Innehållsförteckning för December 18, 2019 från Kovels Antique Trader

MUCH LIKE AN OLD quilt on a winter’s night, the holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, warms the soul. How could it not? Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed were born to play George and Mary Bailey, Bedford Falls’ favorite couple. And like a finely tuned church choir, Frank Capra hit all the right directorial notes in his 1946 masterpiece. So extraordinary is the film, it’s as if angels themselves, bored with what was playing at Heaven’s Cineplex, decided to gather all the right people together to create a movie miracle. Which means all you and I have had to do is make popcorn, snuggle in and enjoy. And we have, year after year after year. Such is the power of holiday magic, some of which we’re happy to share with…

The holiday season comes and goes in the blink of an eye. That’s why in 1994 SherieLee Schnell created a way for friends and family to savor the moment each year. Now in its 25th year, her 4,200-square-foot decorated farmhouse, dubbed Marshmallow World, offers up a cure for the holiday blues and a place to go when you need a little Christmas. “You get so busy and do so much for the holidays that I decided to decorate my whole house and pick a few days around Thanksgiving to have people come over,” Schnell said. The first year, a crowd of 40 toured her decked-out home, but now after over two decades, Schnell finds herself entertaining upward of 500 attendees over the course of her three-night open house. It’s a…

BOULDER - Boulder, Colorado-based company hobbyDB has a daunting task, though it’s already well on its way to achieving it. The company, which was founded in 2011, is on a mission to catalog the massive — and growing — collectibles industry. Akin to how sites like IMDb or Discogs document movies or music releases, hobbyDB is trying to provide collectors with a comprehensive view of what’s out there. And Christian Braun, one of the site’s three cofounders, said that, between licensed merchandise such as Star Wars figurines and Colorado Rockies hats and more traditional collectibles like Hot Wheels cars and stamps, $450 billion in trade is done yearly. To capture that massive market, the site has employed a kind of controlled crowd-sourcing method. After getting an account, people using the…

Every day is Christmas for collectors of Department 56 iconic villages populated with Victorian-style churches, warm, cozy cottages, animated windmills and detailed homes reminiscent of everyone’s most poignant childhood memories. Brandon Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, has been amassing Department 56 collectibles for the past 30 years. He has some 700 pieces and displays his favorite houses and accessories throughout his home. “I’m busy right now remaking my North Pole spread by constructing a larger venue for it,’’ said Taylor. One of his favorite home displays is the popular Christmas in the City display, which he showcases in old steamer trunks. Even Taylor’s 9-year-old daughter, Emma, is fascinated with the Department 56 collectibles. Although many ardent collectors remain aging baby boomers, Taylor said the clubs are seeing a wider audience…

With it officially being the holiday season, we recently asked these questions to our Facebook community: How do antiques and collectibles fit into your holiday season? Do you decorate your home with them? Do you ever give (or receive) antiques/collectibles as Christmas gifts? Linda Serjeant: I love collecting antique glassware — sugar bowls, vases, jam pots, etc. and using them as candle holders. They look gorgeous. Ginger Evans: Yes. Kathleen Enloe Athy: My mom had a reindeer collection. I put it up every year and remember how much my mom loved them. Mel Wartenberg: Absolutely receive antiques as gifts, or gift cards to local antique stores! Sharlene Beckwith: Yes and yes! Kitda Ariail: Yes we love antiques. We display antique Santas, Angels, teacups, misc ... furniture. Tonya Morgan: We dealers…

VINELAND, N.J. – The second sale of a world-class toy collection raked in $2.2 million, led by a Marklin Battleship that sold for more than $200,000. Bertoia Auctions recently had Part II of the Samuel Downey Jr. collection of European tin rarities and boats. The first sale was in March. A Marklin Battleship, La Plata, which Bertoia said was likely the crown jewel of Downey’s boat collection, was the top lot after a final price of $204,000, which was tens of thousands more than its estimate of $50,000-$70,000. Hailing from Argentina, this battleship is in museum-grade condition and extremely detailed, with a multi-level complex superstructure. This sale drew interest from all corners of the world, as 2,000 lots of boats, trains, toys, motorcycles, and battery-op toys all hit the podium,…

The Santa Claus we all know and love today — the white-bearded and rosy-cheeked grandfatherly man, trademark red suit trimmed with white fur, a sleigh filled with toys — has morphed through a variety of looks over the centuries. From the description given in Clement Moore’s A Visit from St Nicholas in 1822 (“chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf”) through the vision of artist Thomas Nast (the current image is based on his illustration) and later Norman Rockwell, St. Nick gradually shed his various guises and became the jolly red-suited Santa we know now. This is a little pictorial guide of his evolvement through the ages. 13th century The name Santa Claus has roots in the Dutch name for St. Nicholas — Sinterklaas (an abbreviation of Sint Nikolaas).…

DALLAS – The finest known copy of Marvel Comics No. 1, the 1939 comic book considered the “Big Bang” of the Marvel Comics Superhero Universe, set a world record after selling for more than $1 million. It sold at Heritage Auctions’ sale of vintage comic books and comic art for $1.2 million and is now the most expensive Marvel comic ever sold at public auction, and also set an auction house record as the most expensive comic book ever sold by the world’s largest comic book and comic art auctioneer. “This is a historic copy of a historic comic book,” said Ed Jaster, senior vice president at Heritage Auctions. “Without question, this is the granddaddy of all Marvel Comics, without which we would not have the characters and stories we…