Original Packaging Ups Melmac Value but Don't Ask Me What It's Worth

Credit: AmandasTresors offers this texasware item mint in package cost $225

Update:  The Item Sold within 48 hours of me posting it and networking it. Congrats to the lucky collector who has this great item in their stash now!

Here's some information you can use.  I hope you find it helpful!  Readers may get upset that I don't answer emails about the value of their melmac. Let me explain why. I'm not an appraiser LOL. 

When I started the blog, I didn't anticipate the amount of exposure it would get, I was simply writing about something I loved and passing the time.  I share FREE information to the reader based on my expertise and collecting over the past 3 decades.  I'm glad you landed here, and I'm glad your reading. I don't get paid to write, so it is just a hobby for me. 

It got a little crazy after a million people landed here, which I am really wowed by to this day, some of them started to think I just did nothing but appraise plastics. Now I get 50-200 emails weekly asking me questions on melmac and sadly I am just a girl with a life and family a job and can't possibly respond or answer them all even as much as I would like to talk about melmac. There will be and there has been months of inactivity based on the fact I run a full time  bbq business with my husband, that has nothing to do with plastic. 

Not just that I'm a much too busy girl, but the value is subjective. Let me explain. 

Since I collected Russel Wright, back then, I would pay TOP DOLLAR for something to complete my collection in mint shape. Yes, he was a great designer, and yes the pieces were hard to find; however; that doesn't mean what I paid is technically worth that, because other examples may be found for less.  That doesn't mean you would consider paying that. Or the next guy. So on, and so forth. My friends still refuse to pay top dollar for plastic, because they claim "it's only plastic" and swear examples are out there to be found for less. 

So in fact, the value of melmac is subjective based on what's trending, what condition, what markings, what colors,  who's collecting, who wants it, and if this particular style was featured on some hip and trendy magazine cover or tv show. 

I have written a helpful article on What is My Melmac Worth that you can read. 

Also, part of the reason I don't answer all those emails is because part of the thrill of collecting melmac is the hunt to find your pattern name or style, which I'll write more about later.  

 Today however, I wanted to explain that packaging certainly ups the value of the item.  The reason is simple, back in the day melmac wasn't cheap, in fact it was sometimes as pricey as china. 

Housewives bought the melmac to use, not to covet like we today do as collectors.  Often times the original packaging got discarded or lost. Many times melmac came in display boxes and those are worth their weight in gold to collectors.  

Today I found this item on Etsy.   In this case, I ask you, the reader, would you pay the seller's asking price for the Texasware listed here in this blog post? I found it on Etsy and to be honest, I'm not a Texasware Collector, but it seems rare to have this type of sleeve in existence.  Perhaps if I was a texasware collector, I'd want this example for my collection, granted I get the three bowls too, so maybe it's not so pricey as one may think.  I guess we will know, how long it takes to sell, after posted here. 

Too much, not enough, or just right? You be the judge. You may also like this information I recorded on my podcast about texasware: