American Pickers – The Cool & Collected way to do it

advertising icons - vinyl toys and banks from the 1970's

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I’m a huge fan of the History Channel’s “American Pickers.” One thing that always aggravates me about the show is the lack of pop culture finds. Every now and then, Mike and Frank stumble across an antique toy or a vintage movie poster, but for the most part [...]

Collecting Pet Peeve: Locked cases in antique malls

I visit a lot of antique malls and indoor flea markets and it seems like the ONE item I want to see a little closer is always locked up in a glass cabinet. These places don’t have the shop owner in the booths so if you want to see something, or even just know the [...]

How to succeed at yard sales without even trying

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Every week I find myself in strange places, mostly frequented by old ladies with knitted handbags. Why you may ask? Well, it’s not because of their sweet perfume or blue tinged hairdos. It’s because I go where I can find old stuff, and antique stores, flea markets, and yard sales are where that stuff is [...]

Collections for sale: Simpsons and the Flash

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There sure are a lot of big collections up for sale these days. I’m not sure if people just need the money or if they are trying to clear out their basements. I just wish I had some deeper pockets because I would love to get my hands on some of the collections that have [...]

Metal lunchboxes stand the test of time

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I’m hungry for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all of a sudden. I just finished reading about a collection of old lunchboxes and it reminded me of my school days, swinging a Buck Rogers lunch box. I remember that the thermos would always break loose of the wire holder and would then crush whatever [...]

Clash of the Titans: Perseus Action Figure

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This vintage Perseus figure from the original Clash of the Titans movie sold for $44.44 over the weekend on eBay. Add six bucks for shipping and that total was over $50.00. I’m not sure what this figure would have sold for a year or two ago, but I bet it wasn’t $50.00. Obviously, the best time [...]

Friday Face-Off: Clash of the Titans

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In 1981, Clash of the Titans was a sword and sandal flick that relied on corny stop motion animation. Today we get that dude from Avatar in all his 3D CGI greatness. So, the Friday Face-off asks, which Clash gets your vote? Harry Hamlin or Sam Worthington? The Kraken that looked like he walked off the [...]

Time to toss the Playboys

playboymarilynmonroe

WalletPop recently ran an article titled “Vintage collectibles that aren’t as valuable as you might think.” Some of the items that made the list were fairly obvious, like old encyclopedias and National Geographics, but I had no idea that there was a huge number of fake arrowheads out there. And, alas, most of those old [...]

The role of the collector

The good folks over at Scoop recently put up an excellent article on collecting, “A History of Our Hobby and the Role of the Collector.” We think of each individual collector, with their information about the hobby, as an individual piece of a puzzle. When collectors come together, more of the puzzle comes together. And, [...]

Farewell J.D. Salinger

It might seem strange to see a post on Cool & Collected about J.D. Salinger, but to a lot of us, the author’s Holden Caufield was the coolest person we ever ‘met” in our formative years. The Catcher in the Rye is a part of our pop culture, so we think it’s fitting to mention [...]