Above the Mantel 001

Above the Mantel 

Howdy, collectors-

Welcome to the first issue of Above the Mantel, a newsletter focused on the objects people are most passionate about and the relationships we build through our hobbies. In this edition, we’re taking you through one of the craziest toy-hoarder/estate sales we’ve witnessed, sharing some links and news items that recently caught our eye, and welcoming you to our beta. 

Thanks for being with us. 

Evan Parker

CEO, Mantel

December 6, 2023

Collector’s Item

For months a seemingly abandoned house a few doors down from us had half a dozen people working day and night inside organizing and cataloging something… We’d pass by it often walking the dog, and the front door would be open as masked & gloved workers sifted through boxes. After a month of this I turned to my wife and said, I’ll bet you the owner was a collector, and they’re organizing things for a sale.

My god was I right.

This fall Again LA hosted the craziest estate sale I’ve ever seen. THOUSANDS of toys in boxes. Old movie posters. Ships in bottles. Games. Records. Clothes. Books. The entire house, floor to ceiling, was packed with collectibles, many still in their original, untouched packaging dating back decades.

The home was owned by the late Chuck Harris, an apparently eccentric Hollywood agent. My neighbors tell me he used to walk the block in big shades, dripping in gold chains.

You could argue the man was a hoarder. Based on the condition of his home, even while he was alive, it’s hard to see how he could have lived amongst the mounds of ephemera he collected.

I went to the sale four days in a row to just make sure I didn’t miss anything amazing, and I had to force myself to show some restraint to ensure my house didn’t start looking like Chuck’s.

But I walked away with some gems, like an Arnold Palmer Starting Lineup and an American Champions Serena Williams toy. (Still sorta regret not getting this Austin Powers Scotty toy)

I’ve got them displayed in my office, and I have to imagine Neighbor Chuck would appreciate that these items he loved ended up in the home of someone who will appreciate them as much as he did.

But it does make me wonder… are any of my other neighbors sitting on a treasure trove like this?

Penny Thoughts

• By now most have seen that a 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth sold for $7.2M at auction on December 4th. But we loved this added context posted by Friend of Mantel Darren Rovell on X.com: The card was a free insert in the newspaper, which cost only 1 cent to purchase at the time! A much better purchase than the only Babe card we own- a 1962 Topps Greatest Sports Hero, which last traded for $152, per our partners at Card Hedge. 

• We loved this NYT article about artist Danny Cortes, who learned how to create insanely intricate miniatures of everyday things like a mailbox or telephone pole during Covid, and now is an in-demand, collected artist. 

• Authentication continues to be a growing talking point, especially around memorabilia. New music and sports memorabilia platform, The Realest, just had their first auction, featuring authenticated, concert-used items from the band Megadeth, with an autographed Dave Mustaine guitar hammering for $14,600. Definitely a space to watch.

• Goldin just kicked off their December Pop Culture Elite Auction with tons of really cool, really rare items. Our favorite? This screen-worn karate costume worn by Chris Farley during the filming of Beverly Hills Ninja. If only it fit into a top loader…

Mantel Update

We’ve been hard at work building Mantel since May, and it’s amazing to see how much progress has been made in such a short period of time. Enough progress that Mantel has gone from just an idea to a real platform, with collectors beginning to join the community and test what we’ve built. 

The current version of this website, as we type this on December 6, 2023, is only a shadow of what Mantel will eventually become. We’re working up features that should make Mantel a much more fun, much more useful community platform than anything currently available. 

But in order for us to build a community you’ll want to hang out in every day, we’ll need some help (and some patience!). So please post, reply, read, and research on the platform, and send us your feedback, no matter how big or small. Is there a feature you love? Let us know. Does something not work properly? Please flag it! Is Mantel missing features you’d want to use? Tell us. We might already have it on our roadmap, and if not, maybe we can add it in. 

Very few of us have had a chance to influence how other social media platforms were built and operate. We’ve been forced to accept the features we’re provided. But with Mantel, we want to build something that our community will love, and will feel connected to. In order to do that, we need your feedback, so don’t be shy (but please be kind… we’re sensitive people over here). 

Thank you for being one of our Day 1 community members. We can’t wait to build Mantel with you.