RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1743

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2020

Questions and Answers

QUESTION: During a visit to a local antiques and collectibles mall, I saw a Country Music Stars series Randy Travis poseable figure (celebrity doll) in its period packaging. The clear plastic, half dome cover had an attached label that read: “LIMITED ED / 9,60O PIECES.” The Randy Travis doll was a product of Exclusive Premiere. I am a Randy Travis fan. What is a fair price for this doll? – Altoona, PA, Email Question

ANSWER: An internet search for “Exclusive Premiere” directed me to the Celebrity Doll Museum website. The Celebrity Doll Museum contains images of celebrity dolls from over 50 different manufacturers, one of which is Exclusive Premiere. The only information about Exclusive Premiere provided on the website is that the company was located in Los Angeles, California, in the 90067 Zip Code. The Celebrity Doll Museum website contains pictures for Exclusive Premiere’s George Burns, Clint Eastwood, James Dean, Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jr., Buddy Ebsen, Dan Aykroyd (Blue Brothers), John Belushi, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, and Henry Winkler dolls. When I clicked on the dolls, I was redirected to eBay. There was no listing for the Randy Travis doll.

Exclusive Premiere was a trademark of Exclusive Toy Products, Inc., distributor of “games and playthings, namely collectible dolls” according to www.trademarkia.com. The trademark was abandoned on September 13, 1999.

Research revealed that Exclusive Premiere issued a set of three “Country Music Stars” celebrity dolls in 1998 – Alan Jackson, LeAnn Rimes, and Randy Travis. Under no circumstances is a production run of 9,600 limited. In fact, there is no certainty the number is correct. My assumption is that the only limiting factor in Exclusive Premiere’s production run was the number of orders it received for the dolls.

On April 11, 2020, eBay had four listings for the Randy Travis doll, three of which were in period packaging. The asking price for the Randy Travis celebrity doll on eBay began at $19.99 plus shipping and finished at a high of $43.00 with free shipping. WorthPoint.com offers a more realistic look at value. There were two 2019 Randy Travis doll sell through prices—one at $22.00 and another at $19.00. 2018 sell through prices ranged from a low of $10.00 to a high of $19.00.

Based on this, a reasonable secondary market selling price for your Randy Travis poseable doll is between $17.50 and $20.00. If the doll in the mall is priced within that range, buy it. If above that price, be patient and track eBay auctions. Eventually, you will find an example for $15.00 or less.

QUESTION: I own a Bonnie Braids doll in its period box. It is in fine or better condition. What is its value? – Beaumont, TX, Appraisal Clinic

ANSWER: Bonnie Braids is the first-born biological child of the cartoon characters Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart. She was born in the back seat of a squad car driven by her adopted brother Junior Tracy. Bonnie Braids entered the world with a full head of blonde hair. Upon arriving at the hospital, one of the nurses put ribbons on two braids of her hair and nicknamed her Bonnie Braids. Bonnie Braids made her first comic strip appearance on May 4, 1951. Dick Tracy was opposed to the nickname at first but was not able to find a sufficient substitute.

[Author’s Aside: Prior to the birth of Bonnie Braids, B. O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie, characters in the Dick Tracy cartoon strip, gave birth to Sparkle Plenty in 1947. The Ideal Toy Company immediately manufactured a Sparkle Plenty doll. Price at $5.98, Gimbels in New York sold 10,000 in five days and 22,000 more in the next two weeks. The final sales total for the Sparkle Plenty doll was over 800,000 units.] 

When Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart married, Benjamin Franklin Michtom, chairman of the board of the Ideal Toy Company, immediately began discussion with Gould about the Tracy’s having a baby girl. Gould agreed, to use the title of a popular television show “The Price Was Right.” Ideal wanted to launch the doll within days of the actual comic strip birth. Priced at $6.98, doll production was set at more than 7,000 per day weeks in advance. Gimbels was given exclusive rights in New York City. The Bonnie Braids doll was an immediate success.

