Garden Path Collectibles
Sane Halloween Observer Like a bit of everything these days, a collectibles onlooker might wonder if second-hand markets are touched by the effects of social (dis)information, as we find ourselves led down the garden path toward curious acquisitions. (Other entries discussing the jumbled landscape of assumption, visibility, and resale include: Bloody Paper Cuts , Time Capsule Ghosts , Yesterday's Prices at Today's Auctions , Diecut Bubble? , Diecut Bubble 2 , as well as entry one which outlined issues of market engineering - Sane Halloween Observers ). While the activity of resale itself is not in question, we are however in an era when experts and promoters tossed out the conflict-of-interest rulebook to instead shake hands with sellers (not always with examination of wares) at the crossroads. Overall result - altered, improperly dated, and mis-identified items reaching escalated prices without censure. Example one: the two skulls above were shorn of their