
Identify label types and registry marks to date collectibles, using examples from USDA, FDA, and nutrition labeling. Learn to read logos and furniture leg styles to determine origin and era.
Explore collectible firsts across pottery, porcelain, and promotional mascots, trace the history of premiums and toys, and learn authentic detailing to verify a piece’s origin.
Trace a timeline of cereal mascots and premiums, revealing how mascot changes and name shifts drive collectible value across brands like Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam.
Learn how to buy and sell antiques and future collectibles with autograph authenticity checks, wood aging tests, provenance records, and scam awareness to protect your collection.
Learn to buy and sell collectibles with price negotiation, authenticity checks, and valuation using patents, maker’s marks, and country of origin, plus online and in-person selling, and consumer protection rules.
Explore the collectibles community through transportation, hobby, medical, food and beverage, crime, animal, and houseware and hardware museum collections, highlighting notable showcases and why collectors connect.
Discover how museums showcase collectibles—from dolls and toys to holiday museums—reexamining history through artifacts and engaging exhibits.
Meet Charlotte Hopkins, a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer and author of nine books, with a passion for collecting penguin's wooden boxes, miniatures, journals, magic eight balls, and key chains.
Step into the world of Super Collectors! Whether you are a new collector or adding on to a valued collection, HowExpert Guide to Collectibles: 101 Tips to Find, Buy, Sell, and Collect Collectibles, is a must-have book that will follow you through the stages of becoming a Super Collector!
Starting a collection is more than a hobby; for many, it is a lifestyle. It starts with receiving an item that invokes the curiosity and starts a passion for wanting to learn more. On the pathway of collecting, there is a community of people that share that same joy. This community of peer groups is made up of fan clubs, conventions, and even holidays, like National Slinky Day, on August 30th.
Inside this guide, readers will find advice on starting and building a collection, cleaning antiques and collectibles, checking for authenticity, and the best advice on buying and selling collectibles. Readers will learn to spot the difference between a collectible and an antique and a replica from an original.
As an added bonus, there is the best information on museums and peer groups from across the country. Everything a collector needs to know can be found on the pages of HowExpert Guide to Collectibles: 101 Tips to Find, Buy, Sell, and Collect Collectibles.
About the Expert
Charlotte Hopkins is a freelance writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who has been published in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. She is the author of nine books, including her children's books, featuring Pixie Trist and Bo, and her "365 Days" series. She has been published in a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites. She was also published three times in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, the Shadows & Light Anthology, and Authors for Haiti. She is also a collector of several items. Her first collection was keychains, and today she collects penguins, wooden boxes, miniatures (including miniature books), Magic 8 Balls, journals, and wooden boxes. She just started another collection – pen cups! She has a fondness for writing, photography, astrology, history, museums, and everything purple.