Dig This Treasure!

When I saw the listing for a “Collector’s Dream” sale, I had a good feeling in my gut that I might score some treasures.  The photos in the listing showed lots and lots of porcelain, and it looked high end.  I had my fingers crossed that there would be Herend-aplenty and that it would all be priced to move.

When we got to the sale, the Lord himself might as well have opened the doors for us, because I was like 99% sure we were in heaven.

The majority of the sale was porcelain, but they also had Limoges boxes, nutcrackers, vintage Christmas and Easter decorations, collectible pottery, and more.

There was also some random stuff, like this giant box of snow owls.

Anyway, I first zeroed in on this white Herend rabbit.  I normally only collect Herend fishnet pattern pieces, but I have always wanted this white rabbit.  He is seriously so adorable.  

They had him priced $45, which is about what he sells for on ebay.  I, of course, wanted a deal though.  While looking at him, a woman came up and asked if she could help me.  I told her that I am a Herend collector and love this rabbit, but would only be interested in him for $30.  She said that was fine.  I was thrilled.  Here he is now next to one of my other Herend rabbits:

The lady helping me mentioned that there were some other Herend pieces floating around, which I had missed on my first pass through the place.  She pointed out a small Herend trinket box and larger serving dish.  Both were in the Rothschild pattern, which again, I don’t collect.

What I do know about the Rothschild pattern is that a lot of other people collect it.  I checked ebay and saw that both of these pieces should be an easy sell.  However, the serving dish was marked $110.  I decided to push my luck again and ask the woman for a deal.  I told her that I was interested in the dish but could only offer her $50.  She said yes!  I was thrilled again.  As for the trinket box, I paid the full sticker price of $20 because I didn’t want to haggle with this poor woman again.

Both pieces are up on ebay, so we will see how they do!

I also bought some paper mache Easter eggs, which I’ve already packed away in our Easter decorations box.  Here is a photo I pulled offline though.  They are really similar.

I got 6 of them for $10.  

I’ll let Sarah tell you all about her huge scores at this sale.  She had quite the motherload.  Before that though, I’ll mention that we did hit one more sale this day.  It was awful.  You can probably tell by the decor:

Sorry Betty Boop collectors, I will never understand you.

Oh, also!  It was Sarah’s birthday, so we got manicures.  

Sarah is way older than me so I sometimes forget her exact age.  I think she just turned 44, but I am not sure.  Also, I made her this cake:

She really likes beagles.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I told Erin she couldn’t post the original version of that picture of me at the nail salon and her photoshopping made me laugh until I cried. Amazing. 

I already posted about my favorite find from the porcelain sale–the frog crossing sign. I also found a bunch of items to resell–the coolest and possibly most profitable of which are all of these Fisher Price Little People things. 

They had these things marked incredibly reasonably. I bought a farm, village, house, merry-go-round, and school bus, all for about $40. I grew up playing with Little People and now they don’t make the little ones anymore (I guess too many homies choked on them?) but Adam and I might keep the house for our future children. This won’t be the first time I’ll have kept something for my non-existent children. 

I also found this Italian made Pinocchio to resell,

and an adorable Pewabic tile. Mine looks just like that one but it’s blue. 

I also bought this little car from a huge mess of Department 56 Snow Village stuff. 

We had snow village stuff when I was growing up and this little car was my favorite piece. It was only $2. 

Here is one really cool thing at that sale that I didn’t buy. 

I didn’t buy it because it was $1200. It’s by C. Jere, who is a famous mid century sculptor, I think. Check out this amazing sculpture by him of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Wowee Zowee. 

The second sale we went to was the absolute worst. Everything was overpriced and stunk like cigarettes. For the first time in my life of estate saleing, I had to THROW AWAY something I bought when I got home. 

I bought this baggie of dolls because there were some Playmobil guys in there. When I opened the bag, all of the dolls smelled so bad. They are PLASTIC and smelled like smoke. WTF?! I should have known, though. Here’s what the rest of the sale looked like: 

I don’t know if you can make out that sticker well enough, but that is a $3 sign that says Help Retarded Children. 

P.S. I turned THIRTY FIVE, not 44. 

