Questions and Answers

QUESTION: Around 1998 I was shopping in Ollie’s discount store in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area and came across what I thought was a great bargain—a Cabbage Patch doll marked down from $30.00 to $12.00.  Because I have a couple of granddaughters, I bought it, took it home, stored it in a closet, waited for the right time to give it to one of them, and forgot about it.  Recently I cleaned out that closet and found it.  Now my granddaughters are too old, but I do have a great granddaughter.  My cabbage patch doll is a special edition 1996 Olympic doll.  It is in its period box, untouched by a little girl’s hand.  With two additional Olympic Games having taken place, I thought it might be worth more than your average Cabbage Patch doll.  Should I continue to save it or just let my great-granddaughter rip into the box for her prize?  --  TH, E-mail Question, Allentown, PA area

ANSWER: Remember Rinker’s Thirty Year Rule, “For the first thirty years of anything’s life, all its value is speculative.”  Less than ten years have passed since your doll was issued.  Ten is a far cry from thirty.

Xavier Roberts created the first Cabbage Patch dolls, known initially as “Little People,” in 1977.  Borrowing $400.00 using his Visa card, Roberts started Babyland Hospital, a manufacturing operation in which workers stitched the faces for his dolls.  Roberts sold his dolls at area craft shows.  From the beginning, he demanded that customers adopt, rather than buy, his dolls.  Roberts sold over 500,000 unmarked dolls produced at his Babyland Hospital.

In 1962 Coleco was granted a license to mass produce Roberts’ creation, renaming the doll as a Cabbage Patch Kid.  When Coleco ceased operations in 1989, Hasbro received the license for the manufacture of Cabbage Patch Kids.

In respect to a Cabbage Patch Kid, whether made by Babyland, Coleco, or Hasbro, the complete unit is the doll, birth certificate, adoption papers, name tag, period box, and all the packaging in the box.  Because of the quantity made, in excess of seventy-five million, supply exceeds demand, thus resulting in a very volatile secondary market.

Izzy was the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games mascot.  Equity Marketing produced a variety of sizes of an all cloth doll dressed in over-sized red shoes.  Coleco marketed a Cabbage Patch Olympic Kid doll.  Jordan Jessica was dressed in a red, white and blue swimsuit featuring the five-ring Olympic symbol.  Sales were moderate at best.

The Cabbage Patch Olympic Kid doll appears for sale regularly on eBay at the rate of between fifteen and twenty per month.  Mint-in-the-box examples sell for between $10.00 and $15.00.

Turn the doll over to your great-granddaughter and let her enjoy it.

QUESTION: I am writing about some 45 rpm records I own.  They are Disc Jockey copies from the mid- to late 1960s.  The center rings contain a variety of markings—Disc Jockey Copy, Promotional Copy, Audition Copy, or Advanced Release.  A few have the “plug side” indicated.  Amy, Checker, Diamond, Laurie, Mala, and Verve are a few of the music distributors.  Artists include Carole Bennett, The Birdwatchers, The Chantels, Jerry and the Pacemakers, and Del Shannon.  They are all in good shape.  Should I save them or just fan them out on the coffee table as conversation pieces?  --   EB, Neffs, PA

ANSWER: Jerry Osborne’s The Official Price Guide to Records 2001, Fifteenth Edition (House of Collectibles, 2001, 900 pages, $25.95) provides this background information about Promotional Issues: “Separate documenting and pricing of promotional issues is, in most cases, unnecessary.  Because most of the records issued during the primary four decades covered in this guide were simultaneously pressed for promotional purposes, a separate listing of them would theoretically double the size of an already large book.

“Rather, we’ve chosen to list promotional copies separately when we have the knowledge that an alternate price (either higher or lower) consistently is asked for them.  For the most part, promos of everyday releases will fall into the same range—usually toward the high end—given for store stock copies.  Some may stretch the range slightly, but not enough to warrant separate pricing.  Premiums may be paid for promos that have different (longer, shorter, differently mixed, etc.) versions of tunes, even though the artist may not be particularly hot in the collecting marketplace.

