The Collectors

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1. Ridiculously Oversized Things
Giant sales displays from stores are fun and make a graphic statement no one will miss. Especially popular are outsized items like a “scissors for a tailor shop or a ship model from a boatyard,” says Bill Spicer of Bill Spicer Auction Company in Exeter. “I had a display with huge jackknives. Of course they were plastic, but they were removable, and they opened and closed. It brought a lot of money.” Expect to pay more than $1,000 for something like that, but a two-foot-long pair of metal scissors sold on eBay recently for a more economical $20, and a 1940s Pepsi sign shaped like a forty-inch bottle cap went for $150.

2. Linens and Textiles
Another hot commodity is antique bed linens used as drapes. They’re simple, have a soft and fluid hand and, often, subtle embroidery or woven patterns and handmade trim that just aren’t manufactured anymore. Other vintage textiles that are big now include early 1900s linen panels ($75 and up per panel) and tablecloths ($30 and up) with Arts and Crafts or Art Deco embroidered or appliqued designs. If they’re not in prime condition, follow Martha Stewart’s lead and repurpose them into fabulous one-of-a-kind furniture slipcovers.

3. Vintage Pottery
After all these years, people still love pot. Um, we mean pots. Art pottery rules, led by early 1900s makers like Weller and Rookwood ($50 to $500 for a vase), and Roseville ($350 for a jardiniere). Majolica is an immortal fave that runs from $10 for a basic flowered plate to $100-plus for more over-the-top pieces, like a lion-handled vase. Colorful Hall pitchers and teapots from the first half of the 1900s ($15 to $150, depending on style, decade and color) are a decorating slam dunk, because they complement any period style. Antique redware rocks, too, especially eighteenth- and nineteenth- century pieces (from $15 for a simple glazed jar to $1,300 for a big slipware bowl with a fluted edge — and a hairline crack!). Honest wear isn’t a condition issue, but a chip, crack or missing part (one piece of a set, say, or the lid from a jar or sugar bowl) is a legitimate point of downward price negotiation.

4. Culture Icon Lunchboxes
Vintage lunchboxes make awesome displays (and for some, awesome purses!). TV show varieties like 1955 Davy Crockett, 1966 Flipper, 1968 Archies, 1973 Osmonds and 1977 Wonder Woman models go for $30 to $60. A 1971 Barbie lunchbox now costs about $30, and a 1967 GI Joe will set you back $80. A 1954 Superman lunchbox recently sold on eBay for $344. Prices will be on the high end for examples that are rare, mint, and/or still have the thermos.

5. Mid-Century Kitchen Kitsch
As childhood nostalgia overtakes baby boomers, so go housewares from the 1940s to the 1970s. Dish towels printed with schmaltzy inspirational sayings or state travel themes are fun and practical. They also make tasty cafe curtains. Old milk bottles dress a windowsill in a sparkly way ($10 to $65) and double as flower vases. String and yarn holders are resurgent, too, the most popular being advertising figures (like the Morton Salt Girl), cartoonish animals, and hat-wearing characters such as chefs and Dutch children ($10 to $75). Salt shaker sets such as chicken/rooster, kissing dogs/ mice/fish, Snoopy and Kewpie are also hot ($5 to $25/set). Remember those goofy ceramic “lady head” vases your mom or grandma loved? They’re back too, big time, and the more jewelry and headgear, the better ($20 to $120).

6. Antique Bookends
Early decorative bookends are big now, especially “anything nautical-looking, or that looks like horses,” says Charles Duksta of the Richmond Antique Center. He notes that signed Bradley and Hubbard pieces are particularly popular. If pirate ships, leaping dolphins or snorting stallions are your thing, somebody made bookends out of ’em. In terms of desirability, what they’re made from (typically metal, wood, stone, ceramic or some combination thereof) isn’t as important as craftsmanship and maker. Some to look for are Frankart, Roycroft, Hubley, Leducq, Ruhl, Carl Aubock, Heintz and Jennings Brothers. Top examples run $30 to $550 per pair, although a cool chalkware cowboy set sold on eBay for $10 (and the OJ Simpson football one got nada).

7. Novelty Cookie Jars
They’re utilitarian and great eye candy, too. Depending on subject matter, age, condition and manufacturer (McCoy and Hull, for instance, always command a premium), vintage jars range from about $15 to $50 for generic cats and clowns, to $50 to $100 for branded critters like a Shawnee Puss ’n’ Boots or Smiley Pig. You’ll pay $100-plus for 1940s Black Americana figures and Disney characters such as Bambi, by American Bisque. But 1970s Star Wars models are catching up, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and R2D2 now commanding $40 to $60.

8. Speaking of Star Wars...
It’s the franchise that won’t die, partly because the toys are so stylin’. Prices of the 1970s’ stuff keep climbing. Vintage action figures of Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Stormtroopers go for $16 to $40. A Millennium Falcon or Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer play set ($46 to $60) make fine conversation starters (still!). Complete your vintage arms collection with a Han Solo blaster ($27 to $30) or Jedi light saber ($50 to $65). And then there are the posters: Originals (not reprints) from the first two films cost $150 and more at auction. A twenty-seven-by forty-one-inch mint Empire Strikes Back from 1980 sold this year for $305, and a thirty-by-forty U.K. version sold for $222. If you’re just in it for the look, reprints of those as well as original posters from later installments (tomorrow’s collectibles?) are readily available ($10 to $30). Tip: Vintage toys are more money (and arguably less fun) if they’re mint or in the original package.

9. Old Advertising Signs
Old wooden shop signs have taken off like a bottle rocket. “Anything from the 1920s through 1940s is very popular,” says Spicer. Look for colorful paint, artful lettering and fanciful contours. A fish-shaped wooden bait shop sign or painted metal gas station sign runs about $40 to $100. Painted metal 3-D moon-shaped signs once used by hotels can cost upwards of $200. If neon’s more your thing, an electric Centlivre Beer pub sign made between 1940 and 1960 sold at auction recently for $1,475.

10. Stained Glass Windows
Their appeal has as much to do with versatility as beauty. Aside from the obvious use, they make great cabinet doors and room dividers, and can sub for drapes in existing windows just by propping them on the sill. Elaborate, colorful examples from the late 1800s — particularly Tiffany, Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Mission styles — are frontrunners. Especially desirable are those with flowers, heraldic shields, church themes, portraiture or fantasy characters such as gnomes and griffins. Expect to pay from $50 to $1,500 per window depending on age, size, provenance and detail of workmanship.