NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by, Alex Cooper Auctioneers, since 1924 has been serving the Mid-Atlantic states, featuring monthly gallery antique auction sales, our staff can assist clients with the disposition of their valued possessions.

Alex Cooper Auctioneers.

G. AMORY LeCUYER: Coming up next on Chesapeake Collectibles... ROBERT HARRISON: Tell me what you brought in today.

LeCUYER: You know, we see a lot of Titanic collectibles, but not on this level.

AMY GOODELL: For someone to say there isn't a lot of value, I would, I would disagree.

GUEST: This is a Marconi-gram, sent at about 1:37 in the morning.

The Titanic had hit an iceberg two hours earlier.

MICHAEL STANTON: What we're going to talk about today, Ed is the new collectibles.

Lego and figures from internet games, the collectible card market.

HARRISON: To find some decoration on something that was supposed to be this basic really makes it unique.

GENICE R. LEE: As you said, this is a painting.

I know when I initially looked at it I thought, "Is that a photograph?"

GUEST: Yeah.

LEE: The detail is just so amazing.

LeCUYER: It's a fascinating collection and one of the best we've ever seen of any topic coming through Chesapeake Collectibles and I want to thank you for bringing it out.

(theme music plays).

(overlapping chatter).

G. AMORY LeCUYER: I want to thank you for coming into Chesapeake Collectibles today.

What, what an awesome collection and we have just, no pun intended, the tip of the iceberg of your collection on Titanic memorabilia.

Now, let me ask you, uh, what, what started you off collecting in this area?

GUEST: Yeah, hard to say.

Ever since I was really young... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: Just, you know, reading age.

I got fascinated by disasters and the Titanic, of course, was one of the biggest.

LeCUYER: But this had, this had something to do with it, right?

GUEST: Yeah, so, when I learned that there was a historical group that dealt with the Titanic... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: In this case the Titanic Historical Society.

When I was not even 15-years-old, I went to a convention in Philadelphia, I'm a New Yorker so I'm trying to figure out how I actually got there... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: As a 14-year-old.

And we would meet with survivors.

LeCUYER: So, these are, this is the, uh, evenings program...

GUEST: Yeah!

LeCUYER: And that was signed by...

GUEST: Signed by about half a dozen survivors.

LeCUYER: And it's kicked off what is clearly a lifetime of, uh, interest and achievement.

Now, you know, we see a lot of Titanic collectibles but not on this level and your collection has some fairly unique things.

Why don't you tell me about what this piece is over here?

GUEST: Sure.

So, this is a Marconigram.

You know, Marconi wireless telegraph that all of the ships were getting to have and the Titanic is known to have been, basically, the first to have sent, "SOS" instead of "CQD", which was the distress signal that they would send.

This one is between the Olympic, her sister ship, who was a little bit older... And the Titanic.

Sent it about 1:37 in the morning.

The Titanic had hit an iceberg two hours earlier and they were still communicating and it's the captain of the Olympic who actually had been the first captain of the Titanic during the sea trials.

LeCUYER: And he's asking the Titanic...

GUEST: "Can you sail towards us?"

Cause they were 500 miles away... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: From each other.

"Can you steer this way so we can meet you?"

LeCUYER: Which wasn't possible.

GUEST: Not possible.

The ship went down less then an hour after.

LeCUYER: And over here...

GUEST: There was only two of these... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: But one went down...

BOTH: With Titanic.

LeCUYER: We've got two others over here that are coming from, um, the Olympia to the Carpathia.

GUEST: Yep, the Olympic and the Carpathia.

The Carpathia was the only ship that was close enough to get to the survivors at about 4:10 in the morning, couple hours after the Titanic sank.

The Carpathia reached the survivors of which there were only about 705 out of 2,200 souls on the ship.

Now, this is between the Olympic and the Carpathia and they're asking, "Should the Olympic still come to search the area for survivors?"

LeCUYER: And what was the answer for that?

GUEST: The answer was, "No, we don't want.

There aren't any others."

And two, Bruce Ismay who was one of the leaders of the White Star Line said, "Tell the ship not to come because the Olympic and the Titanic, except to a trained eye, looked virtually identical.

LeCUYER: And all of a sudden you've got the same ship plowing into the waters, it would be...

GUEST: They thought it would scare the surviving passengers to see the Titanic come back to life.

LeCUYER: Now, one of the things that, that, uh, really struck me when we were talking about your collection because I've only heard of these objects.

Um, and that is the metals that were issued to the crew of the Carpathia of which you have examples of all of them.