Erin and I were really looking forward to a sale a few weeks ago, but for the life of us, we could not figure out how the company running the sale was able to score it. I regularly refer to the two guys who run this company as The Ragamuffins. Historically, The Ragamuffins have gotten crazy hoarder houses and the guys look like they’re about 19 years old, but it appears that they’ve stepped up their game. The sale was at the home of an advertising collector, and it looked packed. Adam met us there and was there for over an hour before we got there, and left at the same time as us–just to give you an idea of how packed it was! 

The whole house was pretty much like this–but each room had something different. The first room you got to had a lot of metal signs and other advertising memorabilia. All of it was priced pretty high but it was the second day of a four-day sale, so that wasn’t surprising. 

A slot-type machine where the prize is ciggies. Pretty awesome. 

So the really weird thing was that some rooms had really cool, old memorabilia (one room was filled with paper) and others were totally filled with newer toys, many of which seemed like things that you’d get by sending away for them in the mail, or from a fast food restaurant. 

The basement was filled with two kinds of things: fast food toys and car parts. LOTS of car parts. 

I found a few things at this sale, but the coolest was a small group of old photographs of buildings in Detroit (and other snapshots) and a big box of old postcards. I bought all of this paper for $120 which is a little pricey, but I am fairly certain that the postcards will sell for a decent amount of money and I was willing to risk it. Most of them are of cities–buildings, etc. 

There were also some cool ones of Detroit. 

And then here are the pictures: 

I found some other really cool photographs in the group that I bought but I’ll post those another day. 

Nothing too crazy or scandalous happened at this sale–pretty straightforward, and it was way more organized and reasonable in price than other sales that they’ve run. I can only imagine what it looked like in that place on Sunday–everything was half off then. 

The second sale we went to was in Dearborn, and it looked like it might have some treasures. When we pulled up, we discovered that it was in a condo complex and two condos next to each other had stuff for sale. We never quite figured out why that was, but ok. The first condo we went in was super gross and smelled like 40 dogs and zero people lived there. But the dogs who lived there had great taste in books! I bought a couple. 

I think this must be a picture of a room upstairs that Erin checked out on her own. 

Thank god I didn’t make the trek. Here’s a picture of the carpet on the main floor. It appears that the dogs figured out how to put down deodorizing powder, but failed to finish the job.  

EEEEEEEEEEEE! 

The other condo was in much better shape, and was filled with stuff, but you sort of had to dig for treasures. I found these cute little wooden apples that open up: 

And a very nice quilted tree skirt. 

Scout is going to be so pumped this Christmas. He loves sitting under the tree. I tried to find a picture of Scout sitting under the tree during a past Christmas season, but all I found was this old picture of Zach and Erin when I first met her. We were at a wedding. 

I also found some very cute, tiny handmade dolls. One is a cat and one is a bunny. The cat is cuter. 

I also don’t want to admit this but I bought this little Rose O'Neill style kewpie doll. Erin had taken a picture of it for a Hard to Resist post so when she saw it in my bag when I walked outside, she almost died. 

Finally, I found these two waechtersbach bowls at the last minute. I thought they’d be cute for Scout’s food but it turns out they sell, so I’ll probably sell them. 

I’ll let Erin tell you all about her treasures, and also about a coat she prevented me from buying for myself. In retrospect, now that I’ve seen the picture, I should have gotten it. It’s cute in an ‘80s way! 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: That kewpie doll that Sarah found at the second sale is seriously horrifying.  I DIED when I saw she had bought it.  I’m sure it will be in next year’s garage sale for anyone interested.

Here is the coat that I talked Sarah out of buying.  First of all, it is WAY too big on her.  Also, it looks like those coats cosmetic counter ladies wear.  Seriously, this coat was so gnarly I thought Sarah was messing with me when she wanted to buy it.

Those sleeves are rolled up like six times because the coat is so huge.

Anyway, at the first sale, I found a great treasure.  It is this old Blatz beer statue thing of some beer bottle men playing baseball.  Timmy actually has this statue already, so I knew from him that it is valuable.  Here is just how valuable:

So I will be listing mine on the ol’ electronic bay soon.

