Antiques get more modern all the time.
Christine Palmer doesn’t even care for the word “antiques” anymore. What her America’s Largest Antique & Collectible Shows franchise features in a big way these days, she said, is “vintage.” The show, featuring 400-plus exhibitors from all over the nation, is coming to the Clark County Fairgrounds Events Center this weekend.
“Our show touches on pop culture. We’re more vintage than antique, though we do have an element of that. But it’s not old-fashioned and stuffy. Those things don’t sell so well anymore. Our exhibitors have shifted to things that are a little more current,” she said.
Given the aging of eternally young baby boomers — and the nostalgia-stoking release of the new “Star Wars” film — Palmer expects vintage and collectible toys to remain among the most popular items at the show, along with G.I. Joes and comic books, movie and music posters, sports memorabilia and other mementos of the mid-20th century. (The mid 1970s is about as current as the show gets, Palmer said.) But never fear, if you’re interested in truly antique toys, you’ll still find plenty to enjoy: cast-iron and tin toys of the 1800s, porcelain dolls and wind-up cars and planes, mechanical banks and other playthings that probably predate the childhood of anybody reading this today.
Occupying a guest of honor position at this weekend’s show is one of the most celebrated and durable playthings in the world: the humble yet ambitious Lego brick. Portland Lego collector and connoisseur Scott Kirkland will be on hand to show off his massive collection of vintage bricks and kits. Kirkland will fill six tables and four showcases with original Lego sets that were manufactured before 1980.