Stanton's: Review of May 2023 Sale ?

[msherman]

What we are witnessing in the broad phonograph market is simply a function of demographics. Music boxes, antique radios / televisions, U.S. stamps, 1930s-40s antique cars and numerous other areas have all seen declines in recent years, due primarily to the changing tastes of the buying public.

People generally like or collect items from their youth, and many of today’s buyers grew up in the 1970s, 80s and even 90s. Pokemon cards, video games, vintage computers and software, movie collectibles (Star Wars and others), 1960s-70s muscle cars, and other things most of us here would not relate to, are quite hot now.

When I was calling auctions in the mid 1980s, large three-dial battery radios from the early and mid 1920s routinely brought $150-$250 dollars. In recent radio auctions, they open at $35, and no one raises their hand. Why? Because few buyers today remember large battery radios. You would have to be over 100 years old to have used one when it was new. No one now relates.

The supply of common phonographs (Victrola IVs, VI, IX, XI, Edison Standards, Homes and Triumphs, and many Columbia disc and cylinder players simply exceeds demand at this point. In fact, if you read old classified ads from the Antique Phonograph Monthly from the mid 1970s, you’ll see Standards and Homes advertised for $200-$300. That’s about what they’re worth today - but factoring in inflation, they would have to be worth about $1,100-$1,700 just to keep pace. (Remember a nice new car could be bought for $5,000 in 1975.)

Now, rare items are generally a different story. There are still a sufficient number of collectors with money who want to own the finest and rarest items. There is no supply-demand imbalance for these items – demand exceeds the very tiny supply for nearly all of these.

Remember, price or value remains a function of supply and demand, and demand remains a function of demographics. The phonograph hobby’s best chance for long term prosperity is to attract and keep a new generation interested in the history of recorded sound.

[Granby]

I have enjoyed reading this post and concur with the responses. My family has dabbled in the antiques business since the 1990s and are now retired from buying/selling. We just "collect" at this point.... and it never ends... LOL

We enjoyed being a little ahead of the curve. Back in the days, we bought Aluminum Christmas Trees, Blow Molds, Pyrex, and 1950's furniture when nobody else would bid. I have family members that bought Jadite colored Fire King before Martha Stewart had it and it got trendy. We have boxes of green depression glass that we just recently decided to sell, luckily, because green depression glass is coming back into popularity. 10 year ago, I couldn't get an auctioneer to come pick it up - wasn't worth his time. Antiques go "up and down" and, as one previous poster put it, the market is driven by the generation who remembers the item from their childhood and has the discretionary income to buy said them. The same thing happens with collector cars. Trust me, when the generation that grew up in the 1990s obtains wealth, classic Honda Civics will be the hot item!

Enough of my rambling! To the point from the original poster.... here is an opinion from a "casual observer." Phonograph prices are down. Sorry, but they are. I am buying some pretty cool machines in my part of the country for awkwardly low prices. Unless you have an early machine sought after by multiple collectors, the price realized at an auction isn't going to be good right now. Truth....

My house is full and I don't know what else to do, I can't save them all. Maybe, if they get featured on some hit TV show or some celebrity takes an interest, the market will drastically turn upwards. But, for now, it appears to be a "niche" hobby that we all enjoy for the love of it and the history, not any monetary gain. I still like them....

[JerryVan]

I have enjoyed reading this post and concur with the responses. My family has dabbled in the antiques business since the 1990s and are now retired from buying/selling. We just "collect" at this point.... and it never ends... LOL

We enjoyed being a little ahead of the curve. Back in the days, we bought Aluminum Christmas Trees, Blow Molds, Pyrex...

When oh when will Avon bottles make their return to popularity?!?


(Never, I hope.)