is well represented in silver, porcelain figurines, retro collectibles, paintings and furniture. For you Royal Doulton figurine and figural group collectors, there’s a nice collection with good estimates in Lots 65-67 that you should consider. Estimate: $200-$350.

The estimates for Boehm porcelain birds, Lots 68-73, seem, in comparison to sales results of Boehm from other auction houses, to be showing a slowing trend. It will be interesting to see what these do. Estimate: $150-$350.

If you’re into retro collectibles or if you are intrigued by this form of collecting, I’d say jump on Lot 88, a Danish Modern light fixture. Estimate: $300-$500.

My particular favorite is Lot 90, a 1970s chrome, Weeping Willow table lamp. Why buy? These are our next generation antiques. Estimate: $100-$150.

A more serious antique contender is Lot 215, an American School, 19th-century portrait titled, “Child in a Red Dress,” artist unknown but inscribed S F Campbell, done in oil on canvas in what appears to be its original frame. Why buy? There is a finite number of American 19th-century portraits out there, and there will always be a market for them.

Twentieth-century modern is nicely represented in the furniture line with Lot 313, a Tobia Scarpa Bastiano lounge chair, just one, not a pair, going up with a low estimate. Scarpa was an important 20th-century Italian designer, so add this one to your cart. Estimate: $200-$400.

Last but not least, is Lot 25, a fine example of an early 19th-century, classical, mahogany serpentine-front card table, made in Philadelphia, with a “lure you in” estimate. Estimate: $400-$600.

h3> JULY AUCTIONS

July 11: Cowan’s Auctions —Historic Americana

July 11: Freeman’s —Freeman’s Fridays: Furniture & Decorative Arts

July 12: Kaminski —Antiques & Collectibles Auction

July 12-13: Neal Auction —Summer Estates Auction

July 14-18: Coach’s Corner —Monthly Sale

July 18: Harlowe-Powell — Modern Design Auction

July 19: Cowan’s Auctions —Cowan’s Discovery Auction

July 19: Harlowe-Powell — Gallery Auction

July 19: Ivey-Selkirk —July Jackson Rooms Auction

July 31-Aug. 2: Mebane Auction

by Christopher Kent
Director of Evaluations, WorthPoint
– Please send your antiques, art and collectibles news about auctions to news [at] worthpoint [dot] com, and put “Auction News” in the subject line.

Today’s Photo: Royal Doulton Tiger sold for $270 at Direct Auction, Chicago

In years past, I was a huge collector of the Doulton animal figurines but choose to sell them at the height of their range. Since then, I have watched as the prices of the Doulton animals have dropped, in some cases, as much as 75%. But, with the British Pound at a large premium to the dollar, now is the time to start watching those Doulton pieces again and consider buying.

Even I make mistakes on the things that I am most qualified on. This week at Direct Auction in Chicago, there was a 13” Doulton Lion that was going to be auctioned. I was thinking that I could make some money with that piece, but when Tuesday rolled around, I talked myself out of going to the sale. What a mistake that was. The piece sold for $270. I believe that on a good day, it could bring $1,000. Even after commission, the profit could have been over $600. Not bad for a Tuesday afternoon.

The story doesn’t stop there, however. Two mint condition early Hummel Umbrella Boy and Girl figurines, that in the past, sold for over $1,500, were being offered Tuesday at Direct Auction. They sold for $350 each to a dealer. They could easily have been sold for $650 apiece.

Whenever you preview an auction, always key in on at least one item that should do well for you if purchased right. When you attend that auction, and if you buy your key piece, everything else you buy just becomes a bonus. I might have every easily left $2,000 or more on the table by talking myself out of attending Direct’s auction. Shame on me. Even after all these years, I am still learning right alongside you. My only problem is that I seem to be learning some of these lessons all over again.

Like I told your several day ago, the good things are beginning to come to the market, so now is the time to really get active. Check every auction that is listed in your local paper or trade journal then the neighborhood paper if your community has one. Don’t forget to see what is appearing in on the Ruby Lane website in your area I have found great buys there. Take a look at EstateSales.net and register to be notified of sales in your area. Winter is ending and many people are in a financial bind. People are eager to make changes and this will accrue to your benefit.

This is the time to see the basic principle that we teach come into play. By the end of the year, your eyes will be wide open to the potential that these markets offer you.

31 Club Members — Watch your E-Mail for our Tips on Buying Royal Doulton. This will help you weed out the common from the more valuable.

To Learn More About Royal Doulton History and Top Artists, Shiffer’s “Royal Doulton, A Legacy of Excellence 1871-1945″ is an excellent resource. It’s discounted at Amazon and includes a price guide.

Join the 31 Club and learn how to build personal wealth through the antique, collectible and fine art markets.

Visit my website at www.31corp.com