Retro Collectibles: Vintage 20th-Century Finds, News & Trends
Unleash your inner nostalgia with Retro Collectibles. This is more than just collecting; it’s a vibrant celebration of 20th-century charm. From the sleek lines of mid-century modern decor to the bold colors of 80s ephemera, we dive into the stories that race our hearts and spotlight the icons and oddities that shaped generations.
Comics See Two $1 Million Sales & Rise in Value for Esoteric Book
by Amanda Sheriff & J.C. Vaughn Superman & Batman Debuts Lead Heritage Auction to $22.38M TotalThe two biggest keys in comic book collecting sold for nearly $3 million in Heritage’s ...
Something to Crow About: Amy’s Coop
By Donald-Brian Johnson Minnesota. Maybe you’ve heard it called the “Land of 10,000 lakes.” Ah, but how about the “Land of 10,000 chickens?” The lakes are scattered across the state ...
Thanks For the Memories, Dad
by Barbara Miller Beem Not so very long ago, June was the month for brides, grads, and Dads. But these days, the time when couples are most likely to say ...
Star Wars Toys Achieve New Records & Doctor Doom’s Debut Rises in Value
by Amanda Sheriff and J.C. Vaughn Hake’s Auctions’ Jeff Jacob Action Figure Auction Sets Multiple World RecordsHake’s Auctions hosted the Jeff Jacob Collection Part 4 Auction on February 4, producing ...
The Small Screen: Inside the World of Mid-Century Toy and Novelty TVs
by Douglas R. Kelly Early televisions—those made in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s—have a devoted following among collectors, and rightly so. Like the automobile before it and the Internet after ...
Route 66 Turns 100
by Jessica Kosinski When you think of legendary icons, you might think of anything from your favorite actor to the Egyptian pyramids. What probably doesn’t come to mind immediately is ...
TV Lamps: Lighting Things Up
By Donald-Brian Johnson Peacock shows off his feathers, hiding the bulb behind them. Noble horse head lamp, white with gold accents. Modern swan It’s the mid-1950s. A cozy evening at ...
Comic & Original Art Markets Produced Robust Results in 2025
By Amanda Sheriff and J.C. Vaughn Comic book and comic art sales thrived in 2025, setting multiple records for major key books, the work of top artists, and important moments ...
Board Games: Dice, Tokens, and Memories
by Barbara Miller Beem It’s February, the shortest month of the year, even though sometimes it feels like the longest one. Outside, the weather is frightful. Inside, the fire is ...
Authenticity, Access, and the Case for Manufactured Scarcity
by Laurence Carpenter For much of the twentieth century, scarcity in music memorabilia was accidental rather than designed. Instruments survived by chance, stage costumes were kept or discarded without thought ...
Jowett: Dutch Americans
by Douglas R. Kelly There’s a Dutch maker of toy cars that keeps popping up on my radar screen with new (well, vintage) examples of its output. Best I can ...
My Funny Valentines: Rib-Ticklers, From Topps
Article and photos by Donald-Brian Johnson “You’re my funny Valentine,sweet comic Valentine,you make me smile with my heart!”— Lorenz Hart, 1937 In the musical Babes in Arms, the “Valentine” being ...
Winnie the Pooh Turns 100
by Jessica Kosinski There are a lot of cartoon bears out there, and I love them all. Long before I was a writer, I was a classic TV nut with ...
I Brake for Cruver and Salad Dressing
By Douglas R. Kelly Alright, show of hands: how many of you have finished up a day of antique, artifact, or treasure hunting by bringing your finds into a restaurant ...
Superman #1 CGC 9.0 Sells for $9.12M at Heritage; Sets New World Record
by Amanda Sheriff and J.C. Vaughn The record for the most valuable comic book has been reset. Heritage has sold Superman #1 CGC 9.0—the highest-graded copy of the book—for $9.12 ...
Telephones – History and Collecting
by Jessica Kosinski As a child of the 1980s, I have fond (and not so fond) memories of using rotary telephones. Home phone lines were the norm because, even though ...
Pop Culture’s Big September
By Amanda Sheriff and J.C. Vaughn After the usual late summer doldrums, things have definitely heated up in the worlds of comic book, original comic art, and pop culture auctions ...
More Tiny Chryslers
by Douglas R. Kelly Now, where was I? Before I got sidetracked last issue with a visit to the world of Packard, we were digging into Revell’s H-O scale plastic ...
Horror Soundtracks and Four Color Comics
By Amanda Sheriff and J.C. Vaughn One of the things many horror fans enjoy in fright flicks is the spooky atmosphere bolstered by the uncanny, often jarring music composed for ...
The Timeless Draw of Mid-Century Modern Furniture
by Jessica Kosinski The phrase "Mid-Century Modern" most often refers to goods produced in the middle of the 20th century. Today, the phrase is how we label a certain type ...
The Early Days of Independent Comics: Nexus, Badger, and Whisper
By J.C. Vaughn: President of Gemstone Publishing and Amanda Sheriff: Gemstone’s Editor-Digital. PopCultureSquad.com’s Bob Harrison also contributed to this column. In the early 1980s, there was an explosion of independent—generally ...
In Memoriam: Jim Shooter
by J.C. Vaughn & Amanda Sheriff His comic book career was worthy of the characters whose exploits he detailed. Comic book writer, editor, artist, and publisher, Jim Shooter died on ...
The Vinyl Never Lies: Vintage Music, Memorabilia, and the Stories We Still Want to Hear
by Laurence Carpenter Vintage music is having a moment – and not just in playlists. We’re seeing a resurgence in vinyl, the return of needle-dropped nostalgia, and a spike in ...
A New Beginning: Giant-Size X-Men #1 Turns 50
By J.C. Vaughn, President of Gemstone Publishing and Amanda Sheriff, Gemstone’s Editor-Digital Giant-Size X-Men #1, cover For those who only know the Marvel superhero characters through the movies, TV shows, ...
Vinyl Records and the Meaning of Music Memorabilia: Identity, Beauty, and Belonging
By Shirley M. Mueller, M.D. Music memorabilia—especially vinyl records—serves as more than a nostalgic nod to the past. For many collectors, it is an intricate, deeply personal, and socially meaningful ...
