Wifey tells a story of our first yard sale :

Our little daughters were about five and six and set up a lemonade stand at the end of our driveway. An old gent, scary enough looking as he was, approached the little ladies and shouted, “Got any fobs?”

My assurance that we had none sent him on his way., but the little sweeties, half scared and half curious, wanted to know what a fob was. Explain that to a child!  And explain the interest so many collectors have that drives them to constantly search for that elusive next addition to their collection.

NWFC with John Deere

No, with all the things I do collect, watch fobs are not one of them. That’s not to say I don’t have some hanging around the shed, but it’s not a collection; they’re stock to be sold. That’s my only interest in fobs. From past experience, I know that a good share of interest is generated when I place one up for sale. I had one that featured a John Deere tract-driven tractor dated 1991 and titled “NWFC Show”. A quick e-search lead me to the International Watch Fob Association, Inc. and a response from its president Cubby Winkel.

“We currently have 497 members ranging from all over the USA, New Zealand, Canada & Australia. The majority of our members collect construction related fobs. That  said, we have members who collect only ship related fobs, railroad related fobs, Indian motif fobs, Brewery related fobs, Political related fobs, General Consumer Product fobs, Insurance related fobs and many many other specialties. So, as one can see, we cover the entire spectrum of watch fobs.”

(The 48th year of the world’s largest Watch Fob and Toy Show is on April 27 – 28, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Cleveland Airport, Middleburg Heights, OH.)

“There will be members displaying their collections for attendees to see and there will also be as many as 25 members with display [and] sales tables on the floor. Unquestionably, anybody attending the show, which has free admission, will see more watch fobs on display than they ever thought existed.”

Cubby adds,

“Membership to the IWFAI is a bargain. It costs only $20 annually. For that, one gets two watch fobs : one member fob and one show fob, and each one is specially made each year.  There are also two newsletters.  There is a members-only portion of the website where members can view their newsletters, find valuable information about how to distinguish a valid fob from a counterfeit fob, pictures of many counterfeit fobs produced in the past and website links where members can obtain fobs for their collection.”

When you attend the show, give Cubby a thumbs up and let him know you heard it on Collectors Quest from The Dean.

So that explains the reason for the fob I have. It also explains why we have had success selling fobs over the years. With as many industrial and farm related companies in our state and the surrounding area, names like Cat, Deere, Case, Ingersol, Bucyrus, Harley, Briggs, Nash, Snap-on, P&H & GM are a few of the fobs we are always on the lookout to find. And if their names appear on a fob, well it’s a natural : I will try to bag it for our next big sale.