Alvin & the Chipmunks Puppets, ca. 1958
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GUEST:
These are the Chipmunks: Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. And I have them because my father-in-law made these puppets, and he performed with them on the Ed Sullivan Show, and as far as I know, also on American Bandstand with Dick Clark. He also had other puppets and puppet shows, and he had a children's television puppet show. But when they passed, the whole collection came to our house, all these puppets, and we had to do something with them. But we held on to the Chipmunks.
APPRAISER:
How did you store them when you had them in the house?
GUEST:
Oh, you probably don't want to hear that.
APPRAISER:
In a place of great honor, or...
GUEST:
No, in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet… We had a lot of puppet things for a long time, and we just didn't have room. And we didn't know, and... I mean, we kind of knew to be careful with them, but no, they were not in a place of great honor.
APPRAISER:
So they're finally, after all these years, getting a day out on the town in New York. And the interesting thing about this is that the Chipmunks were created by, stage name, Dave Seville, which was Ross Bagdasarian.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And he was an entertainer and a singer. And then he stepped up into the puppeteering with the Chipmunks. And interestingly enough, he sang his songs, and then he fast-forwarded them onto the... however they did it, reel to reel, or... and that came up with the squeaky chipmunk voices. Did your dad know Dave Seville?
GUEST:
It was my father-in-law, actually-- my husband's father.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
Yes, he worked with Dave Seville for years.
APPRAISER:
When you look at puppets in general, general terms, not very valuable. The puppet market and puppet collectors, it's not big money involved. However, when you're looking at something that's iconic... and I use that word meaning these are items that in history, people are going to look at this show and they're going to say, "I remember that day, it was 1958 and I was watching Ed Sullivan, and up came the Chipmunks." And the other thing you have to put in perspective is that the Chipmunks... not that these are living creatures, but they were the first animated singing group that had a number one hit. Everybody remembers "Walla Walla Bing Bang," and can't forget that. So they're really a part of American history, a part of American culture. Terrific condition, all these years, with the Alvin and the Theodore and the Simon, all with their initials on the shirts. You can see the A in the Alvin.
GUEST:
Yeah, he even has a T on his little sweater over here.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely, and it's just a wonderful thing. And you had mentioned people looking, and they're laughing, but they're laughing with a smile. And that's what's important about this stuff, because it brings you back to when you were a kid. And not just that, but keeping in mind that they made their first appearance in 1958. We're in 2014, and they're still popular, with movies, cartoons. When it comes to valuing something like this, I'm going to put it in terms of what you should insure them for. Because personally, I'm fairly confident you're going to want to keep these in the family.
GUEST:
Absolutely.
APPRAISER:
But if that's the case, then I would certainly put no less than a $10,000 insurance value on them. Worth every bit of that.
GUEST:
For the three of them?
APPRAISER:
For the three of them. Put a $10,000 insurance value on all three.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You know, this is the kind of thing that really could go into the Smithsonian as an exhibit, and I'm glad you brought them to us today.
GUEST:
And it's wonderful that my father-in-law made them. Like, that's even more wonderful for the family.
APPRAISER:
Which is great for your family.
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