collecting blogs

If you’re like most antique collectors, you look at antique auctions online and wonder if you’ll ever buy from them. It’s not that the prices aren’t good; they are often better than what you can find at local tag sales and antique auctions. It’s not that the quality of the products is in doubt – many online dealers have excellent reputations and guarantee what they sell.

However, the one thing that is missing for some of us who love antiques is the hunt – where’s the fun of discovery when you simply look for things online? Well, we’re here to tell you the hunt is still very much alive, especially when you use a live online antique auction.

The Problem with Traditional Online Auctions

If you’ve considered buying from antiques auctions online in the past, odds are you’ve looked at eBay or one of the many copycats, perhaps some of those that specialize in antiques. However, all of these are, in essence, silent auctions and they lose a little something for many of us who collect antiques. Much of the love is lost because there is no thrill of discovery and even the thrill of winning out in feverish bidding is often snatched away from us because so many people use bid sniping services which swoop in during the last 10 seconds of an auction and place a bid that no one else can outdo just in order to discourage competition.

The Hunt is On

Live online auctions are a different animal entirely though. Unlike the eBay stores that we know will always have the ancient coins or the antique silver because they are run by galleries who specialize in those things, when you look at a live auction online, you are in essence seeing a tag sale ported entirely to the Internet.

Nothing is ever the same because these companies deal primarily with estate sales, clearing out someone’s home when they pass away, or clearing out a business office when it closes down. Therefore, there is always something new and unique to discover each week when another auction is held and the hunt is definitely very much back on.

Bidding is the Same

But what of the bidding? That too is just like the real experience. First of all, when you go to a live auction, there is a real, live auctioneer who holds a local state license to operate an auction. You are not dealing with someone working from their home who knows little or nothing about the object.

Second, you are guaranteed the same kind of real and fair bidding that you see at a live auction since no one can swoop in and place a last second bid which steals an object away from you. In essence, live antique auctions online are, as we said, is an exact replica of the physical experience, just on the Internet.

Same Guarantees as Traditional Auctions

Finally, just like a traditional auction house, an online auction house does some research on the objects they will be presenting and they usually prepare a catalog (albeit an online catalog as opposed to a printed one). If they state that an object is a genuine 19th century antique and it later turns out to be a fake, they will take it back and give you a refund, just like a real auction house.

About the Author

To view and bid live in upcoming live auctions, visit http://www.icollector.com. William J. Walberg is a freelance writer who writes articles in the auction and technology industries.

On the last Valentine day, Thomas Sachs opened his front door and found a five-year-old girl standing on the doorstep. The little, homely and shy girl was wearing a gauze miniskirt. (See its picture attached to the right) “My name’s Labella!” she said in soft and sweet voice. At that time, Sachs was put more in mind of a teenager prostitute that he once saw in Thailand. There wasn’t much difference between the two girls’ outfits in his eyes…
www.milanoo.comThat’s the very beginning of a newly published novel Lolita Effect and so begins our discussion on men’s Lolita Fashion Complex, a critique of the modern obsession with prematurely sexualizing young girls. We have seen what Lolita Fashion Complex has caused – push-up bras for teenagers, pink plastic “Peekaboo Pole Dancing” kit and “Eye Candy” T-shirts were sold everywhere, and you can easily find these Lolita items at Tesco, milanoo, lolitaway and many other online & offline stores. Moreover, magazines tutoring young girls to get Lolita-like look so as to pander to men’s specific taste are flooding in the market.
Who would counteract the “Lolita Fashion Complex”? Maybe people led by school-uniformed Britney Spears in the Baby One More Time video, a regular fixture on the media landscape. They believe that girls should be shielded from sexual offend due to men’s Lolita Complex while others disagree with them because they think girls don’t need “rescuing” from that. Rather, girls should be encouraged that it is their right to enjoy it, thus reclaiming their sexuality from a culture that increasingly positions them as passive, objectified sex kittens who are not encouraged to actually want sex or get any pleasure from it. What we should do, say the later people, is to empower them to see how skewed marketing messages manipulate females to reach the impossible beauty standard- the Barbie body – as the only way to be charming.
However, their opponents can’t support them at all. On the contrary, they argue that “Lolita Fashion Complex” seems to be taking off globally simply because the Lolita goods industry is profitable. A billion-pound industry of female model, cosmetics, Lolita fashion dress and plastic surgery depends upon it, making millions of girls develop a false “self “too early in their lives. “The Lolita Fashion Complex begins with the premise that teenager girls are sexual beings,” say the anti-Lolita people, “As they mature they deserve to be educated with factual, appropriate and useful information about sex and sexuality, but not in the Lolita way.”
In contradiction from the anti-Lolita people, Lolita advocators are more likely to think sex is not a “forbidden area”. They hold the option that sex is a normal and healthy part of life, even of teenagers’ lives and young girls should grow up without being afraid of getting certain knowledge about their bodies, making themselves confident about finding and expressing sexual pleasure. Nevertheless, that is surely not to encourage under-age sex though they believes that non-coercive sex between teenagers is not automatically harmful, which deserves more public discourse on it. “I think that a lot of girls under 16 have sexual feelings. My belief is that the longer they wait, the better they’ll deal with it as you will be more capable of thinking through the consequences”, the Lolita advocators say, “But we shouldn’t though be so terrified of the idea that kids are thinking about it because it really is a very normal part of adolescence.”
Well, the red-hot debate between the above-mentioned two groups of people seems to be ever lasting, whether you are a Lolita Fashion advocator or not. It must be admitted that men’s Lolita Complex has caused countless social problems such as sexual offend, teenager pregnancy and abortion. But we should also admit that all of those problems are not merely due to Lolita Fashion in the last analysis. After all, just like many other fashion trends, Lolita Fashion is one of them. Teenagers tend to get Lolita-Like outfit simply because they want to show their cuteness, youth energy and innocence. So, why can’t we hold a tolerate attitude to the Lolita advocators?
www.milanoo.com

About the Author

freelance

Hermit crab behavior can vary signifcantly from one individual to another. If you own several, I am sure you will have recognised that fact that each individual has its own personality and traits to go with it. A good indication of whether you are buying a suitable hermie for a pet is to observe the hermie’s personality and habits when it is inside its shell. Now I know this sounds a bit dumb, but you can tell a lot about a hermie by how he reacts when he is placed on your upturned palm. If he comes out fairly quickly then the signs are good because he is obviously quite curious and relaxed around humans. If he comes out after a while, making clicking noises, then he is curious, yet frightened, which is not a bad thing. However, if he comes out clicking and tries to pinch, then he is aggressive and probably would take a lot of taming in order to make a good pet.

Another way to guage the hermie’s personality is by introducing them to other hermits and seeing how they react. A friendly hermie will use his feelers to gently touch another hermie’s feelers whereas an aggressive hermie will lunge towards the doorway of another hermie, spoiling for a fight. It is, however, normal hermie habits and practices for a large group to be observed pushing and climbing over and under each other. This is more like playing and is pretty harmless behavior.

Digging and climbing are normal hermie practices both in the wild and in captivity. It is important, therefore, to create a home from home and ensure that your crab has sufficient sand in which to dig and that he has a supply of rocks, shells, wood and plants in which to climb and explore. If your pet hermie seems to be digging feverishly, then he may well be about to molt which again is normal crab behavior and vital if he is to grow in size.

Nocturnal activites are very much part of normal hermie practice and go a long way to explaining how a neat and tidy crabitat is totally trashed by the morning! Hermies tend to remain fairly inactive during the day and may well emerge on mass around sunset. If you keep several of the crawly critters it can be fun to watch all of the activities taking place. Some of them will make a mad dash for their food and water bowls whilst others will be feverishly going round the tank looking for places of possible escape. Resourceful crabs will be eating food that they had hidden away for later, whilst other more “fashion conscience” crabs will be trying on different shells. Quite often, your crabs will all pile on top of each other in an effort to get to the top of their tank and this will explain why their climbing frame is laying on its side in the morning. Crabs can certainly wreak havoc in numbers!