So here is the thing about the ragamuffins running this sale…they for some reason are intimidated by or really like Sarah and I.  I’d like to assume it is our feminine wiles, except that I currently have a huge melon belly and Sarah was still wearing a boot on her broken toe.  But seriously, every time I have asked them for a price on something, they act all nervous and then give me some crazy low price.  And yet, despite the low price, they act like they’ve just given me a super high price and are ashamed of it.

So I ask one of them how much this Blatz figure is–mind you, the whole sale is overpriced.  The dude gets all nervous and then says $15, which made me SO HAPPY.  I am hoping to make a decent profit on this.  

I also bought this cool porcelain lady.  I thought she would resell well because “bathing beauty” figurines are really collectible.  I paid $20 but it only sold on ebay for $26.  Whomp whomp.

Two Fridays ago, Sarah and I hit a couple sales that looked packed.  And even more exciting, packed with good-looking treasures!  The first one was obviously the estate of former antique dealers/hoarders.

When we walked in, the person at the front door said we had to give up our purses, and stash them in a big ol’ purse pile behind the cash-out area.  This always bugs me.  It is true that people steal from estate sales (remember “THAT GUY”), but I know I’m not going to, so I instantly feel offended.  It’s like, “We must steal your purse from you, with all of your monies and car keys and lip balm before you are able to steal from us.”  Oy.

And in the end, I wish this sale actually turned out to have more worth stealing.  The photos online had looked so good, but things seemed picked over or too pricey.  

If you aren’t familiar with that new rap song on the radio that says, “I WOKE UP IN A NEW BUGGATI,”  then that’s ok because it sucks.  In other news, this is what a Buggati looks like.  Seems practical.  Also, $6,000 seems cheap.  Is that cheap?

I did find this hilarious magazine that explains 10 ways to make your wife “more useful”:

Seriously, so rude.  Someone give me a magazine article that teaches husbands to find ANYTHING in the house without having to ask where it is first.  AMIRITE LADIES?

I did buy a couple things.  First was this adorable stocking that reminded me of those stalker snowmen I keep seeing at every sale.  It will be the baby’s stocking this Christmas.

I bought this old cap gun to resell.  It was only $8 and other ones sold for good money on ebay.  Mine isn’t in as good of shape, but worth the risk.

At the next sale, there were a lot of knick-knacks and typical household goods.  Here is Sarah and her monster broken-toe boot looking at stuff:

I was striking out pretty bad here, until I went in the basement and saw this:

The top part of this chalkboard turns, and there are tons of cool vintage graphics to choose from.  At $25, this was a total steal.  I snagged it for the baby nursery.  Here it is now, after I stenciled on future baby’s name:

The cowboys and Indians scene at the top was my favorite, and perfect for a little boy’s room.  

Sarah found some slides at this sale, and due to her recent success with slides, she decided to plop down and check them all out.  It was mega hot in this house, but somehow she convinced me to help her.  It was torture.  All of the slides were of plants and buildings, but Sarah was convinced there were good ones in there.  

I stopped helping after probably 30 seconds.  Sarah endured another 10 minutes or so and then decided not to buy any of these.  Whomp whomp.  I’ll let her tell you about all of her other finds this day.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: Erin failed to mention so many important details from this first sale. First, the person who told us we had to give our purses away was no more than 13 years old and they had her manning the door. I’m cool with that, I’m just saying–it’s weird to take orders from a little kid. Second, this sale had three different areas with entrances, and when you were in each place, they made it sound like the next was going to be SO much better. As it turned out, the next was always worse. 

I did find some treasures, though–mainly of the paper variety. But before we get to those, check out this awesome pixie Erin snagged for me at the last minute!

She’s not in fabulous shape, but she was only $3, and the more important part of this find was that it led me to discover that there are TONS of these figurines with hair but not all of them are on the phone! Instead, many of them are “pixies” and can be found by searching that way. Totally rad, and I just spent the last hour buying more on the Internet instead of writing this very blog entry. I just made a boatload of cash on eBay, so I can afford more cuties like this. 

