Collectibles

I really, really want to find the Royal Doulton HN2742 - Sheila figurine. My grandma would just die if I could get that for her. It's such a pretty collectible, but it's retired...ironically enough, it retired the year I was born.

I wish I had money so I could have gone to the auction in Ottawa, starting bid was only fifty for it, and they had much older Doulton's for bid. I think it only fetched a few hundred. I'm digging around everywhere online to see if anyone has it for sale, but no such luck. It was started in 1983 and retired in 1991. It's not that old at all actually.

And as a side note: I'm a freakin' idiot. Yesterday I was at the Salvation Army thrift store, being nosy with my sister and stepdad, and they had a giant collection of China. I was looking at some of the stuff, and a really pretty tea cup stood out. It was only $2.50 - most likely because it didn't have a saucer - and it was a Royal Albert Collectible. Royal Albert is owned by Doulton now, and it's a line of bone china that has been running for a hundred years or more.

The freaking cup was part of the Country Rose line, and was actually numbered. Country Rose is the most popular china pattern. I suppose that makes the cup not worth all that much, but still. It was a classic...I would have actually got it, had it come with matching saucer. I refuse to buy cups without it. I'm sure it lowers the value a bit, but besides that, it just looks tacky to me, having the tea cup without the saucer.

I must sound like an older lady, talking about Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, bone china and Country Rose. Heh, I'm not, obviously. My grandmother - who sparked my interest in it - isn't exactly "old" either. Her mother collected these things and left them to her when she passed away. I've just got an eye for "expensive" things. Plus, collectibles are awesome. It's so great to look at my gramma's cabinets and think about how long some of the items have been in her family. Because I like them so much, she wants me to...eventually, you know...have them. She has well over thirty thousand dollars worth of china and figurines, but I wouldn't be able to sell it either.

Grah, I want that figurine so bad. I also want Claire and Samantha...they're newer ones, if I'm not mistaken.