Antiques Roadshow US

Don't waste your time unless you are sure you have something very valuable, and then don't be so sure. We brought antiques to be appraised and felt snookered into waiting much longer than we were led to believe we would have to wait. You are given a time to enter and are led to a very long line. That line took about 2 hours. Toward the end of the line I asked how much longer we'd have to wait and was told "five minutes." Thinking we had finally got to where we would have our objects appraised, we were led to another two-hour line. If you wanted two items of different types appraised, you had to join yet another two-hour line for the second item. At the end of our 4-hour wait, we were told that our object was worth very little. We learned that an object may be 100 years old, but if it wasn't worth much to begin with, it still isn't. I could have taken it in to an appraiser, paid a little money, and found that out without the four-hour wait, not to mention the time spent to get to and from the venue where the event was held. Most people had their objects packed so you see very little of what other people are bringing, so there really is not much fun in it. Save yourself the trouble.

This show is actually derived from a British show of the same name produced by the BBC that began in 1979. The name "Antiques Roadshow" (the American PBS version) is somewhat of a misnomer as an antique is generally defined as an artifact dating before 1900. The showcased artifacts come under the larger umbrella term "collectibles". A collectible is essentially any item that has some kind of premium value above and beyond what it either originally sold for and/or an item of exceptional quality and/or rarity. Often that can mean an older item but not always.

For example, there are hundred-year old items, such as Bibles from the late 1800's that are worth only $10 to 20 (low demand versus high quantity) while there are lamps and chairs by influential designers from the 1960's that are worth $10,000's. Ancient coins 1500+ years old are actually quite numerous (millions of them exist) and many can be obtained for only a few dollars. Simultaneously, a Tiffani lamp from about 100 years ago can fetch from $50,000 to $150,000. The age of the item does not necessarily predict its worth, although the older an item, the more likely less of them still exist. An item's market value depends upon what it is, its condition, how many of them survive, and what kind of demand there is with the last factor being the most determining. Items of scarcity with little or no demand still can't compete with items of more numerous quantity in which the demand is very high.

One of the criticisms of this show is that some of the appraisals seem high, and a few up in the stratosphere. Viewers should keep in mind that these appraisals are only estimates, and the appraisers are advertising themselves and their services. Collectible items have a way of fluctuating up-and-down depending upon current market trends. As of this writing in Fall of 2009, many collectibles have dipped in value (some by as much as 40%) as a result of the current economic instability. An item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it despite popular misconception that artifacts have intrinsic worth except in regards to heirlooms and personal items that are priceless to a particular family or group. Just because an artifact or premium item sold for such-and-such an amount in the past does not mean they will necessarily realize it in the future, but that information can be used to approximate a current value. And there are a few items whose collectible values have receded over the years because demand has lessened; this appears to be the exception and not the rule. And of course, there is always the problem of fakes and facsimiles, and the experts have many ways to tell the difference.

The dealer-appraisers on the show are constantly looking for new clients who have premium items to sell and/or consign on the collectibles-antiques market. When these appraisers and dealers say "auction", they are usually referring to the very well-publicized high-end international auctions, such as Christies and Sothebys. There are numerous smaller auctions around the United States, and not all of them can fetch the kind of money realized by the international houses. Also, a few of these people are high-end dealers who own a shop and/or company, some of whose clients are household names, like financial magnate Donald Trump and football celebrity Joe Montana who collect Ancient Roman and Greek artifacts from antiquity. So while an item might realize $100,000 at a Sotheby's auction, a smaller auction in a smaller community may only be able to realize a fraction thereof.