I also found some very cute mini dogs. My favorite is this one, who really DOES look like my dog, Betsy. It’s head comes off the top so it wobbles. so stinkin’ cool! 

One question: Have you ever seen a cuter dog? 

Ok on to the paper… there was a ton of it, but they were pricing it all individually, which was sad. I’ve gotten some really good deals buying mass quantities of paper from the people running this sale in the past, so that was a bummer. In the end, I bought a few photographs, some vintage greeting cards, and a couple of postcards.

I had to buy this old illustration. Rock of Ages was (still IS) a record store near where I grew up. True story: I bought a purple Jellyfish t-shirt there when I was 16 and then gave it to Zach when I met him because he was a megafan just like my own husband. Man, where is that thing now?

I had to buy this postcard because IT MAKES NO SENSE.

Ok, so the worst thing about this sale was that no matter where you were at any given time, 4 other people wanted to be in that EXACT PLACE. I was standing near the check out area where they keep more valuable stuff, and there was a box of postcards that I was sorting through. As I am sorting through them, I sh*t you not, this lady comes up behind me and grabs HALF of them, and moves to the side and starts looking through them. I was so stunned that I didn’t say anything but Erin looked like she was going to lose it. Are you kidding me, lady?! 

The only thing worth mentioning about the other areas of the sale is that Erin and I bonded over this: 

I thought it was bad enough that I was told by a therapist when I was in my early 20s, after confessing my extreme fear of house fires, to purchase one of these. But Erin actually had one under her bed as a child for the same reason, and her dad used to help her take it out and practice using it. People, this is why we’re friends. 

It’s true that at the second sale, I left without any slides, but don’t you worry–I’ve already made up for it. Stay tuned!  

Sorry to leave you all in suspense!  I got in late from a trip to New York this weekend.  Here now are the winners of our HUGE Herend giveaway!  Herend will be contacting all winners about receiving their prize.

Lauren M. of Utah

Suzanne C. of California

Bette W. of Washington

Jennifer Rachel M. of Texas

David F. of Michigan

Hilary R. of Nebraska

Tiffany L. of Florida

Again, thank you to Herend for your generosity!  To check out all of their collectibles, visit HerendUSA.com.

Congratulations to all the winners and stay tuned for our next giveaway!

-Erin

If someone would have told me a couple years ago that my biggest collecting obsession would be high-end porcelain, I never would have believed them.  That said, Herend isn’t your great-grandma’s porcelain.  Ok ok, technically, it is (they’ve been around since 1826).  Still, there is something about Herend pieces–particularly their “fishnet” painted figurines–that transcends across generations.  On the one hand, Herend is classic, high-brow artistry, and at the same time, feels young and fun.  

And remember when we interviewed Marsha Bemko, executive producer of Antiques Roadshow?  She told us that the most coveted collectibles are those that were always finely made and were passed down through families because of their extraordinary quality.  Well, that’s Herend.

So if you’re like me, you’ve started asking for Herend pieces at Christmas, birthdays, and baby showers (hint, hint, they’ve got a whole baby line).  Or if you’re like me a year ago, you are simply perusing eBay listings and drooling over the fantasy of just owning one Herend piece.  Well, worry no more.  Whether you’re an established collector or just starting out, Dig This Treasure and Herend USA has got you covered.  We are giving away SEVEN Herend figurines, each from this month’s new releases.

But before we tell you how to win, here’s some insider info on (and my review of) all the pieces:

Herend already has several swan designs in their collection, but wanted a less stylized depiction of the bird.  The new figurine presents the swan in “all its grace and glory.”  I say “hooray” because this bird looks incredible.  A perfect gift for a wedding anniversary or Valentine’s day.  Or for the classiest of ladies (and gents of course!)

Two members of the Herend USA product team visited the Maison et Objet show (France’s largest design expo) in 2012, and voila, inspiration struck.  While the Eiffel Tower figurine is perfect for any Francophile, I’m pretty biased towards Herend’s typical animal designs.  Still, an interesting concept I’m sure many will love.

