Noel Barrett - Alka-Seltzer "Speedy" Figure
HOST: Last summer, ROADSHOW paid a visit to toy aficionado Noel Barrett at his home in Eastern Pennsylvania, where he shared the story of a massive mascot that ended up as a centerpiece of his own eclectic collection.
APPRAISER:
It was in Milwaukee, 1998. It's exciting when you're sitting at the table and you're waiting for something to come in, and you see the crowd. And all of a sudden, you see something above people's heads. It comes up to my table and I'm just... (blows out) I mean, you know, once in a while, you get something that just knocks you, knocks your socks off, and this did.
GUEST:
I was working at a bakery in Los Angeles in 1969. And my supervisor told me to throw all the junk out of the attic that was in the bakery. So I threw all the stuff out in a dumpster with the exception of Speedy. I thought he was kind of cute, and thought I'd take him home.
APPRAISER:
What you have here is an absolutely wonderful advertising figure. I understand you've done a little bit of research trying to figure out the value.
GUEST:
The only Alka-Seltzer figures that I saw were about six inches high.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And they were about $150. I don't have a clue as to something this big would be worth.
APPRAISER:
You're right, the little small figures are the ones you see all the time, and they are worth $300 to $400, $500, depending on the condition. This is a wonderful piece. I've never seen this particular size before, and it is absolutely astounding. I would expect that a collector today would be thrilled to pay $4,000 to $5,000 for this incredible Speedy the Alka-Seltzer, so...
GUEST:
Well, he's as good as gone.
APPRAISER:
(laughing) What's that?
GUEST:
He's as good as gone. (both laughing)
APPRAISER:
People always ask, "Do you ever get a chance to buy that stuff on the
'ROADSHOW'?" And one of the rules for sure is, we cannot buy anything at the show. We cannot offer any money to somebody there. But I've had people call up after the show, say, "Would you like to put it in your auction?" "Absolutely." I don't think I've ever had somebody call me up and say they want to sell it. Well, it did happen. About six months later, the guy called me up. He said, "Hi, you know, I'm the guy with that Speedy… It's December, I could use some Christmas money. Is there any chance you'd want to buy that?" I said, "Yeah." (laughs) I really loved it. Now, 1998, I thought an auction estimate would be $4,000 to $5,000. We talked about it and we came up with a price somewhere in that range. I honestly can't remember. And he shipped it to me, I guess from Milwaukee, and I was really excited. It's really, it's one of my favorite pieces here. Now, today's market, you know, it's like a lot of things on the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, or a lot of things in the antiques world. Things have softened up. Like brown furniture-- people don't want brown furniture anymore. Now, Speedy, back in that day, there were a lot of people interested in really great '50s and '60s advertising figures. And this would have been one of the iconic pieces. And I think today, frankly, there are not that many people out there for this material, and I think today, if I had this at auction, I would probably estimate it at, like, $2,000 to $3,000. A little bit less than I paid for it. But I don't care, I love it. Makes me smile every day.
Appraisal Details
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