Hopefully this has covered a lot of common ground with regards to hermit crab behavior but you can find a lot more detailed information in my website.

About the Author

Tod Schaffer is a Hermit Crab enthusiast who has vast experience of raising Hermit Crabs. For more information about Hermit Crab Behavior, Visit Hermit Crabs.

Joy Toys began production in the 1920s. The early teddies were fully jointed, made of mohair and with woodwool stuffing and glass eyes.

By the 1930s, the neck joints were no longer movable. It was also then that the ‘Joy Toys nose’ was first used, wherein an outer stitch on each side was made longer than the rest of the nose stitches. Kapok was used as the stuffing. Dolls were also produced, often made with cloth-mask faces and felt bodies.

The happy joy toys teddy bear smile first appeared on the teddies from the 1950s. Still jointed, the arms and legs were stumpier, with synthetic mohair blends or synthetic plush being popular fabrics. Animals, with the same sweet expression, were also manufactured, in a great range of shapes. As German bears had been the predominant imports, these early Joy Toys bears looked alot like German bears

During the 1960s, the machine-washable teddy was developed. Completely unjointed, of synthetic fur, they originally had glass eyes, but soon after were made with click-lock plastic safety eyes.

Lines bought the Australian Joy-Toys Ltd factory at Whangarei, New Zealand and founded Lines Bros (NZ) Ltd. A large new factory was later built in Auckland where Pedigree soft toys “Made in NZ” were produced.

When tariffs were removed on imported toys by the Australian government, Joy Toys was unable to compete with the influx of cheap Asian toys, and sadly closed its doors in 1976.

Labels:
The labels used by Joy Toys varied, according to the date the toy was produced.
-1920s-40s-green embroidered.
-1950s-60s-green printed.
-1960s-70s-red or purple printed.

Values:
The earliest teddies are now valued between $250 – $1200. Those from the 1970s, though, can be bought for between $30 – $100. Mohair dogs from the 1940s or 50s are valued from $60 – $110 whereas newer versions in synthetic fabrics are purchasable for under $20!

About the Author

For more about collectible teddy bears and stuffed toys visit my site.

Greenhouse is a plastic or glass building that has a glass or plastic roof, and is used to grow plants. The incoming solar radiations heat up the soils, plants and other things inside the greenhouse, and the heated up air is retained inside by the walls and roof. The size of greenhouse can vary drastically, and it can be as small as a shed, or as big as a large building. The productivity and efficiency of the greenhouse is mainly dependent on the type of structure used, and each structure has advantages and disadvantages of its own.

Greenhouse management involves taking care of greenhouse heating requirement, growing pH and media, diagnosing nutritional deficiencies, fertilizing crops, monitoring the quality of irrigation water, irrigating the crops, managing soluble salts, treating irrigation water and treating and recycling irrigation runoff. The cost involved in purchasing the heating equipment and operating it is high, and badly designed system can be disastrous to the plants. Coal, oil and gas, are the main sources of alternative energy used in the greenhouse, and the choice is largely dependent on availability and economics. For commercial greenhouse production, many different types of thermostats and environmental controllers can be used.

One of the most critical aspects of producing the greenhouse crops is to provide the adequate nutrition. The plant growth is based on the frequency of fertilizer applications. In some cases, the nutrients are added at the peak perlids of growth, but regular feed of soluble fertilizer at each irrigation is also good for optimum plant growth. Diagnosing the nutritional deficiencies is critical to maintain the optimum plant growth, and the symptoms are usually dependent on the stage of growth, species of the plant and many other controlling factors.

The production of nursery and greenhouse crops is also dependent on the quality of water being used for irrigation. Presence of soluble salts in irrigation water is a big limiting factor in the production of greenhouse crops, and some situations may require drastic action. In order to optimize fertility and reduce the adverse effects of high pH/alkalinity in the water, it can be treated by injecting acid. In the greenhouse industry, there is always a threat of potential contamination of surface and groundwater, and greenhouse managers rely heavily on the use of pesticides and fertilizers to get good quality crops.