GUEST: So, there were 320 crew members... LeCUYER: Right.

GUEST: That were on and the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, uh, very wealthy woman, uh, her and other passengers raised funds to commemorate and thank the crew members.

So, Captain Rostron, who is pictured here, he got a Loving Cup which actually sold a couple years ago at auction.

He and several other officers, I've seen different numbers, somewhere around six is what we believe, received gold medals.

This one was given to the chief steward of the ship.

The other officers got silver medals, probably around, I don't know, a dozen, dozen-and-a-half of those.

This went to one of the engineers.

They have their names on both of these.

Then the rest of the crew, the majority of the crew got bronze medals.

This is actually an original box that was given to them in May of 1912 with the original ribbon and then I have a second version, a second example of it, which shows the reverse.

The obverse of the medal, which has a dedication to what they did on that day.

LeCUYER: These are, these are incredibly rare pieces overall...

Even for a Titanic collector, these are not things that are gonna show up in everybody's collection.

GUEST: No, I mean, for the most part, because the family would keep them.

Why would you give that up as your family member?

LeCUYER: Absolutely and if it passes down somewhere along the way it might get physically lost.

GUEST: Lost, sure.

LeCUYER: Have you ever had the collection looked at and valued?

GUEST: Not as, not as a collection.

I certainly know what I paid for certain pieces.

Sheet music, easy to find.

Books are easy to find, but to put this all together... No, never.

LeCUYER: You know, several of us were talking yesterday and the Titanic is always a hot topic of collectibility.

Both in general interest, but in the maritime world it is one of those things that people pursue.

But the, the fact that you have the medals and the telegrams, I think those are the unique pieces that really stand out.

Um, if the group were to come up at auction... $150,000-$200,000 would not be outside the question of how big it could go.

I do know some of the individual medals have been significant in their, uh, purchases what they've sold for.

So, it's a fascinating collection and one of the best we've ever seen, of any topic, coming through Chesapeake Collectibles and I want to thank you for bringing it out.

GUEST: Thank you.

(cash register ca-ching).

(overlapping chatter).

AMY GOODELL: Hi, thanks for coming out today.

GUEST: Thank you.

GOODELL: And bringing this gorgeous pocket watch broach.

I am loving this.

What can you tell me about it?

GUEST: It was given to me when I graduated from college by a dear family friend who received it when she graduated from college.

GOODELL: Do you know anything else about it, have you taken it anywhere?

GUEST: Uh, we took it to a watch person, a guy several years ago and he basically said it was a pretty watch but couldn't do anything else with it.

GOODELL: Well, I think it's spectacular.

GUEST: Thank you, I do.

GOODELL: Yeah.

What I love about it is the enameling, um, the peach enameling.

It's Guilloché, there's engine turning design under this enameling.

So, when you're turning it and seeing it move, it's actually kind of glistening...

GUEST: It does.

GOODELL: And you can see that design.

This is all hand-painted.

GUEST: Ooh, I didn't know that.

GOODELL: And it's together still after all these years, which a lot of times pieces get broken off and they're not together and it's in it's box.

GUEST: Yep.

GOODELL: So, you can't really get much better than that.

And if you look on the other side, is just as beautiful as the backside.

GUEST: That shimmers, to me.

GOODELL: It does!

It's like opaline and so it looks like an opal almost when the light is catching it.

Um, it's so rare to find it all complete.

It's, um, it's Swiss...

It is 14 carat, yellow gold.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

GOODELL: So, for someone to say there isn't a lot of value, I would disagree.

GUEST: Okay.

GOODELL: Um, I think that if this was selling in a retail establishment they would be asking between $3,000 and $5,000 for it.

GUEST: Oh, my heavens!

Oh, wow.

GOODELL: Yeah, it's beautiful.

GUEST: Thank you.

Wow.

GOODELL: Well thank you for bringing it in.

GUEST: You're welcome.

GOODELL: You made my day.

GUEST: Thank you.

You made mine!

(cash register ca-ching).

(overlapping chatter).

MICHAEL STANTON: Hi, Ed.

ED MORENO: Hi Mike.

How you doing?

STANTON: I'm doing great.

Isn't it fun to be back at season eleven of Chesapeake Collectibles?

MORENO: It sure is and you've brought quite a spread.

What do you have here?

STANTON: What we're gonna talk about today, Ed, is the new collectibles.

MORENO: What does that mean?

STANTON: That means, people who are passionate.

Collectors are passionate about an item, they're passionate about a subject.