“When identified as a ‘Promotional issue,’ we are usually describing a record with a special promotional (‘Not For Sale,’ ‘Dee Jay Copy,’ etc.) label or sleeve, and not a designate promo.  Designate promos are identical to commercial releases, except they have been rubber or mechanically stamped, stickered, written on by hand, or in some way altered to accommodate their use for promotional purposes…”

The no need for separate pricing applies to the copies you have.  Osborne’s book contained no separate listings for records by The Birdwatchers, Carole Bennett, The Chantels, Del Shannon, or The Pacemakers.  Most records for these groups are valued between $8.00 and $15.00.

An eBay search of Dee Jay copies produced much lower values.  Realistically, your records have a value between $3.00 and $4.00 per record. 

QUESTION: I picked up two pictures, each with the name Margaret Ann Gaug in one of the bottom corners.  The first pictures a black poodle bent down on his front legs and wearing a red collar.  The second portrays a black poodle in a seated position.  There is also a red flower in the upper left corner of each picture.  The prints are old and in their period black frames.  Can you give me any information about these?  --  MS, E-mail Question

ANSWER: I found the following information about Margaret Ann Gaug (Chicago, 1909-1983) on the website, www.artoftheprint.com: “A fine post-war Chicago artist, Margaret Ann Gaug was known for her decorations, illustrative art, but most particularly, for her etchings.  Studying at the Academy of Art in Chicago, Gaug first began to exhibit her art in 1945.  During the following years, she both illustrated books and designed greeting cards.  National recognition, however, developed mostly with Gaug’s fine etchings and she won awards with the Chicago Society of Etchers in both 1950 and 1955.  Major institutions, which now include Gaug’s etchings in their permanent collections, include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Brussels Museum of Fine Arts, Belgium, the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian in Washington.”

Obviously, Gaug also produced art for commercial mass-production.  Poodle-theme items ranging from lamps to skirts were popular during the mid- to late 1950s.  Your two prints are inexpensive decorative wall hangings.

Gaug poodle prints appear for sale on eBay, albeit more lots fail to obtain an opening bid or meet reserve than achieve final sale.  Two pairs of poodle prints, each with an opening bid of $19.99 for the pair, failed to sell.  A framed and matted single print of a seated French poodle measuring 18in by 15in did realize $18.50.

You did not indicate the size of your prints in your letter.  Size is an issue—the larger the print, the greater the value assuming the condition is equal.

The value of your pair of prints is between $25.00 and $30.00 with at least half the value a result of the fact that they are framed.

QUESTION: I am trying to find Dukes of Hazards memorabilia.  My boyfriend loved Dukes of Hazards as a child and owned the Dukes of Hazards racetrack.  I have searched eBay and cannot seem to find it.  I would love to purchase this as a future wedding gift for him.  That day is not around the corner, but I figured I would start searching now.  Can you help?  --  DM, E-mail Question

ANSWER: I am glad to help.  Your problem is a simple one.  You are using the wrong spelling.  Try searching eBay using “Dukes of Hazzard” – two “z(s)” and no “s.”  When I did an eBay search using “Dukes of Hazzard,” I found 763 listings for a nine-day period.

Further, I did a general Internet search consisting of “dukes of hazzard” +memorabilia and found close to seventy individual websites with information relating to the Dukes of Hazzard television show.  The website, www.dukesonline.com, contains a detailed list of Dukes of Hazzard licensed product.  The website, www.tvtoys.com/dukesofhazzard, offers individuals a chance to “purchase new and vintage Dukes of Hazzard toys and memorabilia as well as other items related to the stars of the show…”

You need to be aware that there were several Dukes of Hazzard racetrack sets, among which were a speed jumper (electric slot car) set, a stunt buster set, and a big jumper set.  Ideal manufactured the speed jumper set.

Since you have time, be patient.  Take the time to comparison shop.  Make certain the set you buy is complete and in fine or better condition.  Do not fall into the trap and assume you can buy two incomplete sets to make a complete one.  Usually, it takes a purchase of three to four units to assemble a complete unit.

Good luck with your search.

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 rinkeron@fast.net.  Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

Home & Garden Television (HGTV) currently lists COLLECTOR INSPECTOR as on hiatus from January 1 through March 30, 2005.  Whether or not it returns as reruns in April depends entirely on HGTV.
 

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