Questions and Answers

QUESTION:  I have an “Enid Collins” purse, one of the ten 2007 collectibles featured in the July/August Country Home magazine.  Enid Collins’ purses also were touted in the July 14, 2007, Ann Arbor News.  My purse has a painted signature and 1966 copyright.  I am a senior and ready to downsize my condo.  How do I sell my purse? – AK, South Lyon, MI, E-mail.

ANSWER:  I avoid participating in Top Ten Antiques and Collectibles lists much as I would the avoid the plague.  When published, readers accept them as fact rather than opinion.  In fact, the lists are more market manipulative than factual.

Readers rarely question the motivation behind those individuals who contribute a category to such lists.  It is every collector’s or dealer’s dream that his favorite or featured collecting category makes the list.  The goal is to create a “hot” collecting category.  What about the category in ten to twenty years?  The chances are far higher that it will be forgotten than remembered.

Enid Roessler, a San Antonio resident, attended Texas Woman’s University where she majored in fashion design.  She married Frederic Collins, a sculptor.  They lived on a ranch near Medina, Texas.

Enid Collins founded Collins of Texas in 1959.  The company produced two basic types of handbags/purses: (1) wooden box and (2) canvas bucket.  Wooden box purses featured bright, colorful, semi-abstract stenciled designs in color combinations associated with the Psychedelic period.  Canvas bucket handbags featured similar designs created by a combination of brass fasteners and findings, mirrors, paint, rhinestones, and sequins.  Collins handbags were glitzy and whimsical.

In the late 1960s, Collins marketed two groups of Sophistikits, complete do-it-yourself kits.  When buying a Collins handbag, it is critical to distinguish which type of handbag you have, (a) factory manufactured or (b) produced from a kit.  Collectors prefer factory made handbags over those made from kits.  However, collectors are willing to pay a premium price for unassembled kits.

In 1970, the Tandy Leather Corporation purchased Collins of Texas and continued to produce Collins-type handbags.  Collectors prefer handbags from the pre-1970s period.

Pre-1970s handbags are usually signed with Enid Collins’ full name and often dated.  Some handbags feature their themed name.  Handbags marked with “ec” or “c” predate 1970.  Handbags marked with a “C” or “Collins of Texas” are Tandy Leather Corporation products.

Theme plays a major role in value.  Opinion, i.e., individual taste, among collectors also contributes.  One need only check prices realized on eBay to confirm this.  One Enid Collins Internet site listed Glitter Bugs-themed bags as highly desirable.  Yet one sold on eBay for $11.03 plus $11.39 shipping and a second for $4.50 plus $10.10 shipping.

A major problem with Top Ten Lists is that they tout the top end of the market in the chosen collecting category.  They never look at the bottom.  Approximately 200 Enid Collins listings appear each month on eBay.  I was astonished first by how many lots failed to attract a bid, even with opening bids of less than ten dollars, second by how many examples sold for less than twenty-five dollars plus shipping, and third by the low number of bidders, often five or less, per listing.  These are very low statistics for a supposedly very hot collecting category.

Ten of the approximately 200 handbags that appeared in my eBay search did sell in the $100.00 to $150.00 range.  An unassembled Sophistikit in its period box featuring a handbag with a cat theme realized $285.02 plus $12.50 shipping.

The period box and tag add value.  A typical tag reads on side one, “Collins/of/Texas/ Original/for you who have flair/for the truly distinctive!” and on the other, “Tops in Totes / this is an Original / silk screen Design by / Enid Collins / hand-painted on finest / fabric... / lavishly jeweled by / hand… / trimmed in top-grain / cowhide… / Carry it with Pride!”

Enid Collins knockoffs exist.  Gray Gail of Dallas and examples marked “JAPAN” are two examples.

If your purse is equivalent to those selling in the $50.00 plus range on eBay, you might try this sales venue.  If you plan to sell to a dealer, expect him or her to offer no more than $20.00 to $30.00.  Dealers have to buy low in this day and age if they want to make a profit.

If you own one of the less desirable themed examples, consider using your purse.  When someone admires it, you say, “Yours for $30.00.”

One final note:  Secondary market retail prices for Enid Collins purses at antiques malls, antiques shows, and Internet storefronts are usually considerably higher than those realized on eBay.  It pays to comparison shop.