It really doesn't mean anything about investment quality to be a true collector.

MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: I mean, you know, the people who want investments, they collect, primarily, art, guns, coins...

They're looking for an investment.

Most of the people who are passionate about things today are doing it based on childhood experiences, especially with the toy market.

They grew up with certain toys, they now have discretionary income that they can purchase what they like.

MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: And what we're gonna talk about today are the current collectibles, which are Lego, and the figures from the internet games, the collectible card market instead of the old-school collectibles of Dinky toys, LED figures, Tootsie toys, Schuco toys... MORENO: So, this is from my childhood.

I remember these.

STANTON: Even earlier.

MORENO: Yeah.

STANTON: Cause you're not that old.

MORENO: Okay, alright.

STANTON: Alright, the new collectibles that we have are the Lego... MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: You have "Magic the Gathering" collectible game that goes along with Pokémon.

The Star Wars figures are still, pretty much, collectible.

What went through the roof and died were the Beanie Babies.

MORENO: Oh, I remember those.

STANTON: And Barbie still has a following market, but the early Barbies are still very collectible, the 60s versions.

MORENO: And these are the single items, rather than the ones that came with sets?

STANTON: Yes.

Most likely, it's the early, early Barbie items... MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: And their accessories.

MORENO: Alright.

STANTON: Um, to go further, the main collectibles I'm gonna talk about today is the Lego.

Lego has exploded in the market.

It's even moved into a category that you can almost say goes with art and guns and coins... MORENO: As an investment.

STANTON: Because the people that are collecting now, they've seen an astronomical increase in certain items over the years, especially the creator series of buildings.

These are put out by Lego, two or three of them a year, and then they stay on the market for a while, then they're retired.

So, the collectors in the Lego market are now purchasing one to build maybe and purchasing one to hold on the shelf for a while.

MORENO: In the original box.

STANTON: In the original box.

Now, everything has to be in the original box and the box has to be almost perfect... MORENO: Gotcha.

STANTON: In this market today.

And some of these items that are retired in the past are 1,000 to 1,500 percent in less than ten years.

The other large collectible that the Lego people are doing are the annual twelve figures that Lego puts out in these mystery bags.

The mini-figure market is crazy.

MORENO: How crazy?

STANTON: Well, they're selling online ten pounds of mini-figures sell for upward of $2,000 to $5,000.

MORENO: No!

STANTON: Yes.

The main figures that people are looking for are the Star Wars figures, cause Star Wars is hot in Lego.

MORENO: Right.

STANTON: The first row, here.

These first two rows are the current mini-figures from this years collection of the mystery figures.

There's only ten of them, I don't have all twelve of 'em.

These were the original mini-figures, from the 60s, called "Lego Family".

MORENO: So, are they more expensive now?

STANTON: Yeah, a little bit more expensive.

MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: They're hard to come by.

MORENO: Okay.

STANTON: They were the large figures and that's why the new figures became mini-figures.

MORENO: Gotcha.

STANTON: Alright, what we have in front of the Lego deal is the earliest, one of the earliest sets called, "The Classic Space" from 1978 through 1987.

And what they had done is, that ship on the far right... MORENO: Gotcha.

STANTON: That ship is called... MORENO: Galaxy Explorer!

STANTON: Galaxy Explorer.

This is the remake that came out last year.

So, they've taken the original because of the demand and made a new set that you can actually purchase now.

MORENO: But this is different pricing from that.

STANTON: Right.

This is the newer one that has been modified and updated with the newer parts and things.

But that's the early, early version.

MORENO: Gotcha.

STANTON: You could not afford that in the box, mint in the box.

MORENO: What would that run?

STANTON: Somewhere, a couple thousand dollars.

In the box, original mint.

MORENO: Wow.

That's amazing.

STANTON: That is the new collectible that I see, for the foreseeable future that has, maybe, some growth volume.

The other crazy collectible in this market today are the collectible card games.

MORENO: Yeah, you mentioned that.

STANTON: Magic the Gathering and Pokémon.

Some of those cards are in the six-figure range, especially Magic the Gathering.

You've got the "Black Lotus" and the Power 9 cards that are...

If you get them in mint condition, like anything else in cards, comic books... MORENO: Has to be.... STANTON: Graded.

MORENO: Yeah.

STANTON: You have these grading companies that do the grading from zero to ten.

MORENO: Kind of like coins as well.

STANTON: Coins is zero to 70.

MORENO: Right.

STANTON: And people want to buy grade and these items because they want to buy the best.

MORENO: Right.

