DON'T RUSH INTO BUYING MICHAEL JACKSON MEMORABILIA

A word of warning: 70 percent of the Michael Jackson autographs on eBay are forged or printed signatures, according to the International Autograph Collectors Club & Dealers Alliance (ADA-CC). Celebrities sometimes earn more dead than alive. Elvis Presley, the world's top-earning dead celebrity (so far), earned $52 million last year, according to Forbes magazine. Much of the money made by dead celebrities comes from music or art they created while alive. But some is from "manufactured" memorabilia, like visits to Graceland, souvenirs, use of the name and image, limited editions, jewelry, and more. But experts say that common Jackson memorabilia that has been going up in price will probably go down. One-of-a-kind items like costumes should stay high-priced. People were trying to scalp Michael Jackson's funeral tickets as soon as they were issued. They're another piece of memorabilia that some think will go up in price because only a limited number were printed.

COLLECTORS VS. THE ECONOMY

Collectors vs. The Economy

Collectors should be able to survive a bad economy better than most. We are used to buying "used" things. Antiques and collectibles are all recycled parts of the best of the past. Buying good "used" furniture from consignment shops or a Salvation Army store is a challenge, but a knowing collector can search and find a worthwhile antique. Vintage clothing is praised by our friends and we brag about shopping at secondhand stores. We are trained to barter and negotiate prices by our years of buying at flea markets. Now it is acceptable to use the same money-saving techniques at local department stores. And of course we understand the financial gains from a garage sale, cashing in old gold and silver, and redecorating by refinishing, painting, and reworking some inexpensive "finds." We learned to repair our antiques, so we have always balked at buying a new blender when an old one can be made to work. We already like to cook from scratch, so let's do everything the old-fashioned way. Let's "waste not--want not." And don’t forget to clip grocery coupons and make the kids turn off the lights when they leave a room.

BAD AND GOOD NEWS FOR COLLECTORS

The economy is the big news, and for collectors it is both good and bad. Bad for dealers, because customers at shows are spending less and prices are down for many items. Good because while the best-of-the-best is selling at higher prices, collectors of good-but-not-great items in the "under $1,000" range can get buys. But the best news is that your collection didn't become worthless like Lehman Brothers stock. You still have an asset you can sell if you need money soon. Your collection is like a savings account. You put money into it instead of into a golf game, a fancy dinner, or clothes. It is still there and can be sold--if not for a profit, at least for something. It is an emergency fund. We know of collections that have sent kids to college, paid the mortgage, financed a stay in a nursing home, or repaired a car. And someday you can buy other antiques to fill the empty space.

COLLECTORS TIP FROM ONE OF OUR READERS

Collectors tip from one of our readers

It is fairly easy to discern ivory if you know what it does NOT look like.

Cast resin whale teeth or other cast resin pieces usually have tiny burst bubbles in them that leave small round depressions in the surface. Also, the cavity in the bottom of the tooth will not be deep and will not mirror the contour of the outside. Best test is to hold the item about 2 inches over a stove burner. As it heats up it gives off a noxious plastic odor.

Bone, which is organic, will normally show either a uniform blanched white surface or numerous tiny parallel lines. If you hold bone over a stove burner, as it heats up it will begin to smell like chicken bones left on a barbecue grill.

Ivory, regardless of the animal it comes from, normally has some apparent wavy grain like woodgrain that you can find someplace on the surface. If the object includes the entire round tusk, you can see crosshatching just inside the outer "skin". If held over a stove burner, it will give off the same smell as bone as it heats up.

On fake scrimshaw, the "engraving" and artificial scarring are the same shallow depth. A fake whale tooth generally also shows parallel saw marks across the bottom (open end).

Collectors tip from one of our readers--Dr. Jerome C. Ford from http://www.iovinc.com/