The production of crops in the greenhouse gets affected by presence of excessive soluble salts that result from bad quality of irrigation water, however, these salts can be managed so that their effect on the crops can be minimized. To develop an effective irrigation plan, the irrigation manager needs to carefully create a balance between the growing medium and needs of the plant. There is always a pressure to conserve water which is forcing the growers to use mixes capable of holding large volumes of water, but, the potential hazards of overwatering are very acute.

About the Author

Dennis C. Onputtha is an article marketer in association with PLRPro the world’s #1 content provider. Providing informative articles on hobby ideas and product review for hobbies lover. Visit www.hobbiesideas.com for more detail.

Coin collecting shops with a physical presence are few and far between. Unless they are lucky enough to live in a major town with a coin supply store or could come across a rare find in a pawnbrokers, numismatists were once confined to either waiting for their local coin club to put on a coin collecting show or traveling to the big city. The Internet has changed all this, and several coin collecting shops now have online presences. In this article, we will look at a few of the biggest.

The Coin Shop

The Coin Shop has the distinction of being the first coin collecting shop to trade online, having started its website in 1994, back when the only people with Internet access were university students, the military and a few hardcore techies. It prides itself on the accurate grading and fair pricing of its products, from the common to the rare, and also supplies wholesale.

The Coin Shop’s website has sections on state quarters, dollar coins, Euros, obsolete coins and ancient and medieval coins. It also sells books and software for coin collectors.

Lynn Coins

Lynn Coins is a Tennessee-based coin collecting shop that has been in business for over 30 years. It has two websites, lynncoins.com and LynnCoins.net. The former is the older of the two sites. It has a rather old-fashioned, cluttered design that makes it rather difficult to navigate, but contains a lot of informational content that has not yet been migrated to the new site.

LynnCoins.net is much more attractive to look at, but only contains the catalog part of the old site at the time of writing. It is probably advisable to look at both sites to make sure that the item you want is on there.

About Coin Collecting

About Coin Collecting is not so much a coin collecting shop as an informational website run by the Auburn, Maine based jewelry store Republic Jewelry, that also links to their coin catalog. Their wealth of introductory articles on the history of coins and the art of coin collecting make the site the ideal first stop for the novice coin collector.

The site seems to only carry US coins, but they also sell related items such as coin folders, price guides and even state quarter teddy bears, embroidered with each state’s name and date of entry to the union, with a clear vinyl pocket to store that state’s quarter.

About the Author

If you love this article, you will also love another article written by this article’s author on coin counter machine and coin sorter wrapper.

When purchasing your first scalextric sets we advise to purchase the largest set for your budget. As this will provide you with the most track for your money. As you can never have enough track.

There are two different types of Scalextric available.

1/ Scalextric sport the basic standard Scalextric set. The Analogue sets are based on the same principals as the first sets that where made 50 years ago when it all first started

2/ Scalextric Digital This type of sets offer up to 6 cars to race on the track at any one time.

Scalextric Sport

This type of track is the most simple and is suitable for all ages especially suited for ages 6-9, Prices start from £30 – £150

In 2004 Scalextric brought out there new set layouts to make their layouts simple and easy to expand.

X-1 this is a small figure of 8 with a 90 degree crossover.

X-2 is an extended figure of 8 with elevated crossover and 2 90 degree racing curves.

X-3 Track is a large figure of 8 with both sides of the loops extended, with elevated crossover and 90 degree curves as per the X-2 track just is slightly larger.

All of these tracks can easily be extended by the track extension packs 1,2,3 and the Ultimate Extension, these packs represent good value for money if you are looking to expand your circuit.

If you have the older type track that was made prior to 2002 you will require the Scalextric Sport converter track(C8222). These items come in packs of two and are used to connect old sections of track to the new sports track. You simply put one of the half straight converters at either end of the old track then continue with the new type track.

