Brenda and I spent some very enjoyable quality-time with our oldest son and his wife and brand new baby boy over the weekend (our 4th grandson) and the topic of rarity came up. My son and daughter-in-law collect Herend figurines... which tend to get quite pricey we soon learned.

I had never heard of Herend before, but was admiring the dozen or so pieces that were on display in their living room curio cabinet. My son told me that he purchases a piece occassionally to mark significant events in their married life. I don't know where he purchases them ... didn't ask.... probably at well-known department stores in New York ... but I had commented to him that I'm sure they could be found on ebay. Gary agreed in all probability that they could, but that he had never looked.

When I got home from A.C. late last night, the first thing I did was search ebay for "herend". To my surprise, over 200 entries were found priced anywhere from $60 to $600, with lots of herends priced in the three figure range being the norm. What amazed me even more in reviewing all the descriptions, was that the word "rare" was seldom, if ever, used in describing these items and most of these offerings had substantial bids. I wondered why?? Are these collectors that much more sophisticated than chip collectors? Are they more knowledgeable about their hobby than collectors are in ours? If so, it certainly can't be as a result of a lack of books on the subject of chip collecting. Why is it that herend collectors do not have to resort to huckster-hype to sell their ebay offerings? Perhaps they appreciate "rarity" when they see it and don't appreciate sellers touting their ceramic figurines as "rare"?

"Why is it that chip collectors are so different", I wondered aloud to Brenda on the way home? How come???