On October 17, 2005 Steve King and Janet Rosso started Caboodle! Toys LLC., and exactly 16 months later their first container of Noah’s Pals (lovingly sculpted, beautifully hand-painted animal figures, built to 1:24 scale) shipped from overseas — they were officially in the collectibles business.

Just a few weeks after the February 2007 Toy Fair, where they presented Noah’s Pals to toy lovers, I caught up with Janet and Steve and asked them some questions about their new animal collectibles.

You know I love the concept of animals (they’re cute, affordable, educational, and fun for generations), but why did you choose animals?

Steve: We started out by defining the things we’d like to see in a collection. We wanted it to be educational, optimistic, and non-violent. Then we decided to do some research by talking to collectors — but we never got to that point…

Janet: Steve asked me if I knew anybody that was really into collecting so we could interview them. I jokingly said, “Noah.” After all, he was the first and biggest collector of all time. And with that quick conversation, we decided on Noah’s Pals.

Steve: The beauty of the Noah’s Ark story, how it evokes the beauty in all animals, and its relevance to many of the popular religions in the world including Christianity, Judaism, and Islamism, it seemed like a natural.

It does inspire one to take stewardship of animals and the environment more seriously. But, I have to ask… Why isn’t there a Mrs. Noah?

Janet: Mrs. Noah is coming soon. We plan on introducing her in early 2008.

OK. I was afraid she had missed the ark! How many animals are currently on the ark — in the series?

Janet: Noah’s Pals is our premier collection. All forty pairs of animals, Noah with the doves, and the ark were released at the same time.

Just how does the collectability come into play? Will all 40 animal pair inventory just sell out and that’s that, or is there another plan?

Janet: We’ve noticed that some collectible companies suddenly ‘retire’ a product without warning. We find that this lacks integrity.

Steve: We think that it makes sense to fully disclose the quantity and availability of our collections. It’s the honest thing to do.

Janet: With Noah’s Pals, we’re creating limited editions of those animals that are in danger of becoming extinct. For example, five of our animal pairs are ‘endangered’ and we have decided to only make 10,000 editions. Another ten pairs are ‘vulnerable’ in the wild and we are making 20,000 editions of those. After we’ve produced all of those editions, they will officially become retired.

But there’s a reason to collect the non-endangered, not-so-limited animals too, right? You can register all/any animals to get that Caboodle! And I hear it involves some really rare animals…

Steve: The Caboodle! reward contains several great ‘bonus’ items for the avid Noah’s Pals collector. We decided to offer an ‘extinct’ species of animal with each series. For the first series of forty animals, the Caboodle! includes Derek + Delilah Dodo. They are not for sale, and the only way to earn the pair is to gather the rest of the collection.

So cool — you can only get the extinct species by saving the others. It’s like good karma!

Janet: The Caboodle! also includes a lunch box and a memory card matching game featuring our distinctive animal icons. Plus a few other special surprises too!

Please describe how the registration and reward system works, so folks know just how to get a Caboodle.

Steve: We’ve designed it to be simple as possible. Kids and parents need to first register as a member of Noah’s Crew on NOAHSPALS.com. After that, they just need to visit our online “Check-In Desk” and enter the full ID codes found on the back of their ID Cards. We also have an “offline” Redemption Form that comes with our Arks. Collectors can write the codes on a single sheet of paper and mail it to us to redeem their Caboodle!™

If folks register online, along with the interactive aspects of the website and earning the reward of a Caboodle!™ they can win prizes too. Will these items be limited in anyway and be collectibles themselves?

Janet: The raffle prizes are an extra thank you to our collectors, but they can also be purchased from our online shop. We would hope that the Caboodle! itself becomes a valued collectible.

And there’s interactive fun too — like games, downloads and animal information.

I know you’re still planning to expand the website for registered users… Any plans you can share?

Janet: We’ve compiled a long list of animals and it took us quite some time to decide on the first forty — we’d like to add twenty Noah’s Pals every year. We plan on working with our collectors to choose the animals that will be released in the next series.

Noah’s Pals are adorable and collectible, which I’m completely a fan of, but they are for children and well, kids will be kids… Are Noah’s Pals toys too? What are they made of? Are they fragile?

