Collecting

Excerpts from articles on Collecting

Collecting Astro Stuff (Astronomy Magazine)
On the shelf between Mr. Spock and my Mars Rover sits a piece of astronomical history–a replica of the Hale Pete Conrad Apollo AstronautTelescope’s 200-inch mirror.  Issued by the Corning Glass Works as a 1939 World’s Fair souvenir, the 3-1/2-inch memento is part of my growing collection of astronomy and space memorabilia.

My collection, I must admit, was born more from a love of toys than building a wide-based investment portfolio.  The serious collector never cracks the plastic on his purchases.  My Mars Rover runs rampant.

A year ago I was a babe in the woods, a novice collector who could have walked past Edwin Hubble’s pipe without a backward glance.   I knew I liked space-related antiques, but didn’t realize they’re collected as ardently as Elvis fans snatch up souvenir plates.   All that changed the day I walked into a Carlsbad, California antique shop, saw a fire engine red Tom Corbett Space Cadet lunch box and asked “how much?”  “Three hundred,” the owner replied.  Gulp. . .

Out of This World (eBay Magazine–remember that one?)
Roswell collectiblesWhether you think little green men with big bug eyes and bulbous bald heads are cuddly or creepy, aliens and flying saucers are no longer the unidentified flying objects in the collecting world.

During a violent thunderstorm, ‘something’ crashed on Rancher William ‘Mac’ Brazel’s property.  Brazel reported the wreckage to the Roswell sheriff,  who is turn called the Roswell Army Air Field.     The Air Field, home of the only nuclear strike force in the U.S., was a hotbed of classified projects and Cold War paranoia.  It took only hours for the veil of silence to drop over the crash site.

Since then, Roswell and the UFO story, complete with alien autopsies and government cover-ups, have become cultural icons and hot collectibles—thanks in part to the unexpected popularity of WB’s Roswell.  Who knew TV’s sexy aliens and their glow-in-the-dark hickeys would heat up the auction circuit as well as the small screen?  . . .