“Transformers” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Boy, am I behind the times.

I Think I Know Him - Thanks to Flicker.com

There are times when we can tell our age by how we remember words and their meanings. I won't bore you with the long list of words that I don't understand in my son Joshua's language, but there is one that really confused me, transformers.

You see to me a transformer is one of those things that go boom in the night when they are struck by lightning or the transformers that I had to have so that my Lionel train would run. But when I talk to Josh and he tells me about his transformers, it just doesn't register with me and that is when I say “People that turn into machines, what is that all about?” It didn't take long for Josh to tell me how old fashioned I am and that today there are movies, television shows, figurines and entire sets of these creatures that kids as well as adults are collecting.

Feeling a little embarrassed and not wanting to show my lack of knowledge I said, "Oh". But as soon as he left the room I immediately went to eBay and did I get an education. There are 41,261 listings on eBay for transformers and yes a few of them pertain to electricity but most are those strange toys. I wonder what kind of mind must have come up with the concept of humans turning into machines. The closest I can come to that was Jules Verne and “20,000 leagues Under the Sea.” Gosh that takes me back because it was written in 1870 but I still remember it as a boy. Can you imagine asking a young person today about "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and seeing the expression of bewilderment on his or her face? Yes, I have to admit there are generational gaps and this seems to be one of them.

But how can this information make us money, you ask. Well, with so many listings on eBay for these transformers and the fact that they appeal to kids as well as adults, it must mean they are collectibles now and will only gain in popularity as time passes. So why shouldn't we get in this game and make a few bucks. You will find these strange creatures at most garage and house sales and their value will be just a few dollars. Always remember pieces in the box or in the box unopened will always be more valuable.

I will give you a list of items that sold on eBay – Transformer Custom Devastator $1900, 100 Generation 1 Transformer Action Figures and Weapons $1300, Transformer Series 2 Insections $1675 and last but not least Revenge of the Fallen $1281. These are all mint in the box but even played with pieces can bring $100 if they are complete.

I think that we have found another area of collecting that should take some of our time don't you? Isn't it amazing what our children can teach us and I guess I want to learn what is in their world.

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Fun for Kids”Magnets"- Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog - Refrigerator Magnets.

Refrigerator Magnets - Thanks to www.internationgiftitems.com

I have enjoyed the summer but now Joshua, my son, is back in school and I am trying to find things that will keep Josh and me interested in some of the same activities. I don't know about you but if your children are like Josh, it is computers, television or sports and I have to admit I often feel left out. So here is a suggestion. Why don't we, the parents and kids of the "Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club", start a refrigerator magnet club together? This way as we browse the sales we can take our children and find neat magnets that can be sold, traded or collected.

I did a quick check on the Internet and didn't find any magnet clubs that are presently active. This being said, you may remember that earlier I said that if you wanted to be successful, one way was to start your own club. Wouldn't this be fun and a wonderful way for our children to see what can be accomplished with a little effort. By starting our own magnet club with the children we would be the market and I can guarantee you there will be profits to be made.

It seems that the better magnets sell on eBay from $2 to $15. If our children can purchase them for 10 cents to a quarter, I believe their eyes will shine with every purchase and sale they make. There seems to be an inexhaustible supply of magnets covering almost any subject you could ever be interested in. This could get as big as hot wheels or Pokemon cards.

I would like for some of you to help me with suggestions on how to proceed with this effort. We already have the Kid Connections on our website and perhaps this could be our center of operations. I can just see it now where all the schools would be little market where the kids would learn about capitalism and free enterprise. The ACLU might try to stop us but I don't think they could.

Please email me if you think this might work and then if you do, we could start our own exchange. I believe this could be fun for all the family. We could even suggest to the kids that this venture might lead to the payment for their college education like my coin collection did for me.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com

“Treasures from Trash” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Look What I Found.

Reminds Me of Dana - Thanks To Flicker

I am sure that over the months you have bought a box lot or two at an auction only to find that there really wasn't much of value in it after all. This has happened to me more times than I would like to tell. I usually look through all the box lots and if there is something that catches my eye I bid on the lot. Yes I have been fortunate enough on occasion to find a pearl, but most of the time I end up just making a few bucks.

My friends have often been more successful than me in buying box lots, like the one young lady that purchased a box lot filled with knick knacks and a few Indian items. Most of the box's contents were of no value but the Indian moccasins sold for over $7000 and there was a knife sheath that also brought big money. Perhaps the best item that I missed in a box lot was a little book of signatures from here in Chicago from the early 1800's. If I remember right there must have been 50 or 60 of these signatures. The box sold for less than $300 and I was the under bidder. I was interested in how many people lived in Chicago at the time when the signatures were collected so I did some research once I returned home. That was when I discovered that there were fewer than 500 people living in Chicago at the time. What famous names do you think could have possibly been in that book? I guess we will never know but believe me that could have been one fantastic treasure.