STANTON: And they're willing to pay a premium for them.

Some of these Magic cards, especially in the alpha early sets in the 94 era are selling upwards of 70 to 1 million dollars a card, at grade 10.

Especially the "Black Lotus".

MORENO: Wow.

STANTON: Like this box here that I got years ago, this is a sealed box of Alliances, booster packs.

I paid, like, $150 for it.

I could sell it for $3,500 now.

MORENO: Amazing.

STANTON: I mean, Magic, um, Wizards of the Coast is coming out with a new game called, "Lord of the Rings" and in that complete set, they've created a frenzy because there is one card... MORENO: That you have to have.

STANTON: There's one card in the whole complete set called "The One Ring".

MORENO: Well, there you go.

STANTON: And I'm not gonna say what the current buzz is that people who want that card so badly what they're offering at this time.

MORENO: Well, that's amazing.

STANTON: But it is a high number.

If somebody finds it, they're offering a large number for that card.

MORENO: That is really amazing.

I had no idea that collectibles could be as pricey or that there was such a demand for it.

That's really interesting.

STANTON: It is.

It's amazing how things have changed from the LED figures, the Dinky toys, the Tootsie toys, to the new Lego... MORENO: Yep.

STANTON: Magic the Gathering game cards collections.

MORENO: Great.

Well, thank you, Mike.

I've learned a lot today.

STANTON: Well, I appreciate your time.

MORENO: Thank you, very much!

(overlapping chatter).

ROBERT HARRISON: Welcome to Chesapeake Collectibles.

Tell me what you brought in today.

GUEST: Well this is a, it's an old early-American Betty Lamp that had belonged to my grandparents in Ohio.

They collected primitive lighting devices and, um, when I was...

I think when I was in high school, I just thought that was a pretty, pretty interesting, um, piece and when my grandfather died it went to my mom and I eventually inherited it.

HARRISON: Okay, good.

It is a primitive piece.

It's an early, probably one of the earliest, forms of lighting that we see in Colonial America and then into the 19th century.

Betty Lamp, you're exactly right, that's the proper term for it.

Um, Betty Lamp has a lot of derivations.

Many people think it's from the German word besser...

GUEST: That's what I thought.

HARRISON: Or betta.

Um, there's also some data and information that says Bettying was the process of burning fat and that's what this is.

This is an early fat-burning lamp.

It was an improvement on some of the earlier lamps.

This one is actually a more flexible, portable lamp.

And it has two parts.

It has an upper and lower chamber.

There was usually a rag wick that was placed in here and the fat was on top of it.

And then this bottom part caught anything that overflowed.

It also kept it from smoking.

Um, there's a little lid on here, as you've probably noticed, and the lid slides up and keeps the smoke at a minimum, probably keeps insects out of the fat as well.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

HARRISON: But this has far more than just, sort of, the basic functional utilitarian, uh, qualities of a lamp and we talked a little bit about that as we were looking at it.

You said it came from Ohio, or that's where you think...

GUEST: My grandparents lived in Ohio, but they collected from Ohio up to New England... HARRISON: Okay.

GUEST: So, I'm really not certain what the historical background is.

HARRISON: Some of the things, sort of, jumped out at me when I was looking at it and one is this little pendulum here, which is a heart and that's made of brass.

And it's actually signed, or initialed, uh, and engraved.

And the other is, if we turn this a little bit to the side, you can see this little rest here which is in the form of a rooster.

GUEST: Okay.

HARRISON: And this is for the wick pick, which was used for picking up the wick when it became saturated with oil or burned down.

These are both very distinctive Pennsylvania-German motifs and decorative elements that we've seen on things like this.

Um, we also see some brass inlay here on this side.

The heart is made of brass.

So, to find some decoration on something that was supposed to be this basic really makes it unique.

The handle on it is very typical for the 18th-century pieces...

GUEST: Okay.

HARRISON: So, in looking at it and doing a little research, this would lead me to believe it's more along the 1770 to 1780 period.

GUEST: Okay, so Colonial.

HARRISON: Yeah, it is a Colonial piece.

The hook is really interesting too because these were used, as you probably know, to hang them about but most of the time these were hung on the back of ladder back chairs...

GUEST: Correct.

HARRISON: Early country chairs and we can still see some of the tell-tale signs on some of these early chairs.

So, a really unique early piece of Americana, probably Pennsylvania-German...

These sometimes are signed.

If the initials here are signed, this'll make an even bigger premium rather than if it's just the owner's signature or initials.