QUESTION:  I have a set of dinnerware marked on the bottom: “NORITAKE / M surrounded by a wreath / HAND PAINTED / Made in Japan / xx322x.”  I have ten place settings consisting of dinner plate and cup and saucer, nine saucers, an open vegetable, a covered vegetable, a medium size platter, creamer and sugar, condiment set, and other miscellaneous pieces.  Can you help me determine the value of my dinnerware? – DB, Lyons Station, PA

ANSWER:  The photograph that accompanied your letter allowed me to identify the pattern of your dinnerware as Noritake Azalea Ware.

Ichizaemon Morimura, one of the founders of Noritake, established Morimura-kumi, a Japanese exporting company located in Tokyo in 1867.  A branch was established in New York City.  In 1904 Morimura founded Nippon Toki Kaisha Ltd., the forerunner of Noritake, in Nagoya, Japan.

The Larkin Company, Buffalo, New York, was one of the principal distributors for Noritake China in the 1920s.  The Azalea, Briarcliff, Linden, Modjeska, Savory, Sheriden, and Tree in the Meadow patterns were utilized as Larkin premiums.

The Noritake Azalea pattern was first produced in the early 1900s.  Since each piece was hand-painted, subtle variations are common.  In 1931, Larkin billed the Azalea pattern as “Our Most Popular China.”  While some forms appeared in the Larkin catalog for only a few years, common pieces, such as dinner plates, appeared for almost twenty years.

The factory was heavily damaged during World War II and production was greatly reduced.  The company sold its china under the “Rose China” mark between 1946 and 1948 because the quality did not match that of earlier Noritake China.  High quality was achieved once again by early 1949.

The United States was the principal consumer for Noritake tableware immediately following World War II.  Over the next thirty years, Noritake established companies and factories in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Guam, the Philippines, and Ireland to manufacture and distribute its products.

Noritake Azalea pattern dinnerware was a hot collectible in the 1980s and early 1990s.  Alas, it, like so many other hot colleting categories from that era, has fallen on hard times, thanks primarily to the flooding of pieces on eBay.  Dinner plates and cup and saucer sets sell on eBay at prices ranging from $2.00 to $4.00.

As with any dinnerware service, value is in the serving pieces.  Your larger serving pieces will sell in the $35.00 to $50.00 range.

If you decide to sell your service, you are best advised to sell it as a set rather than break it apart.  Take any offer over $200.00.  Quite a drop from the $500 plus value I would have assigned to the dinnerware service if I had appraised it fifteen years ago.

QUESTION:  I have a book titled The Romance of Perfume by Richard LeGallienne featuring Art Deco drawings by George Barbier and published by Richard Hudnut of New York and Paris in 1928.  It is printed on special antique rag paper and is in pristine condition.  The see-through book jacket has a tear.  The book is in its period box, albeit there is some soiling.  In the back of the book is a pamphlet entitled “At 20 Rue De La Paix.” with drawings of the shop and text.  I would like to know the value of this book. – BD, Prairie Village, KS

ANSWER:  Abebooks.com and bookfinder.com are the two websites I use to check on book values.  Both contained more than a dozen listings for your title.

Before proceeding, two points need to be made.  First, all the books listed have one thing in common.  They have not sold.  Hence, prices need to be interpreted carefully.  Second, when comparing your example with those listed, you need to do an apple to apple as opposed to an apple to orange comparison.

Values for complete examples in very good or better condition range from as low as $150.00 to as high as $398.99.  Realistically, think in terms of a value ranging from $225.00 to $250.00.

QUESTION:  I have a Campbell Kids bobble head doll.  The box says “CK Bobble Head Chef Boy / 2002.”  The doll has never been out of the box.  Is this collectible worth anything? – MB, Millersville, PA

ANSWER:  The answer is yes, but not much.  On eBay, this doll sells between $2.00 and $4.00 plus shipping.  In fact, the shipping cost often exceeds the value of the doll.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth century.  Selected letters will be answered in this column.  Harry cannot provide personal answers.  Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned.  Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com.  Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.goldenbroadcasters.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?: HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of Random House Information Group, $16.95), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.