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| PAST CHATS |
Mar 9 1999
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Big Breakfast - Justin Pressland |
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Justin Pressland from the Big Breakfast collected his wits about him on Tuesday morning and joined us in live chat to impart his knowledge!
Justin Pressland : Hi guys
Jules : Morning Justin
a ghost : Justin, what's the rarest/most expensive collector's item you own?
Justin Pressland : It is a tin plate so-called penny toy (because it sold originally for one penny) - that is now worth 1500 pounds. It is a German-made tin toy of an early racing car (dating from circa 1910)
Starglider : How come old computer games don't become collectables? I have some rare spectrum games, and they're worth next to nothing!
Justin Pressland : Not true! A Sinclair ZX-81 recently sold through the internet for 200, although that doesn't mean 200 pounds (ie. necessarily worth that), but it does show that old computers are collectible. At the weekend, I bought an Alex Higgins computer snooker game, mint in box, for ten pounds dating from 1980. For me, this was a total bargain. Every electronic item I buy (telephone, computer, watch, anything) - I keep all the packaging. Whatever looks modern now will, in a few years, look positively jurassic. Classic case of this is the new iMac - keep the packaging!
piper : is there any point of buying any of the new Star Wars toys as there will be so many people buying them?
Justin Pressland : Hmm good question. The important thing about collecting is to buy what *you* like, and not what other people say you should buy, or what may be valuable in the future. Personally, I prefer the old star wars toys, some of which are ballistically expensive, but others of which are cheaper than the new toys. However, the Star Wars genre is such that many of the new toys feature characters which are new or unique. So you cannot buy these as old toys. Hence a dedicated Star Wars fan has little choice but to buy the new items. Keep the packaging! Display them and enjoy them, and above all, have fun but focus the collection - you'll be bankrupt if you try to buy everything. If you don't have to have it first, a clever tip is to wait, for the items to be on sale, either at the big toy shops or particularly at collectors' fairs around the country. I have seen figures that were selling for 15 pounds available for as little as 5 pounds within 6 months. Do your research and be a clever collector :)
axeandy : my daughter has hundreds of McDonald toys are they or will they be worth anything?
Justin Pressland : McDonalds toys are already highly collectible, with the first Happy Meal with toys appearing in the late 1970s. The most collectible ones are those relating to TV shows or films, like Disney. It is impossible to give specific values as the market is so new, and fluid - they change almost on a daily basis! I have several books at home that are published in the USA, on McDonalds collectibles, and these are available at the bigger collectors' toy shows, like Sandown (in May) or Donnington Park. But of course, the internet is your best source of info and current values.
lisabradford : Justin, I have a 1936 Mickey Mouse annual. Its a bit tatty though. Is it worth restoring? Are they worth much money?
Justin Pressland : Everything mickey mouse is collectible, especially from the first two decades - however, annuals have to be in top condition to be of significant value. Get some specialist advice from a book restorer on the cost, but if you don't intend to sell it, and it's a family item, I would keep it as it is. Don't throw it away :)
moonbeam : How do you find out where to go to buy collectibles? How do you know you're not being ripped off?
Justin Pressland : The big newsagents sell a myriad of magazines ranging from toys, models, dolls, you name it. So go to the biggest newsagent you can find and annoy them hugely by reading all the mags and not buying any *grin*. These magazines will list specialist fairs and dealers. The only way to know you're not being ripped off is to be patient, do your research and of course the internet is a fantastic place to learn. Don't forget your local auction house. Don't be intimidated.
TjD : what do you think of beanie babies? Do you think its the biggest con ever?
Justin Pressland chuckles. I'm not sure I'll go on record as saying that, but I have to say, it does nothing for me whatsoever. When you start having magazines listing values, like the Financial times lists stock values, it seems that the cart has been put before the horse... collecting is not about values. The value of an item merely reflects its popularity, and is not the end result.
Johnly : Justin, I have a complete collection of movie star cards from a 1930's film magazine called Film Weekly, all in the original album and in pristine condition, any thoughts?
Justin Pressland : Last week we featured a specialist auction house that deals solely in comics and magazines - if you intend to sell, these type of specialist auctions are your best bet. If you want to buy, these specialist houses can be very expensive - witness the Beano comic at 6200 pounds! Film Weekly was a great magazine, but does not have a huge value generally... but a specialist house could find the two buyers who want to bid for them.
moonbeam : What quirky thing would you advise collecting at the moment?
Justin Pressland : Don't buy what I'm trying to buy, make it cheaper for me *chuckle*. I love finding items that are already obsolete. At the moment I love collecting tin plate Japanese speedboats from the 1950s which are still cheap at under 200 pounds each time. Having said that, in the toy shops at the moment there are some incredible toys like Buzz Lightyear, the wonderful Titanic doll (both of which would look good in any collection). Old computer games, and game and watch, are cheap and I predict there'll be an auction of old computers within 5 years.
ian : What about Pepsi cans dated from 1991 to 1992?
Justin Pressland : Blimey! Justin Pressland falls about laughing. What about them? There is actually a nice story, that when the pepsi can changed to blue, it was the most expensive advertising campaign ever, at 340 million dollars - they even painted concorde blue. And webmaster tells me, their sales went down! We laugh, but people do collect old packaging, and there is a museum in Gloucester dedicated to packaging and advertising.
piper : how did you get interested in toys?
Justin Pressland : Piper, my oldest and closest friend bought a Schuco toy from an antique shop many years ago for 28 pounds. He showed it to me, and we both set off for the Sandown Park Toy Fair the following week. His toy was valued at 200 pounds, and I went bananas, and spent a bucketload of cash on old James Bond and Thunderbirds toys. My father also collects old toys, but strangely that in no way influenced my interest in toys - it's hard to believe but it's a long story
Carole : I have a tin toy called the Big Dipper, it's from the 60's it's still in the box, but has no makers name, u know anything about them??
Justin Pressland : Gosh. It is probably Japanese and if so, it's highly collectible. It will purely depend on the quality of the tin plate. It could be an early Chinese copy... in which case it has a minimal value of maybe 20 pounds.
Carole : where can I take it to find out??
Justin Pressland : Your best place for an exact valuation is one of the major auction houses - the big four... Sotheby's, Christies, Phillips, Bonhams. You can take a photo along, but it must be good quality photo. Send it to the Toy department.
CHU : Is this all toys and commercial stuff, or are cultural things collectable, like graffiti items, from artists who used to write graffiti, or from worldwide artists?
Justin Pressland : I have learned through my many years of collecting that *everything* is collectible to someone. I'm not quite sure how you sell graffiti, you may have to take a whole wall down, very Damien Hirst. With collectibles and artistic items, provenance is everything. You need to establish who the artist is. If you find a Van Gogh graffiti, bag it quickly.
moonbeam : Will web pages be collectible in the future?
Justin Pressland grins. They are certainly a form of modern art. And museums do have plastic bags as exhibits and cereal boxes are also collectible. But how do you sell a web page?!
c4 Chat ed : Thanks everyone for coming in. they'll be another BB live chat soon... Bye Bye!
Justin Pressland : Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm, and happy Big Breakfast collecting! Remember, the early bird's life starts before seven!
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