AutoMobilia, The Collector’s Resource, Reviewed

Review By Pete Vack

I am not an automobilia collector. I’m not in the market, don’t know the market, and couldn’t tell you if something was a fake unless it was labeled as such. I don’t even know how to find the values of automobilia and never watch the auction circuit. An Automobilia Ignoramus if you will.

So when I heard about the new magazine, AutoMobilia, The Collector’s Resource, I didn’t pay a great deal of attention. Then Sharon Spurlin, the magazine’s publisher, sent me the first two issues. And that got my attention.

As I marveled at the eye candy covers (by none other than Michael Furman) and overall superb graphics of this new magazine, I paused and looked around at my taken-for-granted, almost-forgotten surroundings. Over there is a nicely complete set of very select 1:43 Ferrari models; posters line the walls of one room along with a Rome license plate from the 1960s; a full set of Fiat brochures from the 1950s are encased in a frame. An Alfa dealer sign lights another wall. An unbuilt Pocher Alfa is in the closet. A tile from the Ferrari factory is on a bookshelf and of course those shelves are filled with automotive books, collectable and otherwise.

I guess I am collector, in a small way. I might then assume that most car enthusiasts are in the same boat even though we don’t think of ourselves as collectors. But you don’t have to be a collector to get excited about old toys, books or otherwise erstwhile junk. In fact, one of the magazine’s columnists, Peter Bourassa, writes in each issue about being an “Incidental Collector” – not a die hard collector but an enthusiast with collectibles. Collecting classic cars today is probably out of reach for most of us, but since there are thousands of automobilia items sold by dealers and at auction for only several hundred dollars or less, we can afford to be a collector of automobilia, if we have the space. AutoMobilia magazine allows one to delve into the subject, learn, and perhaps become a serious collector with a focus.

Some Quotes from the Dream Team

The experts that grace the pages of AutoMobilia are long-time, verifiable car nut good guys, who have been around forever and maintain sterling reputations. Starting with Editor Marshall Buck, who also writes about scale models, they make the magazine, even though they have an ax in the fire. Their knowledge, superb writing, deep insights and honesty easily transcend the fact that they are in the business. After all, who knows the subjects better?

There are regular columnists like Dale LaFollette, and others are guests. Tom Warth, Ben Horton and Amy Markle all contribute with their immense knowledge of books; Jerry Haussler has a bit on Badges, Steve Austin covers Art, and Allen Spurlin conjures up Retro Pin-Up Girls and of course Tony Singer on posters. Truly a dream team.

And the subjects – wow! Here’s a list from the magazine. The experts will never run out of things to write about, pardon our punctuation: art ashtrays badges brochures books clocks clothing decals diecast toys flags gas station collectables hood ornaments jewelry keys key chains license plates literature magazines mascots patches photographs posters radios sculptures shift knobs tool kits trophies watches are just a few, and remarkably each very specialized with its own dedicated following. The magazine also has features, a great classified ad section, and Auction Reports that list only automobilia. Currently they are publishing the magazine six times a year. Subscription rates are $36 for 6 issues and $59 for 12 issues in the U.S. For overseas rates, check the website. All subscriptions include a free classified ad in print and online.

Asking the experts

Hmmm, these guys are the experts and with my renewed interest in automobilia thanks to the magazine, I now have questions and perhaps they can help. After all, what is a collector’s resource if not a place to get questions answered? It was about that Pocher Alfa 2300 Touring I had in the closet – opened but untouched. But what are these worth today? Might I believe what I see on eBay? How should I sell it or build it? If I build it should I enhance the model or leave it perfectly stock? I sent my questions to Editor Marshall Buck and here is his reply:

Determining value

You have to do a lot of leg work to determine value, and look at many areas. I track a fair number of real car auctions that have good automobilia, many of them have had Pocher kits. In fact, in their recent edition of AutoMobilia under our Auction Reports page, there is a Pocher Rolls Royce kit listed as sold for $230 at RM’s Auburn auction, which is a low price if the kit was complete. Prices are all over the place on these. On eBay I think there is a way to get an idea of what various items have sold for, and if that works, then of course that is one of the best ways to get an idea of price and value, (and still a good place to sell) BUT only for some items like these Pocher kits…. eBay is also a place where “bottom feeders” go to buy, so something may have a greater value than it sells for on eBay. I’ve bought some very valuable models on eBay just because I knew what I was looking at. The real dealers are the ones who often know best. Two sources to help are Brady Ward at www.scaleautoworks.com and possibly Marvin Meit at www.modelmotorcars.com. BOTH of those fellow/dealers are heavily involved with Pocher kits and have been for many years.

Building the Alfa

Build your Pocher Alfa kit if you want to. I do not see these increasing in value overall. Too many were produced for them to have any great value or investment potential. Keep in mind that built up kits of these are VERY difficult to sell, even when expertly built, which is very rare. Most are built to just an ok or mediocre level. If you were to build it, and made the model closer to the real car, and made everything actually fit properly – that would be best, and would actually INCREASE its value. BUT – it must be done really well, and all the parts including the body MUST be painted and painted well. If not painted, it would not have much of a value.

Where and how to sell

In addition to eBay, ads in magazines, sometimes work, (we have a great classified ad section in AutoMobilia) but you would most likely have to run several ads, not really cost effective for this item. Brokers rarely if ever deal in Pochers. If built, sometimes an auction such as Bonhams or RM would work, but there is a good & bad to doing that. One issue is that with RM, it would have to go in as no reserve, but the potential of selling and for MUCH more than on eBay is great, especially if the bidders bar is in full swing!

We also have a website, www.automobiliaresource.com that includes classified ads and alot more…so take a look.

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Finally a word about the Spurlins. Sharon has run Classic Ads, USA for twenty years and one of her largest clients is Classic and Sports Car magazine. She also designs ads for clients such as Ferrari Literature and came up with the VeloceToday tag line, ‘Exclusive Articles about Extraordinary Automobiles.’ Husband Allen is happy to assist in running their Classic Car media business, and now even happier in his role as “AutoMobilia retro pin-up girl finder.” Which brings us to his most recent find, below, from issue number 2 of AutoMobilia.