Janet: Yes, they are toys and meant to be enjoyed! They are made of PVC (stands for polyvinyl chloride), which is simply plastic in lay terms. Our plastic is hard, but not solid. Our products have been extensively tested and meet the safety standards of the United States, Canada, and Europe for children 3+.

I’m curious, what sort of feeback or comments did you receive at the Toy Fair?

Janet: We had several zoo buyers inspect our animals and they just loved the little details we added through sculpting and painting. For example, on our zebra, we added a shadow stripe on their hind quarters to distinguish the plains zebra from other species. They also loved our ID Cards and the educational focus of our line.

Steve: We found that everyone appreciates the “built to scale” aspect of the collection. We’re not the first company to offer animal figures, but apparently we’re one of the first to maintain scale across the animal kingdom.

They sure are beautiful — and I wish you much success!

Janet: We hope Noah’s Pals becomes popular in the collecting community so that we can continue to work together on Noah’s Pals and entirely brand new collections too.

Along with the links included in this interview, Noah’s Pals are found at specialty toy stores, gift boutiques, and zoo shops. If you can’t find them at your local store, contact Steve and Janet at their website and ask them to help you locate a retailer near you.

Just about two years ago Janet Rosso and Steve King, friends since college, were walking by a gift shop when they saw a window full of collectible toys which said, “Collect Them All!” (guess what toys those were Ha!) and Steve and Janet had a conversation which went a little something like this:

Steve: “So, if you ‘Collect Them All,’ what happens?”

Janet: “Nothing.”

Then the two began talking about the nature of collecting — how collectors put time and money into their collections, but to their knowledge, no company did anything special for collectors to reward them.

If you do in fact get them all, your satisfaction is your own and only reward — no one gives you something once you complete it.

Admittedly, satisfaction isn’t a small thing, but the two friends thought collectors deserved ’something’ rather than nothing from the companies which collectors support. Just several months later, both Steve and Janet quit their jobs and became Caboodle! Toys LLC, the first and only company to reward collectors. (Get the whole ‘kit’ and earn ‘caboodles!’)

It’s not just a clever name, folks; it’s a real company that rewards collectors!

Caboodle! Toys LLC. makes Noah’s Pals, a collection of animal toys which are not only cute but educational.

Sold in pairs, as one would expect with the whole ‘ark’ theme, these toys come complete with a collector ID card which provides animal facts — facts which have been confirmed by their philanthropic partner, the Wildlife Conservation Society (the organization receives 5% of net profits).

Noah’s Pals are true collectibles as well because there are limited quantity offerings.

The limited edition Noah’s Pals are of those animals that are in danger of becoming extinct. For example, only 10,000 endangered animal pairs and 20,000 vulnerable animal pairs are being made. Once they’ve produced all of those editions, those animals will officially become retired.

It’s a lesson for collectors to get them while they can, and another all-too-real lesson in our vanishing wildlife.

If you don’t think ‘educational’ is enough of a turn-on for your kids, how does online registration sound?

On the back of each animal’s ID Card, there’s a unique scratch-off code that can be used for online registration at their website which not only allows collectors to create a ‘boarding list’ of all their animals (proof of purchases to earn the free reward Caboodle!™), but the website also allows members to play a game, download a coloring book, and learn more about the animals.

Registered members are also eligible to win prizes. Anyone who registers a Noah’s Pal during a given month, gets a ‘virtual ticket’ in the raffle and becomes eligible for prizes in that month’s drawing. (Currently prizes include some of the goodies from the accessories shop.)

The company and its website are very new (the first toys have just been shipped to retailers) but the company has plans to add more interactivity — similar in addictive concept to Webkinz one imagines.

What I really like about this whole concept, aside from the free rewards (who doesn’t like free stuff?), is the fact that these are real animal toys.

I love that this sort of collecting can be shared by generations — as a mom I know that when I’ve tried to explain to grandparents what the kids want it’s a confusing mess. Grandparents and others can buy animals better because they understand — and can pronounce — ‘bear’ better than some Pokemon or Anime character. It makes for more fun too because everyone can talk about and understand animals and be involved in the collection itself & the collecting process.

