Where Have All the Collectors Gone?
Shrinking attendance at bear shows and failing secondary market values have bear artists asking: "Where have all the collectors gone?" To help us understand what's happening and why, let's review some recent history.
While there have always been teddy bear collectors, teddy bears have not always been "collectible." The first teddy bear appeared in 1902; however, the teddy bear community has only been around since the 1960s. The collecting fever caught on during the 1970s and 1980s and the teddy bear craze grew quickly until it evolved into a full-fledged industry in the 1990s. Until the mid-to-late 1980s, teddy bear artists were scarce and collectors were searching for anything they could get their hands on. Prices went sky high on antique bears as they became more and more difficult to find. It was definitely a sellers' market ... until the bubble burst.
I'm not sure exactly when this happened, but all of a sudden there were lots of new artists on the scene and competition between them exploded. As a result, teddy bear art has matured to an incredible level. There has been an amazing evolution in style, quality, and presentation. Many new artists have incorporated doll-making techniques into their work with fabulous results. It almost seems to me now that as artists, we are in a frantic race to make the best, most creative, most original bear for a myriad of peer competitions whether we have collectors to buy them or not!
The phenomenon seems to be that while artists continue at their feverish pace to reach for that illusive "perfect bear," the collector seems to have lost interest. I suspect that is part of the problem combined with the fact that some of our collectors have become bear artists and shifted their focus. Perhaps the remainder have so many options and artists to choose from that there just aren't enough collectors to go around.
There does seem to be one area where collecting appears to be flourishing, however. This new trend first began with the online auction behemoth we all know as eBay. But has online marketing truly revitalized collecting, or is a struggling industry simply being cannibalized by a huge, impersonal giant?
I'll explore this question and more in my next Viewpoint. Stay tuned ...
While there have always been teddy bear collectors, teddy bears have not always been "collectible." The first teddy bear appeared in 1902; however, the teddy bear community has only been around since the 1960s. The collecting fever caught on during the 1970s and 1980s and the teddy bear craze grew quickly until it evolved into a full-fledged industry in the 1990s. Until the mid-to-late 1980s, teddy bear artists were scarce and collectors were searching for anything they could get their hands on. Prices went sky high on antique bears as they became more and more difficult to find. It was definitely a sellers' market ... until the bubble burst.
I'm not sure exactly when this happened, but all of a sudden there were lots of new artists on the scene and competition between them exploded. As a result, teddy bear art has matured to an incredible level. There has been an amazing evolution in style, quality, and presentation. Many new artists have incorporated doll-making techniques into their work with fabulous results. It almost seems to me now that as artists, we are in a frantic race to make the best, most creative, most original bear for a myriad of peer competitions whether we have collectors to buy them or not!
The phenomenon seems to be that while artists continue at their feverish pace to reach for that illusive "perfect bear," the collector seems to have lost interest. I suspect that is part of the problem combined with the fact that some of our collectors have become bear artists and shifted their focus. Perhaps the remainder have so many options and artists to choose from that there just aren't enough collectors to go around.
There does seem to be one area where collecting appears to be flourishing, however. This new trend first began with the online auction behemoth we all know as eBay. But has online marketing truly revitalized collecting, or is a struggling industry simply being cannibalized by a huge, impersonal giant?
I'll explore this question and more in my next Viewpoint. Stay tuned ...
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