But you are asking why am I writing about box lots today? My daughter called me yesterday and said that she had purchased a collection of Civil War Books for her husband who is a Civil War historian at auction. The auction house wouldn't let the bidders buy just one or two books. They had to buy a car load of boxes filled to the brim with books or take none at all. Dana, my pride and joy, stayed at the auction all day but her persistence paid off and she was the successful bidder. Returning home with her car loaded down, her husband asked what she was thinking. When she told me that I kind of felt sorry for her but after she gave me the names of some books on the list, I ran them through Abe Books and guess what, she has thousands of dollars worth of books and their total price was $70. In fact, I will be researching several of them because they are autographed and this could make her find even more valuable. Trying to do something nice for someone can prove profitable after all wouldn't you say?

Isn't it funny when you think about it, you know there were dealers at the auction that had tons of knowledge that probably left with nothing of value but Dana just wanting to buy her husband a gift left with the real treasures. I want to encourage you not to feel defeated if you're not successful at every sale you attend because it is only a matter of time before your ticket is pulled and you're the one that has a story to tell for the rest of your life about the treasures that everyone else passed by.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com

“Old Friends” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Judd's Auction

Judd"s Auctions - Thanks to Marilee Judd

It is so nice to get acquainted with an old friend again and that is what happened to me when I received an email from Judd's Auction. You see a few years ago, I ran into a young lady that wanted to start an Auction House south of Chicago. Her spirit told me she would be successful, however, over the last year I have to admit to losing track of her. Shame on me. I figured that like most people in this business the last year would have taken a toll on her, but I was wrong.

Receiving the email, I quickly pulled up her site and to my amazement it has grow from a simple beginning to where I could hardly believe my eyes. The lady's name is Marilee Judd and her company is Judd's Auction Gallery Inc. Even during these difficult times, it looks as if she has continued to have regular auctions and since she made it through these times, I believe that her future in this business is very bright. If you would ever wish to consign anything to one of her auctions just mention my name and I believe she will go all out to make you one of her customers.

I spent quite some time last night looking over her auction for today and, guess what? I will be calling her to submit a few bids on the phone. This is the type of auction that I have written about before that can produce items that might meet your needs and also create a new friend who can be looking out for merchandise that your customer wants to buy. In my book, "31Steps to Your Million in Antiques and Collectibles", I suggested that you locate all the auction houses within 100 miles of you and get on their mailing list. These auctions within driving distance should give you more than an ample supply of merchandise to fulfill your needs, plus you will have another set of eyes looking for items that will fill your inventory.

After checking Marilee's auction I realized that she had a very good assortment of items and almost anyone could find something of interest in this auction. There are marbles, old postcards, Indian pottery, stoneware, jewelry and etc. I won't reveal what I am going to bid on but hopefully we won't be knocking heads on everything I leave a bid on. Getting away from the large auction houses and utilizing the regional or local auction will pay off in spades for you. Good luck [ Remember we don't depend on luck but Knowledge] but I have a hard time not using that phrase.

I hope to start giving you more ideas of where to find the treasures you're seeking in upcoming blogs because the new auction season is quickly approaching and I hope that we will be prepared for it. This year isn't over yet and with three months remaining let's see if we can make this the best year ever for us. Then when people tell us how hard it's been we can state, “Not for me. It's been a great year.”

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com

“Where's the Jobs?” Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Many don't know.

Working Together - Thanks to www.blass.com.au

The most satisfying part of being associated with the “Daryle Lambert Antique and Collectible Club” is that every member has a job. Yes, it might not pay all the bills but remember that wasn't the purpose of forming the club in the first place. Our goals were to let you earn enough money to meet your financial needs and then earn your retirement money from your club membership and the information that it provides for you. I am so thankful each day as I receive emails telling me what our club means to so many.

I had a very interesting experience last night when I thought that I had been invited to a political meeting. It was really, however, a meeting of people out of work looking to network together in hopes of finding a job. One of my friends was the guest speaker and later I got to interact with the people there. To my surprise, not a one of them had any idea about providing for themselves and all they could talk about was the ideal job that they were searching for. I started talking about how they could make money while they were looking for that perfect job and it wouldn't cost them anything. The looks that I received made me feel like an alien from outer space. Even after giving them examples of what I was talking about, I could see that the light wasn't going on. What has happened to the the idea of frontiers to conquer and new fields to plow? Have we become a nation that is entirely dependent on others for our welfare?

Only through knowledge can we defeat the prevailing attitude that we are worthless unless someone is willing to hire us to work for them. I learned early on that if someone wants to hire me it isn't so they can lose money but rather so that if they pay me $100,000 they can make $400,000 off my efforts. My daddy didn't raise an idiot and he told me that if I could make money for someone else, I could make it for myself and guess what, I would never be fired either.

This meeting convinced me even more that we are on the right track with the club and I can't wait to get back into the race. Yes I have been a little complacent but no more. Watch out world, here I come. Back to the books, on to the garage and house sales, more hours on the Internet and I will be visiting any auction within a hundred miles of my house. You can bet I am on fire again. I just needed a little attitude adjustment and looking into the dead eyes of so many people last night did it for me. No I don't want to be a zombie without a purpose and begging someone to save me. I hope that you my readers are on the same train I'm riding.

