Vintage Mario fabric

[Chaos Control | 70]

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/348910-vintage-mario-fabric/

 

...I have this really long length of fabric from the 90s, the kind used to make drapes and pillow covers and such. I have no idea what it's worth, so I figure it couldn't hurt to ask here.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Well, based on your description on Atari Age, it sounds like you've got roughly 4 yards of material.  Based on this auction, someone has approximately 1 yard of similar material and is asking $25 for it.  With that as a rough standard to measure against, I'd say $100 or less, and leaning toward less, although I believe it should be worth decently more than the low end of that scale.

[Chaos Control | 70]

1 minute ago, darkchylde28 said:

Well, based on your description on Atari Age, it sounds like you've got roughly 4 yards of material.  Based on this auction, someone has approximately 1 yard of similar material and is asking $25 for it.  With that as a rough standard to measure against, I'd say $100 or less, and leaning toward less, although I believe it should be worth decently more than the low end of that scale.

This is the sort of hard evidence that I was hoping for!:)

 

Thank you very much for the link!:)

[Nugfish | 653]

just based off of current fabric price, I would be surprised if you couldnt get at least $25/yard. Based off of no knowledge at all about this, I would have guessed $40ish/yd

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

9 minutes ago, Nugfish said:

just based off of current fabric price, I would be surprised if you couldnt get at least $25/yard. Based off of no knowledge at all about this, I would have guessed $40ish/yd

Well, there's at least two sellers on eBay right now with that exact same yard of fabric, one asking $25, the other asking $46, and neither one having sold it, so I imagine it's actually somewhere a bit below $25 a yard for someone interested, although I'd wager that the "full," uncut 4 yards would be more valuable together versus being cut apart and sold piecemeal, as it would make larger projects possible that individual yard pieces would prevent or complicate.

[Chaos Control | 70]

10 minutes ago, Nugfish said:

just based off of current fabric price, I would be surprised if you couldnt get at least $25/yard. Based off of no knowledge at all about this, I would have guessed $40ish/yd

That's much more knowledgeable than me!:)

 

I can't remember if the store had any other fabrics that I got, but I sorta recall a Zelda and a Donkey Kong fabric. I'll have to check to see if I can find it. 

[RH | 5,013]

I also did some searching for vintage Mickey Mouse fabric to get a gauge on how collectible or expensive this stuff can get with time.  It looks like fabric is pretty niche.  Now, I didn't find large quilt-panels of "classic" graphics but I get the impression that this stuff is simply not too collectible.  Not many people are looking for vintage fabrics unless they want to use it and not many people want it for that, even after 50-60 years.  IMHO, Mickey is a good analog to Mario when looking ahead at collectability which is why I looked for Mickey fabric going back to the 70s, 60s and even 50s and the demand just isn't there.

 $25/yard might be high by looking at Mickey's numbers.  I have to say those panel graphics are boss, though!  I have no need for the fabric, but I'd love to have at least two of these graphic panels framed and hung on a wall like posters since these are blown-up versions of the stickers that were in the collector card packs.  I'm all for that concept.

That said, there's also a part of me that's not interested in buying the fabric and slicing-and-dicing it up.  I mean, I kind of feel using this fabric for some project executed professionally, could highly elevate the value but there's not really anything you can do with the entire reem of cloth and keep it intact.  I think this could be a case where the sum of the individual parts is greater than the whole, but I hate admitting that for the sake of the piece.

[RH | 5,013]

Also, what's on the other side of the fabric?  It looks like it's folded in half.  Are there 6 different graphics, or just 4?

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

39 minutes ago, RH said:

I think this could be a case where the sum of the individual parts is greater than the whole, but I hate admitting that for the sake of the piece.

I disagree, as while you might get quicker sales and a larger number of interested parties by cutting it up and offering it piecemeal, you also ruin the chances of anyone wanting to try to do any sort of project with it.  As is, the whole thing would make at least one decent set of curtains for a small to medium sized window, but if you chop it into 1 yard sections, that becomes difficult or potentially impossible due to the crafter having to piece the material back together before they can even start (and even then, they'll still be left with unnecessary stitches and seams which would take away from such a piece).  Just my $0.02, but I also do some sewing crafts now and then and am speaking from that point of view.

In regard to pricing, yeah, I think $25 is still a bit too high for it to go anywhere immediately, just given that similar fabric with the same graphics on it has yet to sell at that price.  I don't really think that it's truly collectible, but I do think it would be of interest to someone who crafts but also collects or someone who crafts things specifically for the collector community.  Sadly, I think the days of every kid wanting Mario splattered all over their room (like many displays in 80s winter/Christmas catalogs protrayed) are long past, with this sort of thing being really niche at this point.

36 minutes ago, RH said:

Also, what's on the other side of the fabric?  It looks like it's folded in half.  Are there 6 different graphics, or just 4?

I'm pretty certain it's folded in half, as there's one jagged edge and then one perfectly smooth one, indicative of a fold, and typically how such material is/was folded when purchased.

[RH | 5,013]

2 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

I'm pretty certain it's folded in half, as there's one jagged edge and then one perfectly smooth one, indicative of a fold, and typically how such material is/was folded when purchased.

It is folded in half, and it looks like three panels are in a row.  You can open some of the photos in the AtariAge post and zoom in--you can see there's a different graphic silhouette from the part of the cloth underneath, and it doesn't look similar to graphics that you can see.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

30 minutes ago, RH said:

It is folded in half, and it looks like three panels are in a row.  You can open some of the photos in the AtariAge post and zoom in--you can see there's a different graphic silhouette from the part of the cloth underneath, and it doesn't look similar to graphics that you can see.

The additional graphics look like they're the same ones as the ones easily seen in the eBay auction I linked but not in the AtariAge photos.  I would guess that it's the "Mario riding a motorcycle" graphic that's quasi-visible behind the "Mario driving a car" graphic.  The one that can be quasi-seen through the one next to the car graphic is most likely the other half of the "Mario pulling up a turnip" graphic that we can see, just folded under.  Most likely both bolts were manufactured by the same people using the same graphics, but with slightly different sizing and arrangements.

Here is another, different bit of fabric using the same graphics, but different styling.  This one features an additional figure of Mario wielding a hammer/mallet, like in Donkey Kong.  The "new" graphic isn't seen on the cloth in the eBay link I provided, but I'd be willing to bet that's what's on the reverse side underneath the "Mario jumping with a mushroom" graphic.  That one would be technically different, as it's not on the eBay listing, but the art style is still the same and correct for the era.

[AirVillain | 494]

Just popped in to say I think this is radical. 

Mario stoked about his mushroom and his cart pre Mario Kart.... very good stuff. 

Can you provide a picture of the fabric OPEN though? 

I'd be interested in it. Thanks!