After having watched the show religiously for going on 5 years, I gather that many of the people who bring their items to the show are unaware of the vastness of the collectibles-antiques market and how much money it makes every year. A few participants are flabbergasted when the painting they were going to throw away is appraised at between $50,000 to $100,000. Most of the participants have modest incomes, and couldn't imagine paying the kind of money that some of these items are worth. Some of the best moments are the appraisals of items that were found at yard sales and thrift shops for under $100 (sometimes under $20) that turn out to be worth a small fortune. On the other side of the spectrum, there are the fakes and facsimiles, some of which are almost indistinguishable from authentic pieces. There have been a handful of participants who have been duped into paying good money for an item that, after close scrutiny by the expert, lacks authenticity, some of which were specifically designed to deceive well-intentioned buyers. Buyer beware!

Without having been to the Roadshow, I would venture that 90% of the items brought have little value, under $100 in other words. Of that 10%, probably 90% of those are in the $100 to $1000 range. And then there is the cream of the crop, items that have serious value, which probably represents less than 1% of all the items brought to the show. It is these items that are showcased on the television broadcast, although my understanding is that having one of these items does not guarantee a spot.

The main point of the show, I think, is that there are many collectible items that are still out there. You don't have to go to Christie's and Sotheby's to find some of these things if you are of more modest means. Certainly, you are probably not going to find a Rembrandt or a Da Vinci at a Salvation Army Thrist Store, but you might find something that is worth much more than the asking price. And don't pay good money for items unless the dealer's reputation is well documented. Do not collect for value alone which could be disappointing in years to come. The golden rule of collecting is to collect what you enjoy.

In all the episodes, I never saw any real action or drama or comedy.

The plot is so repetitive.

****Somebody gets something old and then somebody else tells them a little bit about it and how much it's worth and who made it and where it comes from and how much it could sell for and if there was any work done to it.

Sowhile I watched about 30 of these, i realized...there is no drama....nobody ever loses a limb or life or gets divorced or hit by a car or air-plane.

There are no car chases or explosions- not even a horse race with old carriages.

All those guns and swords and nobody goes on a violent killing spree...what gives? No pshycos, no axe-murders, no-gun-totting old Englishmen in bad suits...just yap yap yap...you have an old tea set and it came from the country of Germany back in 1602 - blah blah blah...

I'm still waiting for somebody with a time machine to go on screen and ask about it, but no...it never comes to be and the only thing that happens is that some stuffy Englishman or woman serves up some crap about something old being sold in Boston or China during the Ming Dynasty - big EFFIN deal.

Can't anybody ever kidnap one of the leads and hold them for ransom? Is there no alien spacecraft that will obliterate the entire floor? Who the hell writes this stuff as a series and expects us to stay awake? This is about as entertaining as watching paint dry - only with commentary.

There's no sex, there's no comedy or romance, no action, no suspense, no action, no drama, no mystery or martial arts.

This show sucks! What ever happened to supermodels wearing thongs and spewing lasers from a futuristic weapon? Antiques Roadshow - More like grab a blanket and pillow and go to sleep show...

The fun bits of this show that gives you a free appraisal of that thingamajig that you got out of Aunt Mabel's attic is when 1) it turns out to be very rare and/or valuable, 2) when it has an interesting history even when the monetary worth is minimal, or 3) it is a complete fake and the viewer learns, "Buyer Beware!", and the owner is (we hope for his sake) thankful that he only paid a few dollars at a flea market for it.

The appraisers always seem very happy when they are able to deliver good news to the person and quite consoling when the occasional fraud turns up.

Roadshow, while it does nothing to compensate the original artisans who created these works (they presumably were compensated at original manufacture?), does help the rest of us who might discover a potential windfall in our attic. The show's long run has actually HURT the rich antique collectors in the sense that hundreds of thousands of everyday people now know what these pieces are worth, and they are not as easily duped by the proliferation of unscrupulous dealers.

To say that we should completely forsake collectibles in favor of buying new goods is to say that we should never place a premium on quality and craftsmanship, for that is the common thread. We should be happy with a few new music discs or movies, rather than have a large collection of great and classic material purchased used.

There is room for both, and this is another example of where we need balance in our lives. Besides, it is great entertainment!