Welcome to the WCN Collecting Articles and Features Channel dedicated to all things related to collecting, antiques, pottery, vintage toys, dolls, teddy bears, memorabilia, books, comics, figurines and everything else collectable. Our aim is to provide collectors with information on all aspects of antiques and collecting, from identifying and valuing antiques, to tips on starting and growing a collection, and to featured collectible histories.
We feature hundreds of articles and features on all aspects of collecting, written by experts in the field. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just getting started, we hope you’ll find something of interest here. Thanks for reading! You can also search for articles using the magnifying glass to the top right of the web site.
Toy boxes suddenly started to smell delicious in 1980! Delicious fruity scents of cherry, lemon, raspberry, blueberry, lime and – most of all – strawberry filled our homes. Here was a toy we really didn’t mind buying for our children. The perfume drifted from a series of dolls, of various […]
The Knickerbocker Toy Company, with its roots stretching back to the late 19th century, is a significant chapter in the history of American toy manufacturing. Founded in 1869 by a family of Dutch immigrants originally named Van Whye, the company began as a small operation in Albany, New York. The […]
Collecting Little Orphan Annie Dolls – When the Annie musical first hit London, in 1978, following on from the Broadway production a year before, it was a smash-hit. It gave numerous young girls a chance to shine, amongst them a very youthful Catherine Zeta Jones, who played the lead role […]
The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker is a lesser-known work by the renowned author of “Dracula.” It was first published in 1911. It was adapted to film by Ken Russell in 1988. We take a look at Stoker’s book and Ken Russell’ s cult film, taking a […]
Clarice Cliff and The Age of Jazz Figures – In the vibrant tapestry of the 1930s, a period effervescent with the innovative beats of jazz, Clarice Cliff’s The Age of Jazz ceramic series emerges as a striking representation of the era’s artistic fervour. This series, infused with the rhythmic essence […]
Stan Woodpecker Dodds, born in 1928 and passing in 2012, carved a niche for himself in the world of English craftsmanship, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with the enchanting lore of Yorkshire’s ‘Critter’ craftsmen. This esteemed group of designer-makers, either trained in the workshop of Robert Thompson or inspired by […]
A look at the Spot-On Tommy Spot Gift Sets – The Spot-On range by Tri-ang was a popular line of diecast model vehicles produced in Northern Ireland by Tri-ang, a division of the Lines Brothers company, which was active during the 1950s and 1960s. They produced a number of gifts […]
In the annals of tabletop role-playing games, few series have captivated and challenged players like the S-Series modules of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D S1-S4 Modules). Released between 1978 and 1982, these four adventures—Tomb of Horrors (S1), White Plume Mountain (S2), Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (S3), and The Lost […]
“The Wiz,” a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, is an enduring piece of Motown’s cinematic legacy that reimagines L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” within an African-American cultural context. Directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Motown Productions in collaboration with Universal […]
The Martin Brothers Pottery, founded at Pomona House, Fulham, London, in 1873 and relocated to Southall in 1877, represents a significant chapter in the narrative of British ceramics. Among the quartet of brothers—Walter Fraser, Edwin, Charles, and Robert Wallace Martin—it was Robert, the chief modeler and designer, who left an […]
