The newly published REPLICA BUILDINGS, A VISUAL HISTORY will be the focus as Jon Merwine is interviewed by Mark Fine, ZOOM Master. 
You will have an opportunity to ask your own questions of Jon.
Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 2 PM EDT, 1 PM CDT, 12 Noon MDT, and 11 AM PDT.
This opportunity is open to current members of SBCS. Check your October 7 emails for your invitation and directions on how to respond to confirm your attendance.
Jon has graciously provided printable downloads of the KEY and INDEX pages of REPLICA BUILDINGS, A VISUAL HISTORY. These are available in the MEMBERS ONLY section of this website.
Category: Miscellaneous
A RESPITE from VIRUS, FIRE, HURRICANES and MEDIA !
SBCS members Mike and Jon Merwine have produced a book for us to savor in our hunkered down, isolated state.
“Replica Buildings: A Visual History”, contains over 2400 items cataloged with clear, high resolution images along with material, maker, size, location, function and age information per piece. It is over 340 pages with a hard cover – detailing pieces from the Grand Tour all the way to the modern miniatures made by InFocusTech.
“What started as a hobby in 1998, quickly became the Merwine family business – what many collect today as Cast Metal Buildings by InFocusTech. Over these past 22 years, the company has created over 1000 building replicas from all over the world in various shapes and sizes. This hobby was greatly influenced by the souvenir building collecting obsession – one held by both Mike and Jon. While the collection was around 300 very common pieces in 1998, it rapidly grew over the past two decades and currently sits above 4000 items. Being a family of collectors and creators we felt a great way to express our passion for the hobby was to create a guide using our collection. And also to inspire others to take up the mantle of collecting as “Monumental Miniatures” by Majua and Weingarten did for us 21 years ago.” Jon Merwine.
Link to Book: https://www.replicabuildings.com/book/index.html
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! SBCS ZOOMERS
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! SBCS September ZOOM Meet & Greet is cancelled.
These friendly monthly ZOOM gatherings will resume on Sunday, October 11th. Mark your calendars.
An official invitation to this upcoming meeting, with more information, will be sent via email to all current SBCS members in early October. Remember that you must respond to the email to be included in ZOOM meeting.
In the meantime, the Souvenir Building Collectors Society Facebook group continues to engage with photos, conversations, and collections, everything from a Sunsphere throwdown to a staid Lincoln Memorial. Check it out.
Sunsphere, Knoxville
Sunsphere, Knoxville
Lincoln Memorial
Nani Nani, Tokyo
San Francisco
SUNDAY BUNCH ! …………Meet your fellow collectors.
It’s a Sunday Bunch! Join with fellow SBCS members on ZOOM in a virtual “MEET & GREET” at 2PM Eastern on Sunday, August 9.
Not wishing the Society’s camaraderie to languish during the 2020 Pandemic, cancellation of Convention 2020 and the long wait for Convention 2021, the Executive Team started this monthly virtual gathering. Join us for our third monthly Sunday meet and greet.
The platform is ZOOM. The moderator is Mark Fine. The length of time is 45 to 60 minutes. The loose plan for the initial meeting includes:
- EMAIL INVITATION: An invitation to all paid-up members will be sent via EMAIL from Joe Kopitz on Wednesday, August 5th. Members wishing to participate will need to use the ‘register in advance” link in Joe’s email to indicate their interest in attending the virtual “MEET & GREET.” This initial email will explain how to sign up for free ZOOM (if not already a user), and the steps you will need to take when you sign into the meeting.
- EMAIL REGISTRATION: A 2nd EMAIL, which will come from AMY MATCHEN (Account holder), is generated by ZOOM and sent to only those members who used the link within the 1st email to indicate their interest. This 2nd email will contain the LINK and PASSWORD needed to join the meeting. On the day of the meeting sign in at 2PM EDT or a few minutes earlier. Refer to the instructions in your first email.