Yes, now we’re talking.  A hot air ballon riding bunny?  Perfection.  (Perhaps the Eiffel Tower design should have an added animal friend too.)  A Herend team member visited Arizona and saw some hot air balloons.  The idea for a figurine was refined by the product development team, who added one of Herend’s signature bunnies.  Love this.

This snowman evokes my inner Rachel Zoe, and makes me say things like, “This is BEYOND.”  Seriously, this snowman has got to be my most favorite Herend design of all time.  I know, I know…it’s not an animal, but it is SO cute and SO perfectly detailed.  It is also a genius design by Herend because all of us collectors will want this little guy for Christmas.  What’s shocking is that Herend almost didn’t release this design!  It went through TWO whole summers of waiting before being approved for release.  Please Herend, make an accompanying Santa Claus and Rudolph.  

This baby elephant might make you do a double take.  He was part of the Herend 2012 Kingdom Classic collection, where he appeared with his mom.  Here he is, now “weaned.”  Herend has a mighty assortment of elephant figurines, so I assume lots of people collect and love them.  I’d rather see some more exotic animal designs, like Herend’s kiwi bird or koalas.  However, this is coming from the person who has five pieces of Herend, THREE of which are bunnies.

This fox design has a great, folk art kind of look.  Very whimsical, but still traditionally Herend.  The guilded paws are adorable of course.  And while he looks simple, this fox was quite a challenge for the Herend factory.  The placement of the legs made them unstable during firing, and some retooling was needed before the final version was perfected.

And of course, the corgi!  I actually won this piece during Herend’s “Name the Introduction” contest.  It was probably the best day of my life.  Herend’s British distributor requested this design, as any fan of British royalty knows this dog breed is a favorite of Queen Elizabeth.  I love this design because it’s cute, first off.  And because no matter where you are from, you probably have at least a little British mania.  (Gotta love that Kate Middleton!)  Herend nailed it on this one.

So there you have it!  All 7 designs.  So how can you win one?  It’s pretty simple:

1. Visit HerendUSA.com and at the bottom of the page, click Contact.  

2. In the email form, tell Herend what your favorite design is (new or old).  

3. Include your name, address, and email.  That way, if you win, Herend can reach you.

And that’s it!  Herend will randomly select 7 prize winners from all of the entries.  We will announce the winners here in TWO WEEKS on August 5th.  (Herend will also email all winners.)

What are you waiting for?  Go enter!  And be sure to tell your mom, husband, friends, hair dresser, and anyone else who loves Herend!  Good luck!

-Erin 

lezzomatic said: I saw a piece [of Herend porcelain] on my aunts mantle and freaked out and then had to strangely explain why I was jumping and shrieking.

DTT Responds: Steal it.  -Erin

A few months ago, I found an adorable little figurine of a teenage girl talking on the phone, but she was cracked, which broke my heart. Shortly after, I created an eBay alert for “girl on telephone figurine” and have since started my very own collection! I’m sort of bummed that I have to rely on eBay for them (I like the serendipity of sales!), but what can ya do?

This little blonde is the first that I purchased and she’s by far in the best shape. She’s also of the “Lego Japan” variety, which are my favorites.

Since starting this search, I’ve discovered that the teenage girl on the telephone is a theme that many other makers also used–it seems to have been popular in the 1950s. After finding the blonde girl, I obtained my very own solemn girl on the phone–just like the one that I had noticed back when I first posted about these!

If you look closely, her nose is jacked up, which wasn’t part of the description. The seller gave me a partial refund, which was nice.

Next up was this totally awesome bank! I got it around Christmas, which I remember because Erin secretly told Adam to get it for me, and he got all annoyed that I bought it for myself. Oh well! I didn’t want to risk having someone else swoop in and get it!

The last few of these I just purchased recently. These two came in a lot together. Obviously I only wanted the femme-y boy, because the girl is  clearly undergoing an exorcism. How else would she get into that position?

Look at that nerd!

TERRIFYING.

Ok, and finally, here are my favorites. They are just so dang adorable!

They’re not salt and pepper shakers, so I’m not sure why this person had two of the same figurine, but they sure are cute!

There are two more Lego girls (like the first one I found) that I received in the mail last week, but that story is an entry of its own, so I’ll save it for another time.

-Sarah