Retro Collectibles

Unleash your inner nostalgia with Retro Collectibles. This is more than just collecting; it’s a vibrant celebration of 20th-century charm. From the sleek lines of mid-century modern decor to the bold colors of 80s ephemera, we dive into the stories that race our hearts and spotlight the icons and oddities that shaped generations.

A New Beginning: Giant-Size X-Men #1 Turns 50

Giant-Size X-Men
By J.C. Vaughn, President of Gemstone Publishing and Amanda Sheriff, Gemstone’s Editor-Digital Giant-Size X-Men #1, cover For those who only know the Marvel superhero characters through the movies, TV shows, ...

Vinyl Records and the Meaning of Music Memorabilia: Identity, Beauty, and Belonging

Dantes HiFi in Miami, the areaメs first vinyl listening bar.
By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Music memorabilia—especially vinyl records—serves as more than a nostalgic nod to the past. For many collectors, it is an intricate, deeply personal, and socially meaningful ...

The Next Big Hit? Music Trading Cards & the New Wave of Collecting

Beatles bubble-gum in display box sold for $4,000 in 2019 at Heritage Auctions.
By Laurence Carpenter, Music Memorabilia Expert From vintage concert posters to stage-used guitars, music memorabilia has long captured the hearts of collectors. But a new format is quietly gaining traction ...

Makes Good Cents: Vintage Gumball Machines

This Norris Master machine, in excellent original working condition and made during the 1920s, sold for $600 in a 2012 auction.
by Douglas R. Kelly All of the debate surrounding the U.S. government’s potential elimination of the penny—a coin with a long and illustrious history—ignores what I think might be the ...

It’s A Cardboard Thing

Robby the Robot windup from the movie Forbidden Planet and its killer box.
by Douglas R. Kelly Ironing vintage toy boxes and writing about the process in the February issue of the Journal got me thinking about some of the other boxes on ...

Building a Music Collection on a Budget

Bob Dylan
by Laurence Carpenter  In the world of music memorabilia, there’s a common misconception that collecting is reserved for the wealthy or seasoned enthusiasts who can spend six figures on an ...

Crumpled Cardboard Toy Boxes: Doing the Ironing

After ironing, the Hubley box flaps are now straight and true.
By Douglas R. Kelly On the annoyance scale, there are probably worse things than a creased/wrinkled/crumpled box. I just can’t think of any at the moment. Finding a great vintage ...

An Interview with John Sexton, The Civil War Collector

John Sexton
by Maxine Carter-Lome, publisher When it comes to Civil War memorabilia, John Sexton is the go-to guy. His decades as a consultant and independent appraiser of Civil War memorabilia make ...

Rubber Toys

Sun Rubber Co. Dodge sedan. Where are the wheels?
by Douglas R. Kelly Best to get this out in the open, right off the bat: I’m not a rubber toy person. Over the years, I’ve owned a total of ...

Toy Sleds: Just One More Run

Cast iron beast: The Karl Heusser “ Hela-Bob” bobsled. Photo: Dennis Simanaitis.
by Douglas R. Kelly When my editor, Judy Gonyeau, pinged me a while back and told me that toy sleds might make for a fun topic for this Holiday issue of ...

Paper Trail

Ford’s Edsel Pacer postcard from 1958.
by Douglas R. Kelly Given the time and energy we spend pursuing antiquities and artifacts, it’s kind of surprising to me that we have a tendency to give short shrift ...

The Resurgence of Oasis: A New Era for Music Memorabilia Collectors

September 1994 Oasis USA concert poster.
by Laurence Carpenter In recent months, the music world has been abuzz with news of an Oasis reunion. This long-anticipated event not only rekindles the flame of nostalgia for fans ...

Collecting Collectoys

The Ford Delivery Wagon was the only model in the series that came with die-cast wheel hubs rather than tinplate.
by Douglas R. Kelly Louis Marx is never far from my mind. I didn’t know the man, but his company made so many cool and wonderful toys in the 1930s, ...

Summertime Scores

Tootsietoy’s pre-war bus looks like it stepped right out of a classic 1930s Frank Capra movie.
by Douglas R. Kelly Seems to me it doesn’t get much better than going on a summer vacation. This year, with family and job commitments, mine has been limited to ...

Out of This World Toys

Bantam released the book version of Forbidden Planet when the movie debuted in 1956.
by Douglas R. Kelly Science fiction movies made during the 1950s are among life’s greatest pleasures for at least two reasons. One, we didn’t know as much—as individuals or as ...

Micro Signage

Could it be any more British? Wardie’s wonderful miniature newsstand sported great period signage.
by Douglas R. Kelly My great friend of many years, Renny Schoonmaker, likes to call these kinds of things “go-with items.” These are the displays, the ads, and the accessories that ...

From Tangible to Digital: The Evolution of Collecting in the Modern Era

Rare "Golden Ape" Doodle NFT Sells For $1.1 Million on January 5, 2022, to the buyer and NFT collector Pranksy. Doodle #6914—which features one-of-a-kind gold ape traits—is just one of Pranksy’s 71 Doodles within his collection of over 30,000 NFTs as of the date of this purchase.
By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Most collectors acquire their treasures through traditional methods – purchasing from dealers or at auctions that specialize in physical items within their areas of interest ...

Doing The Rounds

Wyandotte’s Sunshine Dairy van.
by Douglas R. Kelly If there’s an alternate me in a parallel universe, he may just be a  milkman doing his rounds in a Divco milk truck. Not that I’m a ...

Hubley Manufacturing Company

The Packard taxi is straight out of a 1940s film noir.
by Douglas R. Kelly Hubleys have been pushing their way onto my radar screen lately. Over the years, I’ve more or less pursued the Pennsylvania-based toy maker’s “Real Toys” series ...

The T in Tinplate

Great period artwork graced the Bing Model T boxes, this one for the Touring Car.
by Douglas R. Kelly Most people familiar with automotive history know that Henry Ford’s Model T put America on wheels. In fact, the T changed the course of history, being ...

Antique Toys, Vintage Toys, and One-Of-A-Kind Toys as an Investment

Tin wind-up Linemar mechanical knitting Minnie Mouse. On the back of the rocking chair are the Walt Disney Productions copyright, the Line-Mar-Toys Japan logo, and the Line Mar Co. Inc. copyright. 1950s with original box.
by Charles Snider, Ruby Lane Customer Service A classic story about collectible toys and the market for toys is often a variation of someone rummaging through their parents’ home basement ...

A Bird in the Hand

Along with this hardtop, the CM Ford Thunderbird also came in a convertible version.
 by Douglas R. Kelly American toys that are made in Asia are nothing new. Over the last 35 years, many American producers have switched production to China. Before that, Japan and ...

Sports Fans Collect

Sports Fans Collect
You can always spot a sports fan in the crowd - whether at the stadium or on the street – because they’ll be the one sporting head-to-toe branded attire that ...

Come on Barbie, Let’s go Party!

Vintage 1958 Mattel Blonde Midge Barbie Doll Wearing Barbies Friday Night Date Outfit
by Charles Snider, Ruby Lane From being one of the most popular dolls and toys in the world in the 1950s, to being the star of a feature film in ...

Coin Banks: Cold Hard Cash

The radio bank was made by Reliable in Canada, but examples often turn up with the Ideal logo.
by Douglas R. Kelly Strange, but I don’t remember ever owning a piggy bank. What I did have growing up was a plastic bassett hound bank, which I’ve since learned ...