Is the newest way to race, you can race up to 6 cars on the two lane track, This track has selectable lane changes all operated from your digital hand throttle. We would recommend for ages 9-90. Its great fun for all the family. Starter sets are available from £120 – £250. It is simple to set up, all you need to do is plug in the hand throttle and place the car on the track then hold the button on the powerbase for a few seconds to register that car to the hand throttle. Then repeat this for every car you wish to race on the track.

In 2009 Scalextric are re-releasing their 6 car power base (in the 2nd quarter of the year), early models had some technical issues so they was withdrawn, so be careful if you are purchasing one of the older models.

Scalextric have a basic conversion set that contains all you need except the cars so you can decide what cars you want. or even convert your own cars, you have you may only need the digital Plug to convert your existing car to digital and these only retail for around £9 or choose from our large range of scalextric digital cars that are available. The conversion of a standard car to digital is easy if it is digital plug ready and only a screwdriver is required. However most cars can be converted dating back to 1957 by using the conversion chips these come it two types one for saloon cars and one for F1 cars. A soldering iron will be required to fit this correctly.

If you are converting to digital make sure you have enough of the correct lane change track pieces so they do not direct the cars to one lane and leave the cars on that one lane of track, so are unable to move to the other lane. The most simple was to resolve this is to use the straight lane change as this is the only piece of track that you can change lane from either side.

About the Author

Owner of slot car website and keen racer

The Passion Of a Model Train Kit

Can you imagine the feeling…

You rush home from the local model shop. You tear open the wrapping on the box. Excitedly your fingers shaking you join together all the different pieces of the track into a nice oval. You put the train on the track and you lovingly watch it go round and round.

The little wheels whirring in a frenzy with the noise that only a model train can make, the lights on, the whistle blowing and the smoke blowing from the funnel…

Oh the days of trains gone by!

If this feels like joy to you then keep on reading as we are both involved in the same passion.

The Model Train Kit is our passion!

When I was about 14, I bought my first model and all those exciting feelings described above were what kept me interested. After getting my box open and building tunnels with chairs, books and just about anything I could find, I had my train whizzing around the room, but just like anything else, the initial excitement wears off and I got a bit bored watching the train going round and round on the oval.

I wanted more and that is when it all started to go wrong. I wanted a bigger track. I wanted more trains. I wanted more lights. I wanted more.

And as everything got bigger, so did my financial problems and to top it all, my trains stopped running for some reason and when they ran I had to push them to get started and they shot off at full speed derailing at the first corner.

Is this happening to you? Do you understand how frustrating it is? I don’t know about you, but I wanted to quit.

But Stop!

All of these problems have a solution.

As your first model train kit grows, so does the power requirements and normally there are two reasons the trains stop. Dirty tracks or lack of sufficient power to the tracks.

As the track grows, so does the power requirements. The power cannot always reach every part of the track and so the trains stop. If the tracks are not clean then the contact is not good and again the train stops.

All of this can be solved with a little work.

If the train keeps derailing (is it the passenger trains?) it maybe because the track is too tight and that is why the shorter good and freight trains stay on the track.

There are actually 4 different types of track available and choosing the wrong one may have negative effects on your track.

If your model train kit stops on a hill, it maybe because the gradient is over 2 degrees. This is the optimal angle and if you have it more, you may have problems.

The larger trains also have more wheels and this also consumes more power, so if your smaller trains work, but your larger ones do not this is probably the problem.

If you feel like giving up, do not give in without getting specialist help first. All of your problems can be solved normally very easily and following a few simple steps will give you a wonderful looking model train kit.

About the Author

Tim Bennett has been in love with model train kits for over 30 years and is now giving away a free 10 day mini-course designed to help you build the best looking model train kit around. Grab it now and get started!

Lord Nelson Pottery was a British pottery that specialized in the creation of jugs and other tableware.