3. This month’s Show & Tell continues the theme of a Great Story. Where you found it, how you found it, a special moment, a story about the piece itself, etc. Please do not plan to take us on a tour of your collection.
THIS “EXPERIENCE” IS LIMITED TO CURRENT MEMBERS OF the SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTORS SOCIETY. If you are not current with your membership or are interested in joining, click here to be taken to the Membership Application page.
THERE ARE PLANS FOR FURTHER MEETINGS. Please let us know your recommendations for themes or topics. As of now the recurring date and time is the 2nd Sunday of the Month at 2PM Eastern. Be sure to stay tuned.
HIT THE ROAD, BOB! Courtesy of Chris Spry
148…149…150…151…152…Done!
Lots of Boxes! Chris got a work-out loading them.
Grafitti notwithstanding Chris rocked the trip.
The last box was loaded onto the U-Haul rental. All items fit snugly in the 10’ Box truck. The Bob Kneisel Collection was ready to travel 2600 miles across country from Los Angeles to Oldwick, New Jersey. The trip was planned and executed to complete the planned dispersal of the Collection four years after it was bequeathed to SBCS by Bob Kneisel.
The destination was RSL Auctioneers in Oldwick, where Leon Weiss and his Associates, Julian and Andrea will take over and prepare the items for a “cyber” auction later this year.
The travel plan included a drive-by stop at Steven and Ethan Chevalier’s home in Ridgewood outside of Jackson MS. There, eight of the boxes were unloaded to await the 2021 SBCS Convention in Jackson.
The route was simple but a jumble of interstate routes. First it was I-10 to I-20 straight into Jackson. Then, back on I-20 to Birmingham, northeast on I-59. East on I-40, northeast again on I-81 and then due east on I-78 to New Jersey. The road trip included several picturesque parts of the country, including the Mississippi and Alabama forests, The New Mexico and Arizona Sonoran Desert, and the Shenandoah Valley.
All this done in 5 days. And yes, we were employing best social-distancing practices in accordance with our current National situation.
51..huff…99….huff….118…..huff…..135……hufff……144……HHUUFF….YEAH!
At the New Jersey location, Joe Kopitz met me, and we unloaded the truck along with Leon Weiss, his son Julian, and Andrea Abernethy. But, as a surprise to Joe and me, it included unloading and moving those 144 boxes up a flight of stairs. Yes, RSL Auctions is on the second floor of a commercial building with no elevator. Even though fitness centers are starting to reopen nationally, no StairMasters were needed that day.
After the delivery, Joe started his meandering way back to Brooklyn, intending to stop at several New Jersey thrift shops that he had not visited in the past.
Me? I chose to relax until my flight from Newark to Los Angeles the next day. Up to that point the trip was extremely satisfying. However, commercial flying today is challenging… but that it another story.
RSL intends to issue the Kneisel Collection as an exclusive two-day cyber-sale, meaning that is will be on-line only for two days and only include items from Bob’s Collection. Look for announcements regarding the sale on the SBCS and RSL websites and by email blasts from SBCS.
Update from Chris Spry. The Kneisel Collection Committee Mediator, Moderator, Maintainer of Decorum, Boxes, Documents, and Long-Haul Deliverer! Thank you!
ANNOUNCING ……. A New SBCS “Experience”…….
Bring a full cup and join with SBCS members on ZOOM in a virtual “MEET & GREET” at 2PM Eastern on Sunday, June 14th.
Not wishing the Society’s camaraderie to languish during the 2020 Pandemic, cancellation of Convention 2020 and the long wait for Convention 2021, the Executive Team is working to establish a series of virtual programs to bring members together.
The platform is ZOOM. The moderator is Mark Fine. The length of time is 45 to 60 minutes. The loose plan for the initial meeting includes:
- EMAIL INVITATION: An invitation to all paid-up members will be sent via EMAIL on Wednesday, June 10th. Members wishing to participate will need to REPLY to this EMAIL and indicate their interest in attending the virtual “MEET & GREET.” This email will explain how to sign up for free ZOOM (if not already a user), and the steps you will need to take when you sign into the meeting.
