A very popular collectible that I see for sale a lot is filling up shelf space in almost every home I've ever visited. I'm talking about vintage figurines. You know, the old Precious Moments or Snowbabies ones that are often being sold at the front of bigger greeting card and collectibles stores.
Of course the ones you see on sale there are the current ones. What I look for when I go out hitting estate sales, and what many people are now focusing on collecting are the vintage statues. These are often retired by the companies that make them. Unlike so many other collectibles, these usually really do stay retired and often, they are retired before hundreds of millions of them are produced. For collectors who did not get their hands on them during the original run, this can mean paying some premium prices for the sake of completing a collection.
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 Vintage Miniature Collie Dog Puppy Figurine Japan  US $10.50
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 Vintage Pixie stacking Mushrooms Figurine Josef US $10.50
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 Vintage Pixie Figurine Japan Laughing US $4.00
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 Vintage LEFTON Duck Duckling Figurine JAPAN 1950s US $2.00
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The good news for collectors of vintage figurines is that you can often get your hands on these for a fair price on eBay if you keep your eyes open and are diligent about checking every week or so. This can happen when there are not too many other interested buyers at the time you check.
Of course, not all figurines are created equal and not all of them are in demand. Right now, popular searches for vintage figurines include clowns and dogs made by Lladro, Pendelfin figures (include bunnies or rabbits in your search), Goebel figurines, Snowbabies, and a very wide variety of Willow Tree Collectibles.
Not all of these popular brands are actually old enough to be considered true vintage, but often, people list anything retired with that label attached. You never really know what someone selling one of these items will list it as if they are not an experienced seller. For that reason, it can be a good practice to run a couple of searches, including the term "retired figurine" in one of them.
If you are a person looking to buy these up in bulk at estate sales, educate yourself first. There are a couple of ways that these sales sometimes go. One is when sellers just want to get things moved along to clear an estate or prepare for a move. These folks will sometimes be happy to cut a deal to get everything moved out at once. The other side of the coin is people who are probably having second thoughts about selling the collection at all. They often will price things rather high to begin with and then not even be willing to strike a bargain for buying in quantity. It would probably be best to just walk away from that situation unless you know that there are some really valuable pieces included in the lot.
Some people really go all out with their collectible figurines. Here is a great video that shows how someone did more than just store their collectibles on a shelf. It's beautiful!
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