Where are those paintings, pottery vases, art glass pieces and so many other things that I know will make me money if I just get out and start looking again? When I got home last night I felt like my own worst enemy but no more. Yes Dad, I do understand what you taught me and hopefully I won't forget again. I promise to share the knowledge you gave me with everyone I come in contact with. I can't wait till we are together again and I can tell you how right you were. God Bless

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com

“Signatures” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Wherever you find them.

Pickard Vase - Thanks to Bargainjohn.com

Since paintings are the highest priced items that you will find in the marketplace, it is only reasonable that the artist that painted them has a huge bearing on their value. A painting by an unknown artist may be worth less than the frame that houses it, however, the right signature can mean the painting is worth millions. Yes, the name can mean everything but as I write this I have to laugh because I wonder what my name is worth. But now, back to the subject.

It is a very well known fact that a signature means money on a painting but what about pottery? Yes the same is true of pottery but to a lesser extent. A piece of Newcomb signed by Sadie Irvine, Henrietta Bailey or Anna Frances Simpson can bring huge prices while simpler pieces might just bring a few hundred dollars. Rookwood pottery is another example where the signature means everything. If you are looking at a large piece of Rookwood signed by the likes of Matthew Daly, Carl Schmidt, Sara Sax or Kataro Shirayamadani and you wish to purchase it, your wallet had better be fat.

Now we are getting down to items that most people can't evaluate even if they are signed like books, letters, photos, and glass. (Yes, an artist's signature on a glass piece can add substantially to its value.) In these cases where an expert's opinion is needed, never hesitate to look one up and ask. Guessing is for fools and we know that there are no fools in the Daryle Lambert Antique and Collectible Club, right?

But this brings me to a story that just came my way. I was asked about this wonderful Pickard 14" vase that was decorated with a wonderful bird of paradise. The person asking me the question about value was surprised when I said the value would depend on who decorated the vase. You see there are artists that worked for Pickard that command much higher values for their works than the average artist that worked for the company. I personally have collectors that will buy almost anything I find decorated by Edward Challinor, Louis Falatek, Paul Gasper, Carl Koenig, Fredrick Lindner, Curtis Marker or Frank Yeschek. Often I find a family member who wishes to purchase the pieces of Pickard that were produced by their relative, so if you find any let me know. There is a great book on Pickard by Alan Reed, whom I knew but now I believe has passed on to a better life. It is called Collector's Encyclopedia of Pickard China. This would be a great book to add to your library and you might find it on Amazon or Abe books.

Signatures on items can make a difference but be sure that you study any great piece for several minutes before you decide it isn't signed because often the signatures can be missed if they aren't on the bottom of the item.

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com

“Trading is for You” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – Win Win!

Trading has come a long way - Thanks to www.sonofthesouth.net

We need to take every advantage we can find to reach the goals that have been set for our success. That includes buying treasures right and also disposing of them in the most advantageous way. I have in recent months found it difficult to sell some of my items at the prices that they should command so I have just held on to them but what are some of my other options?

Recently I showed a painting to another dealer through a friend and he stated that at the price I was asking he wasn't interested. My question to you is, after the dealer said he wasn't interested, what should I have done? I hear some say “Lower the price” but that only works against me and as I have stated before I usually don't reduce my prices unless I am made an offer. So what is next? Have you ever asked the buyer if he or she had something in trade? That is exactly what I instructed my friend to do and it looks as if we will be able to make a trade at the price I was asking for my painting. If you can trade something that is difficult for you to sell for something the buyer has, it is a win win situation.

Let's say you have a great piece of Rookwood pottery but have been unable to sell it at the price it should bring. What would be wrong with approaching a Rookwood dealer and asking if he has something he would like to trade for your piece? This could be the answer you get. “Since I don't do much with art, you may be interested in the painting I just received from an estate that I bought.” Wow, now the door is open for you to dispose of the Rookwood at an acceptable price and also pick up a great painting that you have a customer waiting for. Each of you win and both will make the money that they intended to when they purchased their items. On to the next deal now that you have your money back.

Never stop thinking of ways to accomplish your goals because the old saying is right. There is always another way to skin a cat. Trading can be one of the best ways of maximizing your efforts to reach the steps that we have set out in our planned 31 Steps to Success.

I have seen my friend Cecil use this art of trading to his benefit many times. Once he traded a stoneware jug for some derby glasses and after all sales were completed he had tripled his money. What I like about trading is that you can trade one item for many and when the final trade is made you find that your money has been compounded several times just as it did for Cecil. Also your knowledge of several items gives you the opportunity to see what the value of the things you are receiving will bring on the open market. You will become just like the traders of old when they traded for furs, fine linens, gemstones and many other items that fattened the coffers. “Good Trading.”

My 220 page book about how to make money buying and selling antiques & collectibles is FREE with your membership in the 31 Club. Join Us Today!
Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.

For more information, visit my web site at http://www.31corp.com