- EMAIL REGISTRATION: A 2nd EMAIL will be generated by ZOOM and sent to only those members who responded to the 1st email. This 2nd email will contain the PASSWORD for the meeting. On the day of the meeting sign in at 2PM or a few minutes earlier. Refer to the instructions in your first email.
- MEETING: The MEET of this initial meeting includes self-introduction (Name, locale, collection specialty) – in other words – short and sweet!
- SHARE: Several short pre-selected building presentations by members.
- GREET: A few minutes for discussion.
THIS “EXPERIENCE” IS LIMITED TO CURRENT MEMBERS OF the SOUVENIR BUILDING COLLECTORS SOCIETY. If you are not current with your membership or are interested in joining, click here to be taken to the Membership Application page.
THERE ARE PLANS FOR FUTHER MEETINGS. We have some ideas, but let us know your recommendations for topics. The suggested recurring date and time is the 2nd Sunday of the Month at 2PM Eastern. Be sure to stay tuned.
2020 Souvenir Building Collectors Society Convention Postponed !
The 2020 Annual SBCS Convention scheduled for October 23-25 in Jackson, MS has been postponed until October 2021, exact dates TBD (to be determined).
Stay tuned for further information regarding the Convention and what plans are brewing to keep SBCS Members engaged with each other. Fun events using new technology are in the works.
In the meantime there are the FaceBook Follies over on the SBCS Facebook page to keep us entertained. They started with the ABCs and before the group got to Z(ed) the National Building Museum followed suit with an A-Z Tour of the David Weingarten Collection of 20th Century Buildings. When it seemed the ABCs were exhausted new categories for sharing sprung up: Real buildings that look funny, Multiples, Masked Statues (Right On!), Postcards paired with their miniature buildings.
Take a trip over to Facebook and feast your jealous eyes on those “look but don’t touch” gems.
CHALLENGING TIMES – Solace in Souvenir Buildings
Souvenir Building Collectors under “STAY SAFE” guidelines are finding a myriad of ways to stay busy. Are you one of those surfing the netways to find the next acquistion? Are you actually dusting your collection? Or maybe you are organizing it into themes, or countries, or materials, or by size. Some are even going to the effort of cataloging.
The participants in the Souvenir Building Facebook Group are finding ways to share their collections with other members via various challenges: the A-B-C challenge, a castle challenge, a multiples challenge. Come join the fun.
Castles
Daniel Boone’s House
Braniff
Recently shared in Facebook Challenges
Dover Dam
Boym
E is For!
Buffalo
Castle
Brussels
Buildings of Cards
Shared by Howie and Joe.
FLASH SALE # 6: more of BOB’S BETTER BUILDINGS!
This slideshow consists of photos taken at Bob Kneisel’s home during the 2009 SBCS Convention in Pasadena and of photos taken in 2016 of the emptied cases. Some of the buildings depicted could be in your FLASH SALE Box.
If you missed out on the Bob’s Better Buildings sale last year – here is your chance to score! And for those who did score – a second opportunity to add more wonderful buildings to your collections.
The up-coming Kneisel Collection Flash Sale #6 is Monday, March 16th. This Flash Sale will consist of more of Bob’s Better Buildings and be limited to 30 boxes (with an average of 4 items per box). The cost will be $60 by check or $65 by PayPal ($60 plus $5 processing fee) per box.
As a reminder, each SBCS Member in good standing (membership paid through 2020) can order only ONE box. If you are part of a Family Membership and wish to purchase TWO boxes (one box for each Member), please include BOTH names and pay double the box price.
Keep an eye out for the official FLASH SALE Notice on March 16th and remember to follow the instructions.
SBCS 