Antique Roadshow Recap

My mom and I drove up to Seattle, Washington on Friday for the Antique Roadshow.  We spent the night at a cousins house and headed to the Antique Roadshow on Saturday a.m.

The Antique Roadshow is super well organized.  You enter a lottery system to win tickets and my mom and I both entered. I did not win a pair of tickets, but my mom did, so she brought me.  They stagger entry times beginning at 8 a.m.  Our tickets were for a 10 a.m. entry, but we got there early and were able to line up early with the other 10 a.m. people.

By the time 10 a.m. rolled around the line twisted back and forth many times and was much, much longer.

It was really interesting to see what people were hauling along with them as we waited in line.  The people we stood in line with were great to visit with.  Everyone was in a festive mood.

This Brymay bus that was rolling along in front of us was awesome. 

The line ended at a series of tables. 

There they looked at your items.  Each person was allowed two items.  You had to bring at least one item. They gave you a ticket to go to another line in the category for your item.  There were 24 different categories. Some lines for certain categories were really long.  Some had no wait at all.  We stood in line for about an hour each time we went to a different line.  Lines for Sports Memorabilia, Toys and Games and Musical Instruments were really short.  You could have whizzed in and out if those were the categories you had.

I could not take pictures once we got our category tickets.  It was interesting to see them taping different items and watch the show in production.  I saw lots of familiar appraisers from the show. Mark Walberg cut through the line my mom and I were standing in and said hello.  That was pretty nifty.

We left the show just after 3 p.m. and stood in line for four items.  This is what we brought with us.

A old bisque doll.  This was my aunt's when she was a child.  The doll appraiser had to go shoot a segment when we approached the table, so the toy fellow stepped in.  He told us it was mass made in Japan and sold in the 1920s in Woolworth's.  It was sold with a paper watermelon (liked that fun fact).  It was worth $15.  I thought it was worth a bit more.

Item number two was three boxes of spun head figures. I also brought my little fortune dolls.  They categorized this as a collection in collectibles.

The spun head dolls he thought were quite charming and said I got a great buy on ebay. He loved that I had the original boxes.  He priced them at $10 each.  The fortune teller dolls he said were manufactured and were probably from the 1940s or perhaps 1930s.  He said there were worth about $12 each. I think the dolls are worth a bit more each.

Item number three was an old prescription ledger from a pharmacy that belongs to my husband.  He got it from a fellow pharmacist that passed away.

The ledger is huge and heavy.  It has a large quantity of old prescriptions glued in it. They date to about 1910.  Pharmacies used to store all their prescriptions in this manner.

The woman at the book category had not seen anything like it before. She referred me to the collectible category. I did not have to stand in line again, but went straight to the table. The woman there had not seen one like it either, but thought it would have a value of $600-$800. I thought it was worth closer to $150.

Item number four was an oriental urn that I have had for at least 15 years. My aunt lived overseas and received it as a gift.  She was going to give it to Goodwill and I decided to keep it as I thought it may have value.  It has glass panels that are painted and is marked on the bottom.  I had it appraised a few years ago at $200 by a local appraiser.  The line for the Asian Arts was the longest.  We stood in line for about an hour and half.  The man that appraised it did not even pick it up. He said I should have given it to Goodwill and it was a reproduction.  (I know the Museum Company did do reproductions of this item a few years ago). I felt a bit slighted by his lack of attention when we got to the table. Very slighted.

All in all it was a really fun experience. I think the appraisers have a ton of items to look at and don't always have knowledge for EVERYTHING.  I think they give a range of what an item may be worth. This was the consensus of other people that stood in line with us as well. One guy in front of us had some awesome old movie brochure/posters that they just could not give him much info on.  It was a fun experience and I am really glad that we went.  I am not going to end up on the show, but will be interesting to watch it and see who was featured. (One woman in front of us in the doll line was shot with her rug earlier that day.)

Once I got home I kept thinking of other items I should have brought!  Next time.

This little fellow had the right idea at the end of a long day.

Comments

[barbara]

This sounds like it would have been interesting. Glad to know your little dolls have some value (beyond all of us thinking they are adorable). And good news on that ledger, right?

[Kim Kenward]

Thanks for taking us along. Sounds like an amazing experience.

[Renee]

Well I can tell you right now that those little spuns are worth a lot more than that and try putting that doll on eBay and it will go way more than $15...Glad you had a good time. The ledger is amazing...smiles..Renee

[Diane]

Thanks for posting! Really interesting!

[Annette]

Such an interesting experience. Glad your spun heads have value beyond cuteness. The prescription book is amazing. I would think something unusual like that would have gotten you on the show! Dang it!!

[Kathy]

Thank you for sharing your day with us. I, for one, think Auntie's urn is marvelous! I just finished watching Antiques Roadshow and was sitting there picturing you and your Mom in the feedback booth - dangit!

[Shara]

I've always wondered how the Roadshow works. Thanks for taking us along. I've always wondered what I would take. That little baby doll is wonderful. I'd love to happen upon one of those for $15.00. I think it is worth more too.

[chris mckinely]

Sounds very much like my experience. A local appraiser told me before I went that they love items from the area that they are visiting. A person in line with me brought vintage concert posters from the 60's..all concerts that were held in San Francisco...made it on TV and the posters were worth $500-$1000 each!! I should have taken my husbands collection of Grateful Dead tickets etc. :)
I took an antique quilt from the 1800's and they were not impressed!! Slighted is a good word! So glad you had fun, it is really interesting to see how it all works.
chris

[Marci]

Thanks for posting about Antique Roadshow since I didn't make it :( It was in KC a few years ago and my good friend went. She was not impressed. They broke a door on her antique cabinet AND told her it was a reproduction. On a related note, I just read a great book called Killer Stuff and Tons of Money. It is all about the reselling biz and there is a chapter devoted to Antiques Roadshow and how it works. Very interesting.

[Heather]

So glad you had a fun time! Such a neat experience! xo Heather

[Sheryl Remy]

It is so wonderful you can do things with your mom. Especially considering all the standing you two did. I know my mom would not have been able to do this. It's a great memory to add to your quilt of life. I do think your items were underpriced. It is much more of an ebay esty world nowadays then a Christies auction house. But the experience was priceless. Sheryl

[Aimee]

Glad to hear about the ledger book but was disappointed that some of your other items may not have gotten adequate scrutiny. Still sounds like a great experience!

Was interested to hear that the toy line was short; didn't get tickets to a local taping a few years back but would have taken a vintage toy had I been able to go. I can send you a photo of it if you'd like to see it.

[Into Vintage]

This sounds like it would be such a fun experience whether you have a million dollar treasure or not. SO happy you took some spun heads -- I can't imagine they see many of those!

[Elizabeth]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! My husband and I always watch this show and marvel at the value of some things. Darn if you don't have a gun or a guitar you take your chances. I'm glad your little characters are worth so much! Elizabeth

[Lisa W.]

I would have put you on camera for those spun heads - and I think they are worth more than the expert thinks. Glad you had a good time ! It was interesting to hear about what it was like to be there.... I did always wonder how they did it.

[Lynn]

How exciting!! I'm so glad you got to go - it's probably the dream of every collector.