souvenir collecting – Souvenir Shopping – Buying Carvings, Textiles, and Baskets in Kenya and Tanzania

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 8:34 am

Souvenirs and memories go hand in hand and collecting something unique from every country that you visit is a memorable and pleasurable experience. Travelers will find many souvenirs to take because the entire continent of Africa is a rich wealth of handicrafts.

Here are some unique things that you can pick up from Kenya and Tanzania on your trip. Always keep your shopping in such a way so that you can easily pack your bags and get back with minimal baggage.

In Kenya and Tanzania, the best things to pick up are small artifacts and wooden carvings made out of ebony. The local people make small wooden carvings of the animals that inhabit the continent and these are unique in their own way. The Makonde carvings are famous worldwide and they are made by the Masai Mara tribe. You can get several household things like candle sticks, pepper shakers, knife holders, paper weights, cups and plates, spoons, and also wooden chalices. These people are excellent with their hands and are skilled craftsmen. Things carved in ebony that are small and can cost you little more, but if you are planning to buy a large item, then you will have to shell out several hundreds of dollars.

The Wakamba tribe from Mombassa also has specialty carvings and they make a huge variety of carvings. The main type of wood that is used for the carvings are ebony and mahogany. Other items you can consider picking up are blankets that are hand embroidered, printed clothes, kaftans, scarves, traditional baskets and beaded jewelry.

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Superman's debut comic book issue sells for $1M - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – A rare copy of the first comic book featuring Superman sold Monday for $1 million, smashing the previous record price for a comic book.

A 1938 edition of Action Comics No. 1, widely considered the Holy Grail of comic books, was sold from a private seller to a private buyer, neither of whom released their names. The issue features Superman lifting a car on its cover and originally cost 10 cents.

The transaction was conducted by the auction site ComicConnect.com. Stephen Fishler, co-owner of the site and its sister dealership, Metropolis Collectibles, orchestrated the sale.

Fishler said it transpired minutes after the issue was put on sale at around 10:30 a.m. Eastern time (1530 GMT). He said that the seller was a "well known individual" in New York with a pedigree collection, and that the buyer was a known customer who previously bought an Action Comics No. 1 of lesser grade.

"It's considered by most people as the most important book," said John Dolmayan, a comic book enthusiast and dealer best known as the drummer for System of a Down. "It kind of ushered in the age of the superheroes."

Dolmayan, who owns Torpedo Comics, last year paid $317,000 for an Action Comics No. 1 issue for a client. Others have sold for more than $400,000, he said, but this copy fetched a much higher price because it's in better condition. It's rated an "8.0 grade," or "very fine."

Dolmayan said he didn't buy this copy but he wishes he could have.

"The fact that this book is completely un-restored and still has an 8.0 grade, it's kind of like a diamond or a precious stone. It's very rare," he said.

There are only about 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 believed to be in existence, and only a handful have been rated so highly. It's rarer still for those copies to be made available for sale.

"The opportunity to buy an un-restored, high-grade Action One comes along once every two decades," Fishler said. "It's certainly a milestone."

The sticker shock was astounding to Fishler, nevertheless.

"It is still a little stunning to see 'a comic book' and '$1 million' in the same sentence," Fishler said. "There's only one time a collectible hits the $1 million threshold."

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AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody contributed to this report.