Archive for the ‘Collectibles’ Category:
Antique Wood Furniture
Many homeowners are looking to find interesting and unique accents that serve to beautify their spaces. Antique wood furniture makes an excellent choice for savvy buyers who know quality and style when they see it. This kind of furnishing is also great for those of us who know little about antiquing at all.
There are many different forms of antique wood furniture to consider and there are some things to think about before making a purchase. One item may be ideal for one space while another will work well in a few choice settings. You also want to think about how much time and money you want to invest in a project.
You really don’t have to do much with many of the items that are available on the market. Many retailers offer great deals on different types of antique wood furniture. If you want a product that is ready for show, then there are definitely many options for you to consider.
Some people are a little crafty and they like the idea of purchasing antique wood furniture that needs some work. This is great, but you really need to think things through. Paint is one of the most cumbersome problems that a refinisher will face. After trying to remove paint from antique wood furniture you may find that there is good reason that painted items are considered ruined by some consumers.
The major problem is that the colored paint sets into the grains in the wood. This settled paint is nearly impossible to remove and you may find yourself stuck with a streaking, hopeless mess. One antique shop owner I know says that he will never buy antique wood furniture that has been painted.
Unless you are a very skilled refinisher or a glutton for punishment you may want to avoid buying antique wood furniture that has been painted. It is nearly impossible to restore a piece that has several layers of paint on it to its original condition.
Painting aside, there are other things to think about as well. Antique wood furniture comes in all different shapes and forms. You can find wonderful primitive pieces or elegant furnishings with intricate details. What you choose depends on your personal style as well as your budget.
Rustic décor isn’t necessarily cheap. I was surprised to discover that many of the primitive pieces were just as expensive as the polished antique wood furniture. No matter what you choose in this type of antiques, you are making a sound investment that promises to offer years of enjoyment.
 | US $2,500.00 End Date: Sunday Apr-04-2010 9:19:18 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $2,500.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $1,792.00 End Date: Saturday Apr-03-2010 14:08:01 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $1,792.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $1,699.00 End Date: Tuesday Apr-06-2010 1:02:40 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $1,699.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $1,695.00 End Date: Saturday Apr-03-2010 18:02:02 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $1,695.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
The Latest Boeing Airplane Model, the 787 Dreamliner, Lifts Off
Boeing’s latest airplane model, the 787 Dreamliner, finally got off the ground on its maiden flight on December 15, about two years after the program first began to experience delays. Its maiden flight was at the company’s Everett Paine airstrip in Washington state. The 787 is set to replace the company’s aging 767 and 757 lines and is an innovator in many ways. The 25,000 people who gathered in Everett to watch it lift off said over and over again that it was truly historic that an airliner built almost completely out of composite materials, plastics and the like, should finally be airborne.
Excitement hung in the air much like it did for the Concorde’s final flight all those years ago. The runway was dotted on either side with fire trucks and other emergency response facilities. The two-pilot crew on the new airplane model taxied the enormous aircraft out to one end of the runway and paused for quite a while to warm the engines up even as the engineers shifted from one foot to another in anxiety. It would be nice to say there was a terrible roar as it lifted off, but these are the newest breed of engines, and noise levels are pretty muted. But lift off it did. Boeing, in its press release, announced that the test flight was to check basic system performance. Evidently, it worked exactly as expected. It was to be a four hour test flight, but it was cut short to three, to head off worsening weather.
There are now six examples of the 787 in existence, built for testing that will run about three quarters of a year. During this period the airplanes will be run almost beyond their levels of endurance, at unnaturally high and low temperatures, and, in general, be tested to destruction – all in service of an FAA certification for passenger flight. FAA certification is standard for any new airplane model; it should be especially needed for an airplane that is as advanced and innovative as this one. Of course all aircraft do use a certain amount of composite materials – plastics and carbon fiber. This is the first aircraft to use it almost everywhere. In an age of runaway fuel costs, this is certainly a welcome development. The lightweight materials will require a fifth less fuel to keep the aircraft in the air. The composite materials, being stronger than metal, allow for larger windows and a good view too.
Manufacturing methods have changed for the Dreamliner as well. No longer is Boeing taking on the entire responsibility for manufacturing it. Suppliers to the company build entire sections of the plane, and transport them to the assembly line in South Carolina to put it all together. Who doesn’t remember the way the Airbus A380 was delayed a few years ago for the well-publicized wire-length problem. Apparently, the camera on the airplane’s tail was sent by the supplier with a connecting wire that was a few inches too short, and hence, deliveries on the new airplane model were stalled. Boeing has had a great deal of trouble with the supplier-builds-all requirements. News channels have reported how there have been problems with assembling parts that didn’t quite fit properly. Still, for a new plane, Boeing has smoothed the way, and in a couple of years, Japan’s airlines should probably be flying the latest in the world of commercial airliners.
Collectable Coins
The United States Mint of the US Department of the Treasury recently concluded its 50 States Quarter Program, which began with the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut in 1999 and ended in 10 years, finishing with the states of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii. These collectable coins were released in the order that the states either ratified the Constitution or joined the Union. Each quarter had a unique design on the back that represented its state, and the quarters were each minted for 10 weeks, after which they will never be minted again. The quarters are unified with the same front design and the phrases “United States of America,” “liberty,” “Quarter Dollar,” and “In God We Trust.” There were many collectable coin sets available for enthusiastic numismatists, ranging from a simple booklet with rows of holes to insert the quarters in, to the elaborate map board of the US, with holes to place each quarter in the state it belonged to. After a decade, their coin collections were finally complete.
However, the end of the 50 States Quarter Program doesn’t signify the end of American collectable coins by any means. The United States Mint has launched another coin collecting mission, this time for $1 coins. Presidential $1 coins are being released in the order that the presidents served our country, starting with Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison in 2007. According to plan, the coins are slated to reach Nixon and Ford in 2016. The presidential collectable coins are gold like the Sacagawea dollar coin. Each of the dollar coins has a rendition of the Statue of Liberty on the reverse side, and they bear the inscriptions of “In God We Trust” and “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many None”).
And even in addition to the Presidential $1 Coins, the United States Mint also plans to commence the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters program, in which 56 different quarter designs will be released in 2010. The quarters will commemorate famous national sites such as Yellowstone Park, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Hot Springs National Park, and Mt. Hood National Forest, which will be the first 5 collectable quarters released. Our treasury continues to be creative with American currency by also releasing quarters that honor the DC and 5 US territories and Native American $1 coins, and it has found a way to celebrate our American heritage while working to preserve it.
 | US $339.45 End Date: Saturday Mar-20-2010 0:08:36 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $339.45 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $52.20 End Date: Saturday Mar-20-2010 0:08:15 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $52.20 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $49.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday Mar-12-2010 16:49:09 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $45.98 (0 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 17:50:45 PST Buy It Now for only: US $55.98 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list |