Lord Nelson Pottery is the trade name used by Elijah Cotton Ltd. Elijah Cotton founded Lord Nelson Pottery in 1885. Noted for his great individuality and his driven nature, he grew the business significantly. The family tradition survived two generations. After his father’s death, Edward Cotton took the helm of the growing firm. Arthur, Edward’s younger brother took that position in later years and was assisted in later years by his son Nigel.
Lord Nelson Pottery was and always will be celebrated for its creation of jugs. They are skilled with an expertise in making beautiful jugs. The company became the largest manufacturer of jugs in the world. Jugs of all sizes were made, from miniatures holding 3 ounces to a giant jug carrying ten pints. An example of the beautiful jugs offered by Lord Nelson Pottery is a jug with the Kaleidoscope pattern. It resembles chintz. The creamy off-white background contrasts the small octagon and oval shapes. The colors are soft; pink, light yellow, faint blue and light green with off-white centers are so pretty in this piece.
A great variety of jugs were offered by Lord Nelson Pottery. A beautiful piece of Lord Nelson Pottery jugs is the Blue and White Syrup Custard Jug Pitcher. It stands 5 ½” tall and is 6 ½” wide from spout to outside handle. It is a classic piece in a classic shape. Another great piece was the Lord Nelson Ware Elijah Cotton Toby Jug. This depicted the head and neck of a bearded captain. The facial details were astounding; the nose, eyes and mouth are realistic. The Toby jar has a prominent yellow glaze with only a few color accents such as a red medal on the captain’s hat.
Lord Nelson Pottery only made an extensive range of most kinds of earthenware, including tea and nursery ware and a wide variety of ‘Fancies’.
Lord Nelson Pottery also used chintz in its design. Chintz is pottery covered with a heavy, all-over pattern of flowers. Occasionally, other objects would replace flowers. The chintz pattern is put on by transfer printing. Chintz patterns were popular between the 1920s to the 1950s. An example of this style was reflected in Lord Nelson briar rose pattern. The chintz cup and saucer showcased red, pink, yellow and blue flowers with a pretty green speckled background. Gold trim edged the piece. Another lovely floral chintz pattern by Lord Nelson Pottery was the Marina. Made in the 1930s, it featured an art deco shape. Beautiful orange flowers with touches of blue and yellow adorn the cup and saucer.
Exporting is a very important segment of Lord Nelson Pottery’s business. The major countries to which their products are exported include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

The factory has grown tremendously over the last fifty years. The factory has tripled in size. The output has also tripled with very high production levels.

Lord Nelson Pottery remains a favorite among collectors.

About the Author

Blake is the owner of a website featuring all British pottery, including great deals on Lord Nelson Pottery.

American dimes coins incorporated many designs since its debut. This article shows how they evolved in 20th century.

Barber Dime
This design came in 1902. This design actually came to be known after its designer. As Charles Barber came up with the design while serving the US Mint as the Chief Engraver, his work earned him considerable fame worldwide.

At that time, quarters as well as half-dollars shared this design. But history suggests that this design was an aftermath of widespread internal politics on who will be awarded with the design job.

This design, just like the design of other American dime coins, featured an inspiring Liberty on its obverse. She appears to be wearing a medium sized Phrygian cap, and a crafty laurel wreath that had a ribbon.

The headband of the inscription read “LIBERTY”. This is the inscription earmarking the Barber dimes. Researchers found that there were two main sources of Liberty’s portrait.

The first one was from French coins, while the second one was from glorifying medals of that era along with earliest Greek or Roman sculpture. The reverse depicted a wreath as usual.

Winged Liberty Head

This was probably the beginning of Mercury dimes when this design came in 1916. Though this was alternatively known to be Mercury dimes, the design did not feature anything on the Roman gods.

The obverse had a figure that depicted the legendary goddess called Liberty who wore a typical Phrygian cap, which happened to be a traditional sign of freedom. The wings of the goddess were meant to signify freedom of human thought.

This design however came from Adolph Weinman, a renowned sculptor. This design is esteemed by most people as among the most good-looking coin designs America has ever produced.

Roosevelt Dimes

This design came in 1946, following the death of legendary President Roosevelt. This design was chosen for commemorating Roosevelt.

About the Author

Richard Kohler is an internet entrepreneur and owns various websites including one with information about Coins. Feel free to visit the American Dimes Coins to learn more.