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April, 2020 The Antique Shoppe Page 23
eBay— A New Hope. This is the actual filming miniature to name just a few. Personally, I never paid any
$350,000: Original T.I.E. Fighter from Star Wars:
attention to the spacecraft. According to Wikipedia,
of the T.I.E. fighter that bumps into Darth Vader’s “TIE fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star
$7,500: Star Wars® Box Flats ESB 12” Han Solo fighter, knocking him out of the trench, allowing Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion Engines
Hoth AFA 90. Grade: 90. Subgrades: NA. Serial Luke to destroy the Death (hence the TIE acronym),
#: 12160445. (Item sold by and photo courtesy Star. This historic piece T.I.E. Fighters are depicted
of Premier Collectible Auctions, Fountain City, is from the collection of as fast, fragile starfighters
Wisconsin, 608-687-8697.) Academy Award-winning produced by Sienar Fleet
DA: At first, I thought that this auction was at visual effects wizard, Systems for the Galactic
a Star Wars® convention, and they had everyone Richard Edlund. The design Empire.” These spacecraft
drunk! Why would a concepts for the T.I.E. are more defined in the
BOX sell for $7,500? So Fighters of the Galactic action game series and
I started investigating. Empire originally came literature than in the films.
This was a large Han from Colin Cantwell and There were four of these
Solo in Hoth attire doll Ralph McQuarrie. T.I.E. Fighters built for the
that Kenner had planned Only four T.I.E. Fighters first film. It is very difficult
to produce in 1980. were built for the first to say whether this was a
There were three known Star Wars® film. Grant “good buy.” My personal
unproduced dolls made McCune, head of the guess would be that this
with hand-made outfits model shop, used a fairly series will not “fade out
and mold-injected parts. heavy, but stable resin for of memory” any time in
Only three to five of these the body of the ship and the near future, since the
box flats are known to other resins for the tinier parts. The hexagonal time span for the six films covers 28 years. This is
exist. None were ever wings are created of finely expanded metal the only T.I.E. Fighter that has been sold. I am not
used to hold a doll. sheeting. Much of the intricate design detail was sure that the others actually exist, as they may have
Other trivia: in case you are in a game: Hoth is robbed from plastic model kits, then modified and been “destroyed” in filming. This is the only one
a planet of snow and ice, where creatures like the affixed. (Sold by and photo courtesy of Profiles in that has been recorded as being sold.
wampas and tauntauns live. The Rebel Alliance had History, Calabasas, Calif.) Is this a good buy? Who can predict the future?
set up their headquarters there before the Empire DA: This Star Wars® stuff gets to be too much Maybe Darth Vader will come back to capture
tracked them down, forcing the Rebel Alliance to for me. I have seen every one of the six films of the it and fight again. Or maybe it was a time warp
leave. (This was Episode V: The Empire Strikes series, starting with the first one released, which I dream and hasn’t occurred yet.
Back.) saw on Christmas night in 1977. I guess that I am
A good buy? Who knows because there are so more into the characters: Luke, Leila, Hans, Obi- Deborah Abernethy was a certified appraiser with the International
Association of Appraisers. She will be missed.
few that you won’t find one to compare with it. Wan, Darth Vader, Yoda, Chewbacca and R2D2,

I was wondering if you could help me out. I have a North Carolina sunburst button
The Civil War Collector that I found awhile back. The condition looks amazing, and I
was wondering if you could tell me anything about its value. I
would hate to let it go because I myself am from the Carolinas,
By John Sexton and I love history. Your honest estimate could help me make a
good decision.
JS: This button is a modern copy of the North Carolina
Mr. Sexton, I recently acquired some Civil War images. In the lot was a 1/16 plate starburst button. The face looks quite convincing in your
tintype of a “Servant named Gabriel belonging to a World Famous Man of the 19th photo, but the cast back gives its vintage away. Originals are
century named Elmer Lawrence Corthell ~ He was one of the most famous Civil thin with soldered shanks. This is the style made most likely
Engineers of the 19th century,” as written on the reverse. (Corthell lived and died close for reenactors.
by me.) Anyway, I have attached the front and back of the photo. I believe this to be
a historically important, if not a valuable item. I would hope someone with Civil War I am interested in selling the attached documents.
interest might be interested. These are Civil War records that were handed down to me
You can look up Mr. Corthell and see his history, which is long and significant in by my grandmother decades ago. Kindly let me know your
American development and history. He was in the Rhode Island light artillery and opinion/appraisal of these.
fought in the Virginia and North Carolina campaigns. He started as a private and was a JS: Your 1863 Civil War letter is written on nice, patriotic
captain of a battery at the end. Let me know what you think. stationary, and similar letters with average content can
JS: African-American cultural items from the Civil War are in demand and quite be found at Civil War shows priced between $20 and
marketable. Unfortunately, the condition of the image is very poor, but the inscription $40. The map drawn of the 109th Pennsylvania’s winter
on the back is fantastic, telling a piece of history not often seen. camp near Chattanooga, Tennessee 1863/1864 is not
There are many hard images of African- professional but always popular among collectors. I noticed that the soldier who drew
American soldiers that have been sold over the the map used a blank adjutant general’s office stationary or document form. Similar
past 20-30 years. Only in the last few years has the maps can sell anywhere from about $100 to $200 on average.
market been strong, though. Average tintypes of
black Union soldiers are selling for an average of John, this a Bowie knife I recently took in on trade. It’s marked “WJ
$1,500. Some great images (generally albumen) McElroy Macon Georgia 1861” and has a CSA stamp. It has “Stovall”
of great content have brought tens of thousands on one side of the hand guard and “18th Georgia” on the other. Can
of dollars. If your tintype was undamaged, I would you give me some more information on it?
estimate in auction it would bring $2,000-$3,000. JS: I’m sorry to inform you that this knife is a fairly modern
Even though not a soldier image but that of a reproduction, and the markings, of course, are fake. An original
servant, I would not be surprised if it brought McElroy-marked knife of any form is worth at least a few thousand
more. But considering the condition here, I doubt it dollars. This knife is a novelty and has little value.
would bring the estimate—but you never know.
John Sexton is an independent appraiser and expert of Civil War memorabilia. He is an accredited member of
A tintype of Elmer Lawrence Corthell various appraiser organizations. He can be contacted at: john@CivilWarDealer.com, 770-329-4984 or www.
CivilWarDealer.com. For a free appraisal of a Civil War item, email a photo and a description to him or to
mclwriter@gmail.com.