Antique Bears
There is a surprisingly large amount of people who collect antique bears. Obviously with the emergence of the Internet exchanges of this sort have been irreversibly made easier. Places like eBay (an online auction house) are filled with people buying, selling, and trading antiques of all sorts, including teddy bears.
The virtue of this type of a collection is so superb. Antique bears can actually rise quite high in value. For instance, many people would love to get their hands on some old Steiff bears if they only could. This is the original teddy bear and it is very darling (and very collectible). But there are many other avenues that someone can go down in their pursuit. Some of the other options include Schuco bears, Bing, Chad Valley, and ideal. This is only a partial list. Every year a new manufacturer rises to prominence with some new twist on the old bears. It is very exciting.
In the vintage space you still do have to be on the lookout at least a little bit for frauds and counterfeits. This is no new problem, however. Why do you think Steiff originally put the button in their teddy bears’ ears? It wasn’t to be cute (although it is that). In fact it was to provide an extra line of protection against dishonest people who would try to pass fake bears off as the real thing. Therefore I thought a warning was appropriate here. Just because it is a cuddly little animal that does not mean they aren’t predators out there hawking them in the stores and online.
Now, if you are new to the antique bears world, then I will give you a few pointers here. First of all, you will want to get an idea of the standard pricing models that are out there. Even if you are not planning to try to make a profit and are indeed in it for the love, you should still become familiar with auction and garage sale fair prices. Otherwise you are a lot more likely to be burned. Getting a collectors’ reference book can be helpful, as can watching completed auctions on eBay or elsewhere online.
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 RARE Antique Steiff Teddy Bear CENTER SEAM Sweet Ethel  US $2,995.00
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 DOLL OR TEDDY BEAR EYES LOT OF 50 ANTIQUE SHOE BUTTONS US $9.49
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 MARVELOUS ANTIQUE HERMANN TEDDY BEAR 40s US $49.00
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 ENCHANTING ANTIQUE MOHAIR TEDDY BEAR 40s US $205.00
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 STUNNING ANTIQUE PETZ TEDDY BEAR 30s US $213.00
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In the end, the money you can make should only be a secondary consideration in pursuing the upkeep of your antique bears collection. Much better is to get in it for the love of this cute and cuddly creature. From there your knowledge will naturally flow and you will know a deal the second you spot it.
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