And, these collectible animals are affordable — prices range from just $2 to $20 a pair. Now that’s a collection a child (and mom & dad) can afford.

Smitten with this whole idea of a company making collectible animals that engage and educate children and adults alike, I spoke with both Steve and Janet — but you’ll have to wait until Monday for that. *wink*

Though it’s probably not the most informed or organized method of collecting, I do suffer from the occasional impulse to ‘buy a huge lot of things on eBay and figure out what they are later.’ Perhaps it’s the little bit of detective in me, and a little bit of the compulsive, but I’ve recently won a couple of auctions for large lots of unusual records - a set of green, flexible ones and a big box of multicolored recordings for children. While those childrens’ recordings will be addressed later, the subject of today’s inquiry is these odd green records. I just can’t assemble the clues and I need help, folks. I don’t have the miraculous powers of the Dark Knight Detective, or Ralph Dibny, or hell, even Detective Chimp - but at least I don’t have his alcoholism either. Or gamey odor.

Here’s the clues, as I understand them. We have a series of 11 records inside a Capitol Records mailer, all made of very flexible material and green, and marked with a wax pencil of some kind with the dates of recording, almost one each month from June 1961 to June 1962. Since the mailer is postmarked April 1961 (before the dates of the recordings), this leads me to believe these recordings are unrelated to Capitol Records. However, written across the front of the mailer are the words ‘records from Harrison before we taped’, which may or may not relate to the contents of the records themselves. This envelope was mailed to Radio Station WBBF in Rochester, NY, where I presume these recordings were made and stored in whatever envelope they had around. I have a few records from this era that were clearly made in radio stations by amateur voices, so such a practice is not unheard of. While WBBF was an AM rock station through the 1960s, it went through many changes, including being a gospel station, a country station, a sports station, and currently existing as a Spanish language station. Because of this, contacting the station to trace 40 years of history is fairly impossible.

Interestingly, they’re recorded at 33 RPM, and the pitch of the speaker’s voice drops as the needle continues around the record and the revolutions grow shorter.

Of course, the most important evidence is the sounds on the records themselves. I tried to listen long enough to figure out who the voice belonged to, but whoever it is, they managed to fill up 11 45-sized, double sided records with ramblings about building houses and other autobiographical sketches. All I know thus far is that this man likes building houses, is getting a divorce from his wife Vera, and is sending these records to his mother by way of letters.

Please have a listen to these recordings and tell me what you know in the comments section below! Who is Harrison? What was he doing in Rochester? Will I ever solve the Mystery of the Green Discs?

MYSTERY DISC PODCAST!

Anyone who collects china has encountered the ubiquitous Blue Willow pattern. Versions of this pattern have appeared on plates, platters, teapots and other china from all sorts of manufacturers for over 200 years and continue to pop up regularly.  In fact, Blue Willow is the most popular pattern to ever appear on china.

In the 1770s the design was first adapted from a Chinese pattern for a set of china made by the Staffordshire company Coalport Pottery Works.  At the time Chinese themed objects were the trend and the pattern became instantly popular and was copied by other potteries in the region.

The pattern is said to hail originally from China and usually includes images of a willow tree, an apple tree, a pagoda, a bridge, a cottage, a man and woman, and two birds. It tells a love story. There are a few different versions of the story, but it basically goes like this:  There once was a wealthy man who lived in a grand pagoda. This man had a beautiful daughter and had arranged a marriage for her to another older, wealthy man. However, the daughter fell in love with her father’s clerk, a good but poor man. The two lovers eloped, escaping across a bridge, across the sea and settling in a small cottage on a remote island. Enraged, the woman’s father pursued them and finally caught up with them. He was about to have them killed for their betrayal of him, but the gods took pity on them and turned them into two birds, and they flew away, soaring high above their pursuers into the sky, together forever.

Last Saturday, the wifey and I were adventurous and covered a lot of ground in our hunt for the best deals on the rare, obscure, and just plain cool. No content with just going to the thrift shops, or just browsing the antique mall, or fitting in one auction, we did all three.

