Show Your License Plate Toppers

[CarltonHendricks]

I picked up this Yale license plate topper last week off eBay for $10.61…The seller didn’t know what it was. The title was “Antique Yale Metal Sign”, The description stated: “Antique metal sign from Yale measuring 10X3 Not sure where it's supposed to be displayed, I had thought in between bicycle spokes but I could be wrong” It was listed in Collectibles >Historical Memorabilia >Teaching & Education >Colleges & Universities...but probably would have been seen more under: Collectibles >Transportation >Automobilia >License Plate Frames

In 30 years collecting I never paid too much attention to license plate toppers…I had never bought one…I wasn’t sure but I thought it was a license plate topper when I saw it…After checking eBay to see what they go for, they seemed to be a lot more popular than I knew…Like any collectible the unusual and rare ones likely bring the money and common ones are flat...I think this Yale one may have gone for money had it been better listed...I've never seen another...See below for a quick look at what some have closed for…So now that I have it, what do I do with it? I guess I can try to squeeze it into a curio cabinet.

[Scott Garner]

Atta Boy, Carlton! $10- that's an incredible deal!!

BTW, Bumpus Jones Chris tried to start a thread within the last two months on license plate toppers (he has a really cool one), but I don't know if it ever got off the ground.

[Bumpus Jones]

back from the dead...

[ruth-gehrig]

No doubt about it....nothing wrong with 10 bucks!

[ooo-ribay]

ebay, 13 years ago

[Tigerden]

Red Wingsb.jpg Sorry the photo was taken with my iPhone and sideways. I have had this plate topper for 25 years and have never seen another. It is special to me because it was given to me by my brother who found it in a vacant garage in Detroit that was being demolished. He knew I was a collector and gave it to me. Thanks big bro!!Its from the 50's and similar to a Phillies Whiz Kids topper that does come up for sale once in a great while. Great thread Carlton. I love these and was a under bidder on the Centennial license plate topper.

[billyb]

Tigerden,

Great item, where did you find that???

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Tigerden

Attachment 135905 Sorry the photo was taken with my iPhone and sideways. I have had this plate topper for 25 years and have never seen another. It is special to me because it was given to me by my brother who found it in a vacant garage in Detroit that was being demolished. He knew I was a collector and gave it to me. Thanks big bro!!Its from the 50's and similar to a Phillies Whiz Kids topper that does come up for sale once in a great while. Great thread Carlton. I love these and was a under bidder on the Centennial license plate topper.

sweet, sweet, sweet!

[Tigerden]

Originally Posted by billyb

Tigerden,

Great item, where did you find that???

Thanks Bill. I didn't find it but my brother worked for a demo crew one summer while away from college and salvaged it during a job. Apparently it was nailed to the wall inside an old garage along with a few old rusty metal signs. I often wondered if this topper was given to the players or people within the Wings organization when. The Wings won the Stanley Cup in the fifties. For all I know it was ripped off of Gordie Howe's Cadillac back in the day! Hope not , that would mean I was in possession of stolen property but you never know considering its intended use as a license plate topper.

[CarltonHendricks]

Tigerden, Since your brother gave it to you as a gift you probably wouldn't want to...but I wonder what it would bring if you put it on eBay : - )

http://www.santarosasurgerycenter.co...hunkiid=669412
I used to work with a guy from Santa Rosa CA who was friends with Gordie Howe and said he lived there...I googled Goride and Santa Rosa and got the link above to a 2012 posting which appears to point to that...unfortunately it reveals he had dementia...

Santa Rosa California...other celebrities who lived there was Charles Schultz and Fred McMurray...neither of which generations past baby boomers will likely recognize LOL...

[Tigerden]

[QUOTE=CarltonHendricks;1250115][FONT="Arial"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]Tigerden, Since your brother gave it to you as a gift you probably wouldn't want to...but I wonder what it would bring if you put it on eBay : - )

Carlton you are correct in that I wouldn't want to sell it but I would guess it to sell in the $200-$225 range today. Twenty years ago (pre-eBay)it might have had a $50 to $75 price range if one would have surfaced at a local show in the Detroit area. If anything the internet has helped items like this rise in value because collectors have a better idea of scarcity today and a much larger marketplace.

[slidekellyslide]

License plate toppers are hot right now...and not a lot of people know what they are, or that they have value. I picked up this one at a tag sale for a few bucks and sold it on ebay last year for $152.

[seattlerainiers]

Here's a different Baseball Centennial topper.

[ooo-ribay]

From the pictures here, it seems these toppers come in two basic styles....high quality figural (Red Wings, Long Pine) or cheap tin (the rest)....

[perezfan]

Gotta believe that Rob D. has the Cleveland Indians example. Rob... stop being reclusive, and please post, if so

It's a cool looking piece, very similar to the Red Wings Topper posted above. Haven't seen one in quite a while, but I'm sure it's made by the same company as the Red Wings.

Neat thread.. just goes to show that no topic is too obscure for this crowd!

[Bumpus Jones]

Anyond notice that's Joe D.'s likeness on the baseball centennial topper?

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Bumpus Jones

Anyond notice that's Joe D.'s likeness on the baseball centennial topper?

Without a doubt.

[ruth-gehrig]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Gotta believe that Rob D. has the Cleveland Indians example. Rob... stop being reclusive, and please post, if so

It's a cool looking piece, very similar to the Red Wings Topper posted above. Haven't seen one in quite a while, but I'm sure it's made by the same company as the Red Wings.

Neat thread.. just goes to show that no topic is too obscure for this crowd!

No topic to obsure and items like these just reminds me of the variety of items that sports really transends upon!

[perezfan]

Wanted to revive this thread, to show a recent ebay pick-up. I wonder if the seller stumbled onto this thread, and decided to sell. OK probably not, but nice timing, anyway

Was happy to find this one in such stellar condition....

[Bumpus Jones]

Nice!

[perezfan]

Thanks Chris...

It is nice, but yours is EPIC!

[Bumpus Jones]

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Wanted to revive this thread, to show a recent ebay pick-up. I wonder if the seller stumbled onto this thread, and decided to sell. OK probably not, but nice timing, anyway

Was happy to find this one in such stellar condition....

Wow! May I ask where you found that?

[perezfan]

Just good ole eBay!

[Tigerden]

Beauty Mark. Congrats! Wanted to see that one. Now if we can get only get a discussion going on that rare and elusive Tigers Plate Topper on this thread so one can come up for auction!

[perezfan]

Yeah... would love to see the Tigers version. If it was made by the same company who did the Red Wings, it would have to be awesome.

Tigers had the coolest memorabilia of all, IMO...