Uh, have you ever had it appraised before, or have any idea what it might be worth?

GUEST: No, I just thought that it was, uh, it was a really neat thing to... HARRISON: Yeah.

GUEST: To have.

I know that it's got historical significance.

HARRISON: Any collector would love to own this, especially people who look for early Pennsylvania primitives, Pennsylvania-German primitives.

Um, in terms of it being just a routine lamp, it would bring about $225 at auction.

However, with some of the elements, the decorative elements that we've discussed, I think it would be very easy to see this going from $500 to $650 at auction and probably more if you were to buy it in a gallery.

For insurance purposes, you'd probably see it selling for close to $1,000 if it was in a gallery.

GUEST: Okay.

HARRISON: This is a very unique piece, a very early piece, and distinctive of the Pennsylvania-German Culture.

GUEST: Okay.

HARRISON: And I appreciate you bringing it in, it's nice.

GUEST: Thank you for, for the background.

HARRISON: Sure, you're welcome, thanks.

(cash register ca-ching).

(overlapping chatter).

GENICE R. LEE: Welcome to the show!

And what did you bring for us to look at today?

GUEST: Hi.

Well, we brought the "Maasai Woman", um, both the painting and the sketch.

Um, several years ago, about 20 years ago, I was at a art show in Baltimore and this beautiful painting was at the end of a long hallway and it just kept drawing me.

So, I finally got the courage to go up and touch it and a gentlemen came over and he said, "I noticed you've been coming over, looking at this.

You really like it."

And I said, "I really do."

And he wound up being Mr. Hinton, uh, Tim Hinton is the artist and he introduced himself and, um, we negotiated a little bit of price and I called my husband to make sure it was okay.

And, um, he said, "Yes, go ahead."

So, we bought the painting and I went to Mr. Hinton's studio to get the certificate of authenticity and on his etching board was the drawing and he snatched it off the board and said, "Here, you can have it."

So, it was such a thrill and it has a place of honor in our home.

LEE: That is wonderful.

Now, have you ever had, since the purchase, have you had these looked at or assessed again and appraised?

GUEST: Never.

LEE: Okay, so yes, this is artist, Tim Hinton and he is currently residing in Maryland.

However, he grew up in Florida and has spent some time at the Hague studying.

Um, we just love the fact that "A" as you said, this was a painting, I know when I initially looked at it I thought, "Is that a photograph?"

GUEST: Yeah.

LEE: The detail is just so amazing.

And then we also have the sketch and so we just thought it was fabulous that you have the painting and the sketch.

If I were to assign value to these pieces, on the sketch I would place the value of $750.

However, on this piece, I would place a range of $12,000 to $18,000...

GUEST: Oh, wow.

LEE: So, we are so excited that you were able to bring both of them in for us and I just hope that you'll take care of them and continue to enjoy them.

BOTH: Oh, absolutely.

GUEST: I'm shaking.

Thank you so much!

Wow.

HUSBAND: Now the conversation back and forth when she purchased is not as bad now.

(laughter).

(cash register ca-ching).

STANTON: Next time, on Chesapeake Collectibles.

LeCUYER: When you came up to my table it's like, oh my God, what-what is this?

What is this and how did it come to your possession?

LEE: These pilot profiles give us a better understanding of who these men were, where they were born, and when they served with the Tuskegee Airmen.

LISA JONES: Now, why do you suppose these these plates were made in England?

Cause the last time I checked, the B&O was not in England.

GUEST: Originally owned by my great-great-great- great-great-uncle who the story goes, uh, rode shotgun on a stagecoach in Colorado.

ROSS KELBAUGH: There's an old saying that the British fought for king and country, that the Germans fought for the fatherland, that the Russians fought for the motherland, and the Americans fought for souvenirs.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by, Alex Cooper Auctioneers, since 1924 has been serving the Mid-Atlantic states, featuring monthly gallery antique auction sales, our staff can assist clients with the disposition of their valued possessions.

Alex Cooper Auctioneers.

GUEST: Today's experience was a lot of fun.

I would definitely suggest that everybody to come out and enjoy this show for Maryland Public Television.

GUEST: This definitely is a good experience.

In fact, this is our second time and if you all do this again we'll be back!

HUSBAND: Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I would recommend others to come.

GUEST: Highly recommended.

GUEST: I am going to continue to keep my items despite everything I've learned or the appraised value.

HUSBAND: Well, the first thing we're gonna look at, insuring it.

GUEST: Yes.

HUSBAND: First thing, and then we're gonna go home and tell the family what we've experienced today.