First stop: Villiard’s auction house. Almost every weekend, Villiard’s holds a consigmnent collectible & antique auction. Despite the consistent calendar, D and I have never gone to one of these auctions — we’ve been to on-location estate auctions, but this one has always slipped by, either because of other commitments or the lack of interest in devoting four or five hours to an auction without any certainty of inventory, and knowing our thin budget is unlikely to get us far bidding against the usual auction crowd.

What we’d failed to remember is auctions are just plain fun. It’s a rummage sale wrapped in the guise of the blackjack tables. The excitement of wondering what to bid on, when to bid, and when — of course — to stop bidding is a blast. The bidding moves fast, keeping the adrenaline coursing through the veins as a constant reminder that decisions need to be made quickly, before we’re out of the game or the price gets too high. Unlike gambling, however, the only time you spend money is when you win a bid. There’s a risk of loss in buying something that’s worth less than you expected, but you can usually be reassured that you’re only paying incrementally more than one other person was willing to pay, so overpaying should be at a minimum.

Auctions, pros & cons:

• Con: Budgeting. We didn’t have a writing utensil, so we had to keep track in our heads of how much we’d spent. Auctions can quickly become unmanageable if you’re not accounting as you go. Nothing’s worse than finding a stack of tags at the cashier’s desk twice the size you expected.
• Pro: ‘too good to pass’ bids. We know that if bidding drops to a couple dollars, we’ll kick ourselves if it — whatever it is — sells for $2 when we could have gotten it for $5. Auctioneers don’t waste their time putting things worth less than $5 or $10 on the block, so you’re assured to come out ahead…and if it really is a dog of a bid, you haven’t lost that much.

We’d arrived at the auction late, so the tables were empty before our budget was spent. Just a half mile down the road from Villiard’s is the Moorhead Antique Mall, probably the nicest antique mall in the area. Of course, half of the customers at the Mall were fellow auction expatriates, but the shop still had far more customers than we’d seen before. The Mall was having a spring sale, so the various dealers had each marked down their booths, ranging from 15% to a surprising 40%. We ran into one dealer, a friend of ours, who was helping out during the sale. She said the Mall was having a banner day, beating their usual sales expectations and the day was barely half over. Deep discounts, and a pocket full of money? This was a dangerous combination, indeed, but we did well to control ourselves. We visit the Moorhead Antique Mall once every few months, long enough to let the booths’ inventory turn over and make it worth our time.

The fun of the antique mall is the climate of a jewelry shop or gift shop. The Mall is clean and brightly lit, and to see the nicest items you need to flag down a store employee carrying an improbably large ring of keys. Things outside of your price range can be picked up, examined closely, then returned to the case with a disapproving knitted brow as though it isn’t good enough for you.

Antique mall, pros and cons:

• Pro: Quality stuff. floorspace in a 10′x10′ booth is a premium, and dealers don’t waste their time with the low-quality stuff.
• Con: Higher prices. Nobody wants to pay retail price, but that’s what most antique store items are marked.
• Pro: Examining the goods. If you’ve gotten in the habit of buying on eBay, you’re gotten too accustomed to the risk of damage in shipping or a misrepresented item. At the retail shop, you can pick it up and turn it around in your hands, and you’re sure of what you’re buying.

Last stop, using the last hour before we had to be home, was the ARC Attic Treasures, a local charity thrift-shop that’s out on the far edge of town, so we don’t make it out there very often. We went with the intention to just ‘look around,’ which, of course, meant that shortly after arriving I had to go get a cart. This is a regular thrift shop, comprised of rummage-sale castoffs, but the prices are reasonable and we usually find a few things.

We don’t usually find the greatest stuff, but what we do find is worth the small price tag to us. Thrift shop finds tend to be fun purchases, as opposed to collection-building. The antique mall rarely carries 1960s scifi novels or mildly-scratched disco albums - and if they do, they’re not priced at less than a buck a piece like the thrift shop.

Thrift shop, pros and cons:

• Pro: Dirt cheap prices. Most thrift shops, including the ARC, are catching on and retaining the help of an appraiser to price their mroe valuable items, but they don’t catch everything.
• Con: poorer quality. The good quality stuff is usually grabbed quickly, so much of their inventory ‘good’ rather than ‘fine.’ They still have the floorspace-premium as antique malls, so they usually don’t put out garbage, but the thrift shop is far less picky than antique dealers.