Research - Collectors on Instagram

 To get an idea of the kind of retro objects that are popular among collectors today, I explored various pages on instagram. I found that this helped me become more familiar with the kitsch aesthetic that I'm working with, and what is considered valuable or desirable right now. Here's what I found:

@bluu.squeaks

The owner of this account is a collector of vintage toys and ceramics, and through their posts I discovered the craze of the Rushton Toy Company (founded in 1917), whose kitschy vintage dolls sell for hundreds to thousands of pounds at auction. They have classic, anthropomorphic, over-exaggerated faces made from rubber, and furry animal shaped bodies. Their design uses cuteness in the extreme. I think what makes things cute is often their vulnerability - and giving objects very child-like faces is successful at creating that image. By looking on ebay, I found that they are valued mostly according to their condition, rarity, and presence of original tags or packaging. Rushton's rubber faced dolls seem to have a cult following, and I love the idea that communities are formed around one shared infatuation.

'Omar the Octopus' by Rushton toys. I can tell this is a high value example because there is no fading, it has its swing tag, and the fur seems to be in as-new condition with no evidence of play.

@vintage_toys_and_treasures


I like this account because they post collectibles from a wide range of decades. Some of them are relatable to my own childhood, for instance- Care Bears, My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and Barbie, while others are reminiscent of my parents' childhood era. Looking through this profile gives me the nostalgia of familiar things as well as the novelty of discovering older toys I've never seen before, and my trading cards will aim to embody this feeling.

@jen_oneill73


This account documents the owners personal collection of vintage kitsch. It contains a large amount of mid-century ceramic figurines and kitchen wear. The aesthetic is colourful, child-like and playful, which helped inform the process of designing my trading cards in terms of my use of colour and mark making. I think ceramic objects sit in an elusive position in terms of where their status lies. They range from being functional to highly decorative and ornamental, and can be found in all kinds of environments- so questions of class and value are quite an intrinsic part of my exploration of second hand objects.






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