Look out, baseball. Collecting, be it bottle caps or figurines, is becoming the new national pastime for many.
“Many people have collectibles at home. At some point they make a jump to really getting into it, but I don’t know what causes that spark,”says Michal C. McClure, president of McRand International Ltd., which organizes the International Collectible Exposition. The rapidly growing expo will open its doors at a brand-new and bigger home–the Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont–on Saturday.
Enesco Corp., which produces Precious Moments and other popular collectibles, also tried to find out what that spark is. It conducted a survey of 1,245 people on the trends and attitudes of collectors nationwide and released the results last October. The survey revealed that more than two-thirds of the survey participants would rather spend time on their collection than see a baseball game.
More than a third of respondents said they would rather spend money on their collection than on a nice dinner out, and 7.4 percent said they would rather spend their vacation money on their collection. Nearly 8 percent of respondents, 10.5 percent of men and 6.2 percent of women, said they would rather spend time with their collection than with their spouse or significant other.
The survey also revealed that while men make up only about 20 percent of collectors overall, the men spend more time and money on their collections than women do. In addition, men are more focused on their collection’s value, and would be willing to sell their collection for a significant sum of money.
A telltale sign of collecting’s popularity is the growth in the expo, which began 22 years ago as a small show for a club of collectors of limited-edition plates in South Bend, Ind. The contemporary collecting market has grown so hot, the show has evolved into an international event encompassing a whole new industry. It’s an industry that, according to the Collectibles and Platemakers Guild, an industry trade organization, involves more than 11.4 million households nationwide and, in 1994, accounted for $7.2 billion in consumer sales–up 9 percent from 1993. (Statistics for 1995 still are being compiled.
Chicago ranks as the city with the third-largest number of “collectibles” households in the U.S. More than 10.5 percent of the 3.1 million households in Chicago collect collectibles, according to figures from Enesco.
At the expo, the public will be able to see the newest from 190 manufacturers of limited-edition collectibles–decorative items and art objects created and marketed exclusively for the purpose of collecting.
Newcomers may be amazed by the vast range offered today, not only of familiar figurines and plates, but prints, holiday ornaments, dolls, teddy bears, miniatures, crystals, cottages, lighthouses, villages, and sports and celebrity-related objects.
Exhibitors can be quite elaborate with their displays. For example, Christopher Radko, creator of exquisite old-fashioned, European-style Christmas ornaments, has decorated a home, both outside and in, for the the expo.
Here today, gone tomorrow
The contemporary collectibles market is cyclical, with certain categories rising in popularity while others decline. Cycles tend to run between two to five years and tend to peak about the time copycat competitors enter the market, says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, a marketing research and services firm for the collectibles industry. Figurines are the market’s most popular category. There are about 8 million serious figurine collectors in the U.S. and many more occasional purchasers.
Recently peaked categories now in decline, she says, are cottages and plates. Categories that look to be burning out include cherubs, animal and wildlife sculptures, and some figurine categories. Categories that are popular include teddy bear figurines, Barbie and other female dolls, and sports and Christmas items.
Collectors are changing as well. They are younger than ever before, as with 10-year-old Amanda Woodford of Lake Villa, who has collected more than 200 Precious Moments figurines (which sell on average for $25 to $40) bearing inspirational messages. She began collecting them in 1990, mostly because of the eyes, she says, which “look like little raindrops. They make me feel good inside. “
Couples also are collecting more. “Collectibles have brought husband and wife together,” says Bruce Marta of Wheaton, who works in the Tick Tock gift store at Fox Valley Shopping Center in Aurora.
Marta collects Walt Disney Classic Collectibles, porcelain figurines modeled on poses from animated cels of the most popular Disney movies. Marta has everything.
“I’m from that Baby Boomer generation, which grew up at a time when those movies were popular.” Which is why, he explains, he feels Disney has brought husband and wife together, “because both were raised on those movies.” And, “often it takes both working to afford them.”
The popular Disney figurine known as Cinderella’s Dress sold for $800 when first issued and now goes for $3,000 to $4,000 on the secondary market, says Marta.
It’s this incredible investment potential that hooks a lot of men.
Joe Tanner of Elgin, an insurance writer for Zurich-American Insurance Co., is a collector of British-made and inspired David Winter cottages, and now has more than 300 of them. His collection is worth about $60,000, he says.
He began his collection in 1985, when a girlfriend gave him one. In 1988, he took out a second mortgage on his house to buy pieces that were about to be retired. He resold those at a profit and reinvested the money in others.
Tanner admits that the main attraction of collecting for him, as for many men, “is that the value has increased.” Some pieces he recently bought for $900 are now selling for $1,750 on the secondary market.
Diane Carnevale Jones, who owns Professional Marketing company, which services the limited-edition market, says she sees two new categories that are drawing in more male collectors.
One is miniature replicas of real lighthouses. “Men enjoy the historical aspects of collecting these,” she says. “They research them, they travel to them, they buy books on the lighthouses.”
Another is autographed sports and celebrity collectibles, such as those produced by Gartlan USA, a New Jersey firm that produces limited-edition porcelain figurines of athletes. Bob Gartlan, company president, says he has signed as many as 40 different athletes for the program, including Frank Thomas, Joe Montana and Shaquille O’Neal. The figurines are sold through gift and collectibles shops in the U.S. for $175 to $350.
The International Collectible Exposition is at the Rosemont Convention Center, 5555 N. River Rd., Rosemont. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and June 30. Collectors can trade or sell portions of their collections, exchange information and meet other hobbyists at the Swap ‘n Sell from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 30. Admission: $6 for one day, $9 for two days, one child under 12 admitted free with paying adult.
SPECIAL EXPOSITION FEATURES
The International Collectible Exposition at the Rosemont Convention Center Saturday and June 30 will feature many special attractions.
– You can get a peek into the Precious Moments archives as Enesco Corp. presents a display featuring rare and unusual figurines as well as pieces that never were produced.
– W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik, the collectible and giftware company based in Rodental, Germany, that produces M.I. Hummel figurines, celebrates its 125th anniversary this year with an exhibit highlighting never-seen originals from the company’s archives. Nuns from the German convent that owns the rights to the Hummel figurines also will be on hand for the groundbreaking of a new Hummel museum in Rosemont.
Donald E. Stephens, mayor of Rosemont and a collector of Hummels since 1970, has donated his extensive personal collection of rare Hummels to the village.
– There will be a David Winter cottage exhibit, featuring a collection of the rarest picturesque David Winters English cottages. Artist David Winter will be on hand to greet collectors and answer questions at 2:30 p.m. both days.
– A seminar titled “The Secondary Market–What It Is and How It Works” at 1 p.m. both days presents a panel of experts to discuss the rewards of buying and selling retired collectibles.
– The Edna Hibel Studios Collectible Plate Showcase will present an exhibit of most of the collectible plates Hibel has created.
– The Bradford Exchange will present the best of its legendary plates dating back to 1895.
– Visitors will be able to meet famous collectible artists, such as Sam Butcher, who creates the original artwork for the Precious Moments figurines, and have pieces autographed, which can add as much as 24 percent to their value.
