Any good antique shops around?

[woodywoodford]

I'm not looking for your boring old antique bedframes or whatever, but actually cool antiques - are there any reputable places in town that sell that kind of stuff? I'm talking stuff like 19th century flintlocks, 17th century samurai armor/swords, ancient eqyptian type stuff, authentic indigenous artifacts (ie. mayan masks, native totem poles, cool african tribe things)

I'd love to start adding some authentic pieces to my home but have no idea where to go - it's too easy to fake antiques these days so the internet sketches me out on this one.

[ga16i]

Closest might be Heirloom Antiques on Macleod, but I think they were mostly North American and European stuff.

Maybe try Nanton? There's bound to be something in one of the shops there.

[flipstah]

Whenever I go to Vulcan, their shops are mostly antiques.

I'd check them out :thumbsup:

[speedog]

The type of stuff the OP is looking for is going to be very difficult to find in most antique shops - cruise Kijiji as you'll never know what you'll find there. We stumbled onto a 1900's humpback steamer trunk many years ago when the Bargain Finder was the go-to place - got it for a great price and the guy selling it had all sorts of weird old stuff including an antique one person carriage that was hoisted on the shoulders of four humans, not even sure what you call something like that. How someone would come into possession of something like that is beyond me - the thing was hundreds of years old.

[lilmira]

Isn't the Canadian Pickers' shop in Calgary some where?

[R-Audi]

There are a few Antique stores in Inglewood.. Thats where the Canadian Pickers place is as well, but I dont think its open.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by lilmira
Isn't the Canadian Pickers' shop in Calgary some where?

Kinda. They're called Double S Antiques and is the red barn in Inglewood. But they might not be open as a retail shop for customers to drop by and browse though.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by R-Audi
There are a few Antique stores in Inglewood.. Thats where the Canadian Pickers place is as well, but I dont think its open.



Originally posted by ga16i


Kinda. They're called Double S Antiques and is the red barn in Inglewood. But they might not be open as a retail shop for customers to drop by and browse though.

It's probably appointment-based.

Sounds like the OP needs to travel to buy something direct. :devil:

[Graham_A_M]

Head down to Nanton. there are tons there

[woodywoodford]

Originally posted by flipstah





It's probably appointment-based.

Sounds like the OP needs to travel to buy something direct. :devil:

I've tried that, I don't trust any of those vendors though after returning to Calgary and finding the exact same products for sale at 10,000 villages :P

Maybe a trip to nanton is in order

[flipstah]

Originally posted by woodywoodford


I've tried that, I don't trust any of those vendors though after returning to Calgary and finding the exact same products for sale at 10,000 villages :P

Maybe a trip to nanton is in order

No, I mean traveling to the countries themselves to get something antique-y.

Usually, if you buy it locally handmade, you won't find it at Pier One or something.

I'm saying it's funner to travel and pick up trinkets when you're there than buying it at some dude's store that did the traveling.

[MalibuStacy]

I was just down in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming this summer, there are antique and oddity shops everywhere down there. I can say for sure that you would be able to find a flintlock in the states.

I almost came back with some really ancient Coleman lanterns, and coca cola bottle myself.

[woodywoodford]

^^ a trip down there's in the works, but truth is the thing I'm looking for most is an authentic samurai sword with some history, and I'm prepared to drop 4, maybe even 5 figures on one. I just don't imagine your regular old shop has things like that, or would know enough about them to convince me it was real

[flipstah]

Originally posted by woodywoodford
^^ a trip down there's in the works, but truth is the thing I'm looking for most is an authentic samurai sword with some history, and I'm prepared to drop 4, maybe even 5 figures on one. I just don't imagine your regular old shop has things like that, or would know enough about them to convince me it was real

You may need a trip to Asia for one of those. Or West Coast.

[ga16i]

Originally posted by woodywoodford
^^ a trip down there's in the works, but truth is the thing I'm looking for most is an authentic samurai sword with some history, and I'm prepared to drop 4, maybe even 5 figures on one. I just don't imagine your regular old shop has things like that, or would know enough about them to convince me it was real

Whoa, this is serious businessaaaa!

Since you also mentioned ancient Egypt, tribal stuff, etc, it reminded me of Toronto based collector Billy Jamieson who had a show on History called Treasure Trader. He had mummies, god staffs and such for sale. He passed away, but searching for stuff related to him might get you some leads on those kinds of items.

[woodywoodford]

Originally posted by ga16i


Whoa, this is serious businessaaaa!

Since you also mentioned ancient Egypt, tribal stuff, etc, it reminded me of Toronto based collector Billy Jamieson who had a show on History called Treasure Trader. He had mummies, god staffs and such for sale. He passed away, but searching for stuff related to him might get you some leads on those kinds of items.

Well..if I go the 10k route that's for a REALLY nice one with some kind of future resale potential lol. I've found some online that have sold for 6 figures even :eek: From what I've been able to figure out 5 grand should get a nice one, but one used by some no name grunt.

That show is actually one of the things that got me first thinking about buying the real deal - those skulls are some kind of badass :drool:

[XylathaneGTR]

I've been on the hunt for antique firearms for a while...but they're really tough to find at local retail outlets. I saw a flintlock pistol at a localish shop for under $1k, but wasn't quite what I was looking for
.
Retailers at local gun shows may sometimes have some stuff from the 1800s, but I haven’t seen much older and the prices are usually jacked.
I even called the Glenbow once to see if they would sell to a brotha (they have a Napoleonic musket and some Japanese flintlocks on display that I would like to have…with their collection of 2,000+ pieces, I figured they’d have something that’s not on regular display rotation that I could purchase from them…)

I wouldn't go to the internet for this sort of thing...it's just something you hunt for and eventually find, and have a good story about.
When I travel for work, i also usually scout out local shops.

[BigMass]

I'd look up specific collectors forums online depending on the type of antique you're looking for. In terms of Samurai Sword, there are many forums such as "bladeforums" that have experts that can lead you into awesome deals. At a shop you might pay 10k for something that's only really worth 2-3k online so what's the point? If you pay 10k online from a desperate US seller then you're going to get way more value for money for something far more spectacular than you will get locally paying local "baller calgary rip-off pricing" for something that's not even that great

remember that the economy around the world SUCKS. Calgary is in a bubble. Take advantage of that fact. I'd look elsewhere for killer deals in depressed markets where you might be able to pick up an otherwise 20-30k sword for 10k. If I was looking for deals on high end collectibles, pieces of art etc, Calgary would be about the last place I'd look at, because even if you find it, it will be with people that don't really need to sell it and will want top dollar for it

[black_2.5RS]

Uniquities on Alyth Road is really good. Check out hinchcliff & lee in Inglewood. There's a place called Junktiques as well. Personally, I like Uniquties the best out of the 3