Yesterday's Prices at Today's Auctions

As stated in entry one - this blog will not be overly concerned about vintage collectible pricing, however, some recent auction results may be of interest, and just may balance a few perspectives...

Halloween's seasonal nature seems key (especially for the non-obsessed public-at-large) in determining the collectible demand of vintage items. While at times powerful, there is a historical mix of poor auction results that would seem to make the genre a rather bad "investment" --- (if you choose to think of the ghosts of holiday past in those terms). While much is made of some items reaping impressive returns, one would wonder if the genre may ever reach the skyrocketing prices seen by other collectibles --- (simply scan a pamphlet by any of the big auction houses and compare the results of other collectible genres). 

It's a real trick or treat (depending on what side of the transaction you stand) to resell vintage holiday. Seasonal peak interest is only one challenge. Availability (of both poor and quality items) is also changing with the internet lessening rarity (also challenging the belief that past generations simply discarded objects the way we do now). Mis-perception of the market creates bids without adequate personal research; while pensive sellers stall sales under a nebulous concept of reaching "true" or higher market-value. As well, more vintage-style arts and printable knock-offs now vie for attention that dilute our yearning for true vintage and/or offer items perhaps more fitting to modern expectations of artistry and/or materials.

Some recent examples show that a few auction houses had results that would likely make past winners question the value of previously won acquisitions. A couple of auction houses (including one of high profile) recently sold off large lots of Halloween postcards that averaged only a little over $10 per card. While another auction house (offering a mix of old and mis-labeled newer items) had prices for true vintage reach results more akin to some previous decade --- see examples below:

$140 or $13 each --- (approximate lot valuation ~ $400).

$100  or $17 each --- (approximate lot valuation ~ $400).

$100 or $20 each --- (approximate lot valuation ~ $400).

$30 (approximate lot valuation ~ $200).

$90 or $13 each --- (approximate lot valuation ~ $500).

$20 (approximate lot valuation ~ $500).

While above results aren't too shocking if you've been pursuing a "let the market determine value" attitude, you would however be sorely disappointed and even upset if you're judging the price by expected guide rules.  The lesson here perhaps for vintage Halloween collectors and sellers are these --- patience, perspective, season, quantity, quality, and knowledge. 

Bogie Books | Bogus Bindings

As a tip to new collectors, when able, consider this --- introduce yourself to certain items from a collector's stash before bidding and/or spending the big bucks on true vintage. If you don't have a local collector at hand, then looking around the market may offer other options: an antique store, an annual holiday/antique show, or an online venue. From personal experience, I madly craved celluloids for the amazing details; however, once I held (directly from a collector's shelf) these small objects with their seemingly light, fragile and generally dissatisfying material my yearning was tempered. I'm now content admiring most celluloid collectibles in photographs until the right opportunity.

Dennison's Bogie Book 11th Ed. (1923)

One collectable series (shown above) that offers an option for pre-collecting observation is the 1910's-1920's Dennison's Bogie Book (holiday idea booklets showcasing the manufacturer's product). While at this writing it's likely you can find scanned versions of these to peruse (sometimes on etsy) - there are others on ebay listing these in a printed softcover (different enough in quality, paper, etc., yet offering the original content). I got a 2nd hand batch of these, and they are enjoyable and informative while seeking deals on originals.

If you like what you've seen firsthand, wouldn't that then be the logical point to start collecting? Once you do start collecting Bogie Books, I would consider the following information below. (Note - I have added one point to my introduction list of reasons to write this blog --- #5 Question everything.)

Bogie Books were originally printed in softcover, yet there do exist library bound versions (as noted in collector guides). While it might seem logical that a hardcover is more valuable (with guides reflecting a hardcover valued at almost 3x the price), the Bogie Book example may not be normal for book collectors. As noted in Book Collecting: Illustrated glossary of terms, edition, & condition: "Lending libraries sometimes re-bind books into a heavier, more durable binding [...] which will stand up the heavy use to which library books are often subjected. [...] Collectors usually avoid library-bindings, since the book has been drastically altered." Therefore, you just may be getting a better deal buying less expensive softcover originals, over potentially mis-valued hardcovers.

Update 1-31-2016: It was recently proposed that some Bogie Book hardbacks may be trade editions due to the absence of library markings. Trade edition simply means an edition of a book offered for sale to the general public in book stores (wikipedia). Question --- would it follow logically that a book was sold in a book store because of absent markings? This would mean Dennison took a magazine-style catalog and turned it into a prebound book for book store sales. What is the evidence of this? In either case prebound is still an alternation of the original edition. One would continue to wonder if this destroys the value in either instance as stated above. But the great concern - if an original paperback and these prebound versions were undifferentiated by the publisher - who is to prevent anyone from creating fake "prebound" copies?

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