I didnt recall this thread, but it gives me a chance to tell my antiques road show story.
Antiques road show came to st. louis this summer. My friend and I entered lottery this spring, neither of us won.
He heard that some dealers had extra tickets for their customers, and he worked on a connection he had, no luck.
I had spent some time in the hospital with neuropathy problems in May, and didnt know if I could walk that far. (my app showed I walked 1.5 miles that day)
With a week to go to the roadshow day, he said he would pay for tickets if I bought them and took some of his items.
With a week to go, two guys each had a pair of tickets on ebay at fixed price for @ 150.00 or so, plus one guy had a pair at auction ending wednesday. I think he started them at $25
I decided to wait on the auction, it ended early wednesday,
I messed up, got my time zones confused and signed in 10 minutes after auction ended. Auction price was around $60. OOps. I really messed up.
My friend still wanted to go so I convinced remaining seller to accept $125 including express mail shipping, and I got tickets on Thursday.
My friend has some expensive stuff, so I ended up taking 3 items of his: a panoramic photo of the @1914 yankees and their opponent which was a ny newspaper insert, a tobacco poster for Hassan cigarettes in its original frame from around 1910, and as a backup, a program of the first cardinal world series team of 1926 (against Yankees)
The tickets were assigned entrance times. Ours were at 10 am
The earliest times were at 8 am,
The show was at the downtown st. Louis convention center. They used two big rooms, each was maybee 300 feet square.
we arrived around 915 and walked to the front 50 or so of the 10:00 line. Every 2-3 minutes all the lines would move forward. The lines were marked off like an amusement park ride line, which gave us a chance to pass by other folks and sae their stuff. The interesting part of that was some folks had jnk. I recall seeing some light oak furniture from 70s or 80s. And some starving artist sofa paintings from the 60s. Youch.
All the lines were funnelling to a table with two experts. Their job was to tell you which category your stuff should go to.
My panoramic photo insert obviously was sports, and the Hassan framed photo was considered for collectibles.
After getting our category assignments we were shown the next room, which is where the set was.
The set was placed in the middle of the big convention center room, and took up maybe 20% of this room. The set had maybe 20 tables in a large circle, with 2 or 3 experts behind each table. The cameras were right in the middle of the circle of tables, very limited area. There were large blue portable walls behind the tables.
A volunteer took us to the end of the sports line and we waited maybe 20 minutes untill we went inside the circle. There were longer lines in other categories. As folks had their items unwrapped, this is where we got to talk to folks about their items. I saw a 1950s dodger team ball with jackie robinson and a 1953 topps set of baseball cards. The collectibles line had an african shield with a spear and arrows that looked like a tourist item to me. I really was not seeing scarce items.
Once we were led inside the circle i was 3rd or 4th in the sports line. The expert was a woman my friend had communicated with earlier in the year and she appeared knowledgeable.
I was not rushed as I unfolded the panoramic photo and our discussion was about the poor condition of the item, which had several tears on the creases. She said the poster was worth $400 if it was preserved, but she said it may cost that amount to preserve it. She called over another guy who confirmed the cost of preservation.
Am I sure of their valuation of the panoramic? No, as she did not know anything about the newspaper who printed it, and did not seem interested in finding out.
She saw the Hassan cigarettes poster and even though it was not for her she seemed interested and gave it a $800 value off the top of her head, saying all the value was because of the original frame,
She then noticed the 1926 world series program in my hand and looked through it carefully. She gave me a $1500 value which would be correct if it was in a bit better condition.
The routine then required me to go outside the circle and stand in the outside collectibles line. As I was right next to the collectibles table I used my very sore foot as an excuse to go to the short inside line. I asked the volunteer to look the other way, which she did.
The collectibles expert said my hassan poster had sold at a recent auction, Heritage I believe, for $650, but mine was a bit nicer, so I was quite impressed that the 2 experts were very close in value.
As I was in line I watched my friend show the tall mustached wild dressing poster expert his poster of a race horse who was advertising a drinking water now owned by coke. He said he had never seen it
and could only guess at a price.
On my way out of the circle I stepped on the blue carpet behind the camera stage. I was nicely told the error of my ways, so if I make it on tv that will be my scene,
After I left the circle I lost my friend. While looking I sat next to some folks who were carrying the biggest pile of junk you could imagine. A framed print from the 80s of a grandma moses scene, a silver flower bowl that was neither silver or silver plate. And other less than great items.
I truly enjoyed the day.
Mike
