VintageMeld

My name is Cliff Aliperti and the VintageMeld is my latest website, a daily (or more) blog about the collectibles I handle on a daily basis. I personally deal in mostly two distinct collecting areas, movie cards and collectibles as well as general magazine back issues, though I’ve been involved with either collecting or dealing in many various collecting niches since I was quite young.

Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia is where I got my start, assisting my uncle at card shows and live auctions he used to run back in the early 80’s. I moved on to sell baseball cards and collectibles myself full-time from approximately 1989-1993. After college the eBay bug bit me and over time my specialties have would up where they are now. You can see more about my collecting history on this page at sister site things-and-other-stuff.com.

Most of the posts here will draw upon my current collecting specialties, though I will try to draw other collectibles into the conversation from time to time as I can fit them and as my knowledge permits. The VintageMeld went live in December 2008 and in an effort to produce regular columns I’ve settled on two larger daily subjects.

First there’s a check on that day’s programming from Turner Classic Movies (TCM) which I’ve settled on calling the Classic MovieMeld. Basically I run through TCM’s Now Playing Guide with you, tell you what I’ve seen, what I’d like to see, and if I feel strongly enough about it what I think you should see. MovieMeld posts are naturally illustrated by images of vintage movie cards and collectibles from my vast archive of collectible images.

The second regular feature is a Today’s Date column which opens up subject matter a little wider than the first feature. Today’s Date could be a birthday, an anniversary of an event, a magazine I happened to handle which had today’s date on it, endless possibilities but all relevant to a specific date. This feature allows me to get a little more creative, though so far I’m trying hard to push Today’s Date towards articles about magazine collecting.

Saturday Evening Post September 16, 1916

Also you’ll see occasional features which don’t fit under either of these headings. Perhaps I made a video, or just acquired something really neat, something I need to tell you about. If I do, I’ll post it.

Most posts will include a list of items for sale at the very bottom. These are live sales listings imported directly through eBay and Bonanzle and are actually my items currently for sale–I try to make what shows up relevant to the posts, though thus far such customization is somewhat limited.

I’ve been selling collectibles online since 2000, and full-time since 2004, though I’m sure a call to my old boss and a photo of the bags under my eyes from 2002-04 would tell you I was pretty much full-time as early as then. Collectibles are my passion and I’ve done all I can to center my life around them. My main desire is to spread this passion to others, which I hope the VintageMeld can help accomplish through these daily doses of general information. I won’t lie, I like to make money on these object too, they pay the bills, but another area I like to think I excel in is research and you’ll find several histories and original identification guides on my other sites with the goal of identifying, classifying and informing.

Thank you for visiting the VintageMeld. I’d love for you to comment on the posts here and welcome you back every day for as often as you’d like to stay.

Cliff Aliperti
Owner, VintageMeld and things-and-other-stuff.com