In 1982, you ran around your living room with a makeshift blaster, aping the mannerisms of Harrison Ford. The film Blade Runner grabbed hold of your imagination, and your life was changed forever. Now, you can take your childhood dream of humanoid hunting to the next level. The very gun that you imitated with what seemed like a large stick is going to be auctioned by Profiles in History on April 30 and May 1, 2009.

If Blade Runner wasn't your childhood obsession, you may find satisfaction from some of the other memorabilia that's coming under the gavel at the end of the month. Profiles in History, an auction house, anticipates a total take of around $3 million from the two days.

The famous weapon comes from science fiction promoter Forrest Ackerman's collection. Also from his stash are a puppet used in the 2005 movie Corpse Bride, costumes from Blade Runner (worn by Ford) and a ring worn by Bela Lugosi when he played Count Dracula.

The Blade Runner weapon is expected to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.

Smoking bans may ultimately keep cigar connoisseurs from buying that next lighter or cigar cutter, but there is a group – that may or may not smoke – that is buying cigar-related items aggressively. Collectors are being drawn to antique smoking-related items, even if their use has become less popular over the past several decades.

Pipes, ashtrays, cigar boxes and cigarette dispensers are on the list for this subculture. Others are drawn to packaging and advertising, scooping up old cigar bans, boxes of matches, in-store ads and other forms of "tobacciana." Some are even quite expensive.

So, when your kids get on your case about the stack of empty cigar boxes in the living room, just tell them that's how they'll get through college ... if they're lucky.

[Photo by Steve Zak]

At a recent benefit for the renowned Dumbo Arts Center in Brooklyn, Amy Goldrich (right, at the benefit) gave a talk on "Collecting Art on a Budget." Her talk was mainly for collectors who are just starting out, but art collectors at all levels are tightening their belts this year, so we thought we'd share some of her tips with you.

1. Go to benefit auctions.
Benefit auctions give you an opportunity to support a space, which is an easy way of supporting a lot of artists at once. Benefits, where artists have typically donated their work, tend to show "art you wouldn't see, because they're not so heavily curated."

2. Think potential.
You can find a piece at a benefit by a relatively unknown artist, pick it up for practically nothing, and end up very lucky. "Five years from now, that person could have a hot career" says Goldrich.

3. Bid on less "flashy" work.
To avoid a bidding war, don't just avoid the big name artists; "bid on a less flashy piece." As long as you love the piece and would want to have it in your home, you can't go wrong.

4. Meet the artists.
At benefits, you often get a chance to meet the artists whose work is being sold. If you develop a relationship with a young artist whose work you'd like to follow, they are likely to let you know where they're showing and what they're making -- or you can even commission a piece.

5. Call yourself a collector.
To an artist whose piece you might want to buy, you are a collector. To an organization who benefits from your purchase, you are a collector. "The difference between a collector and someone who buys art is a kind of pathology," says Goldrich. "There's a psychological need that drives [a collector]." You don't have to have five Monets in your basement to be considered a collector; there are no rules. Once you define yourself as a collector, your own instincts will help you.

Amy Goldrich is a New York attorney who specializes in Art, Commercial, and Entertainment Law. On the side, she has collected art for ten years.

Collection or illicit liquor store? A Tennessee man has been indicted on charges of illegally possessing up to $1 million worth of Jack Daniel's whiskey but says he's not selling the alcohol, just the vintage bottles they came in. The AP reports that Randy Piper of Goodlettsville was indicted on four counts regarding the possession, sale, transportation and storage of the liquor. After receiving a tip that someone was selling liquor without a license, officials seized 2,400 bottles from two warehouses Piper owns as well as a home in Lynchburg, the home of Jack Daniels. Piper says he has been collecting bottles for around six years.

Want to know what the most expensive item in the world is by weight and volume? It's not a diamond or other rare gem. It's actually a piece of paper.

Wikipedia pegs it as the so-called Treskilling Yellow stamp from Sweden -- probably the only one of its kind. It has a current value of more than $2 million (or $87 billion per kilogram, according to the site).

Here's what makes it so valuable: Back in Sweden in 1855, when the currency was known as the skilling, the 3 skilling stamp ('treskilling') was printed in green. An 8 skilling stamp was printed in yellow. But due to a printing error, a few 3 skilling stamps were printed in yellow. No one knows how many.

Three years later, Sweden changed its currency and it wasn't until 1886 that a 14-year-old school boy discovered the stamp among his grandmother's possessions and sold it to a dealer for the then-lofty price of 7 kronor. The stamp traded hands several times over the next decade, fetching ever higher prices and inspiring collectors to search for more Treskilling Yellows. But no other was ever found.

By the 1990s the stamp price crossed $1 million for the first time and was setting records every time it changed hands. The last sale was in 1996 when it sold for 2,875,000 Swiss Francs ($2.6 million US) to collectors who remain anonymous. According to the book, The Treskilling Yellow, the stamp is insured for $15 million.

The rare "Inverted Jenny" stamp, one of the most coveted stamps among philatelists, sold for $825,000 through Heritage Auction Galleries. The 24-cent denomination, a U.S. red, white and blue misprint which shows upside-down Curtis 4-N ("Jenny") biplane, was position number 84 on the original sheet of 100. Heritage recently bought the stamp for $750,000 and sold it to a senior Wall Street executive who is a long-time coin collector. Greg Rohan of Heritage had been the under bidder on the same executive's behalf at an auction last month where another "Inverted Jenny" sold for $977,500. Just goes to prove that sometimes losing out in an auction can be a good thing.

[via CNN]

The news last week of a $10 gold coin that sold for $5 million is particularly interesting because the date on the coin is not the date it was minted. The Eagle coin is stamped 1804 but was created in 1834 at the Philadelphia Mint for Andrew Jackson as a diplomatic gift. This coin has some pretty fast appreciation, it sold for $1 million in 2003 and then for $2.47 million in 2005. There are just four of them out in the world.

I wonder what is it about coins that makes the prices rise. In part it is because they are a tangible record of history but I suspect the real reason is something else. As David Albanese, the president of Albanese Rare Coins, the dealer of the coin, reported both the buyer and seller are "northeastern United States entrepreneurs who have been collecting coins since they were young boys." I think this is why some coins sell for such high prices. Many other collecting hobbies take root after one is established in the world, wine, art, jewelry and watches, the love of those often develop later in life. But so many young boys and girls are given coins as gifts, thereby establishing a lifelong love of numismatics.

[Thanks, Lana]

[Thanks, lana]

I've noticed that powerful businessmen often have a love of slot machines and games of chance in their homes. Those with a taste for vintage machines may want to know about this one-of-a-kind machine, a 5 cent Schiemer-Yates "Gibson Girl" floor model slot machine. It was manufactured in 1905 and will be auctioned off as part of the Victorian Casino two day antique auction March 3, 2007 and March 4, 2007 on eBay Live Auctions. The auction will feature over 1,000 lots of antiques and collectibles including juke boxes, calendars, and bar fixtures. The slot machine is in beautiful shape and has been in a private collection for 30 years. It should bring in $100,000 to $300,000.