Bonny Braids was made with a new “Vinylite” plastic head. Her body was a thin latex rubber known as “magic skin.” When squeezed, the doll coos. When first sold, Bonnie Braids was dressed in a long, white organdy grown with a pink bed jacket. A variation with a pink dress also was marketed. The tag is attached at the bodice seam. The period box top featured comic book panels associated with Bonnie Braid’s birth and a picture of the doll’s face. A tube of Ipana toothpaste and toothbrush was included in the box. A later variation was sold with Bonnie Braids wrapped in a blanket. In 1953, Ideal issued a toddler version of the doll with a soft vinyl head and a hard plastic, jointed walker body.

The Bonnie Braid soft doll head often seeps a mysterious sticky substance. This can be removed with a light grainy cleanser. The rubber skin of the body can darken, become brittle, and develop small crater pock marks. These are irreversible. Collectors are somewhat forgiving when this occurs since her clothing covers her body.

A sale date “Bonnie Braids doll” search on WorthPoint.com, revealed that the box by itself is valued at $20.00. A fair secondary market value for your Bonnie Braids doll and its period box is around $75.00. If the tube of Ipana toothpaste and brush were present, it would increase the value by another $25.00.

QUESTION: I have a Reed and Barton five-piece coffee/tea service consisting of a creamer, sugar, teapot, coffee urn, and under tray. The pieces are marked on the bottom “REED AND BARTON / 1760.” The creamer, sugar, teapot, and coffee urn are engraved. Can you identify my pattern and tell me what my service is worth? – NJ, Bath, OH, Email Question

ANSWER: After reviewing 11 pages of Reed and Barton silver and silver-plated tea services on Replacements.com and doing additional research, I concluded that the shape line used to create your service did not have a formal name and was simply known as “1760.” Reed and Barton’s 1925 shape line is similar in body shape with the exception of a different finial on the top of the teapot.

Your service is silver-plated. Although Reed and Barton did create names for some silver-plated shape lines, this practice was largely reserved for Sterling silver services meant to completement Sterling silver flatware patterns.

Shape describes the body of a piece. Any number of decorative patterns can be added to a shape. Reed and Barton sold the 1760 service with a plain and decorative body. I found listings for the shape with several engraved patterns. Your pieces are engraved with leaf, stems, and floral (tulip-like) designs. The engraved design varies from piece to piece. Reed and Barton also made a pewter version of the 1760 service.

WorthPoint.com has a listing for a standard 1760 six-piece (creamer, sugar, waste bowl, teapot, coffeepot, and undertray) silver-plated service that sold through on eBay on March 13, 2013 for $250.00. A five-piece set sold through on April 3, 2016 for $199.95.

Since your service is silver-plated, it has no metallic melt value. It falls into what Pennsylvania Germans call the “just for nice” category, that is to say, great for display but highly unlikely to be used. Given the current soft to almost non-existent market for silver-plated services, a reasonable secondary market retail price is around $150.00.

QUESTION: I am a postcard collector. Is there extra value attached to my early postcard with a 13-star cancellation and/or the Washington stamp with a 1923 cancellation? – MT, Email Question

ANSWER: The answers are maybe and no. A canceled one-cent Washington stamp has no value. The market is flooded with uncanceled examples.

There are stamp collectors who collect cancellation stampings on letters and postcards. I found two examples currently being offered for sale on eBay featuring 1911 13-Star flag cancellations, one with a buy it now price of $95.00 (1 cent Franklin stamp) and a second with a buy it now price of $295.00 (1 cent Washington stamp). I have to constantly remind myself that anyone can ask any price for anything on eBay. These prices fail to pass my smell test.

Additional research resulted in a website that pictured a page from the “1935 Cyclopedia of U. S. Post Marks, Volume 2” which showed a wide variety of flag cancellations and the comment “definitely not a rare cancel.” This information does smell right. [See: https://www.stampcommunity.org/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=3333.]

My gut tells me the images on the face of the postcards you own have more to do with the value of the cards than the cancellations on the back.

Those who collect postcards and stamp cancellations are welcome to weigh in. Email your comments to harrylrinker@aol.com.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  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, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512.  You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.