COLLECTING PINBALL MACHINES




Pinball is loud, tacky and fun. Pinball is as authentic a slice of true Americana. When videogames became popular the pinball machine was relegated to the background.
Some fututrist would have predicted that pinball machines saw it's last days. Just like what people said television would kill the movies. But the stratopheric returns at the box office nowadays make the movies here to stay.

Pinball Games

Vintage pinball game like the coin operated pinball was born in 1931. Classic pinball games such as Whiffle Board, Baffleball, Dutch Pool, Jostle and El Bumpo were popular in the thirties.

Pinball mavens today may think The Simpsons, Dr. Dude and Funhouse are fine pinball games but they say they lack the feel of such classics as Slick Chick or Magic City
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Pinball Reborn

Pinball Machines were banned during the late thirties up to the early forties especially in large cities. At the time,pinball were considered the way, candy store owners ripped off the kids out of their lunch money.

The movie Tommy was Hollywood's vehicle for the comeback of pinball machines. For a time pinball was enjoying a renaissance. Such classic games as Wizard, Eight Ball, Space Mission and Evel Knievel were also popular.

Pinball was pushed out of the limelight in the eighties when videogames like Space Invaders and Pac Man were such huge hits( I can very well remember that time). Pinball has a tendency to fall into the background when something new comes along.

Most Collectible Pinball Machine

The '72 Bally Pinball in good condition can rack up to almost five figures but a classic pinball machine is inexpensive to acquire for as little few hundred dollars.

Highly prized pinball paraphernalia like vintage pinball parts, catalogues and schematic drawings of pinball circuitry are also desirably collectible.

Why Pinball Games?

Today a pinball game seems like so much trouble when you have satellite dishes, dvd players and high speed internet. But what is it, that has sustained pinball's popularity over the years? Some people say it's an escape. Its exciting. Each ball plays differently from the last ball. It's not like videogames where you know what's going to happen.

As you may all know, pinball is wacky and spirited. A lot of fun to be around but a little embarassing to be seen with, for it has no sophistication yet it has no pretensions. It has no French terminology or obscene etiquette. Pinball is all about tactile and visceral pleasures.

Pinball designers purposely give players an average of forty eight seconds of play per ball. So people with short attention span , go play pinball !

To find out more collectible items always visit Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.

COLLECTING FOUNTAIN PENS





Welcome To Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.

I became aware of the beauty of the fountain pen at such an early age when i saw my mother owned and used one. It was black in color with green stripes. I knew how the fountain pen was refilled with ink. My mother's fountain pen was probably not collectible vintage fountain pen but for me, it was. Because it enhanced my mother's beautiful handwriting.

In this day and age of email, laser printers, text messages etc. you would probably think why would anyone use a fountain pen, ink, much less stationery and stamps? The old reliable fountain pen might run dry and leak or worst yet it doesn't have spell check.
Moreover when France's Bic led the ballpoint pen revolution the fountain pen's existence was doomed. True, ball point pen costs almost nothing compared to fountain pens. But ballpoint pens are low in style.

Although a dedicated elite collectors kept using fountain pens. They kept browsing flea markets and antique stores. Consequently, the love affair with collectible vintage fountain pen was "consummated" so to speak. Ultimately creating a hot market for collectors and investors.

The silver and black resin de Medici originally priced at $1,600 was introdued by Montblanc in 1972. It is the first of the 4810 limited edition pens. Thus systematic collecting of these rare and collectible fountain pens started.

You know as well as i do that, serious collectors are capable of irrational exuberance and extravagance, making the demand for these fountain pens higher than the supply. A steady rise in value of these fountain pens are likely.

A Parker fountain pen called the "Big Red Doufold" was made in the '20s originally priced at $5.00. Eighty years later, the Parker fountain pen in good condition would bring $500 or more.

There are also limited edtiion fountain pens that replicate the actual pen used by legendary figures at significant moment in history such as Douglas MacArthur model issued by Parker. It replicated the fountain pen the General used to sign the Japanese surrender documents at the end of World War ll. This originally sold by Parker in 1995 for $850.

Montblanc also introduced a series of pens named after popular writers like Ernest Hemingway, Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens. Each has a distinctive design and are enviably solid investments.

Fountain Pen Collecting Tips

If you contemplate on collecting vintage fountain pens, advise by the experts would be: Don't start going after pens that are hardest to fiind. Instead buy new issues of limited editions at reasonable prices. Wait and watch as your investments will surely proved profitable in due time.

Displaying Your Collection

You can display your collection of fountain pens in a wooden box or leather case. You can also keep them shrink wrapped for years to pass on to your heir or you can use them for the pleasure they bring. It' all up to you.

Mint condition fountain pens will be worth a little more in the end. But a pen you write with, if well cared for, may have a little more romance about it. Maybe it's been used to write a love letter, an intimate diary or signing a mortgage.

A good fountain pen is an essential part of anyone's wardrobe. When you whip out an impressive fountain pen like a Montblanc Diplomat out of your jacket pocket, people pay attention. It is an illustration of what the idea of quintessence is all about.

To find out more collectible items always visit Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.

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