The Official International Wade Collectors Club

Wade Collectors Meet – 8th July 2012

admin — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:08:29 +0000

Wade Collectors Meet

Sunday 8th July 2012

Wade Collectors Centre, Ford Lane, Arundel, West Sussex, Bn18 0EF

Its that time of year again to make the plans for the ever popular Wade Collectors Meet. Sunday 8th July is the date to mark in your diary and to make plans to journey to Arundel, West Sussex, the very popular tourist town.

We will have some of the UK’s top dealers exhibiting at the show, along with the Club and C&S and there will be somefantastic show specials. The Club will have the Arundel Cat which is designed to compliment the Cat whimsies that are the entrance pieces at the shows throughout the year. As always we will have a honey and white colourway, the white ones will be randomly mixed within the edition so you could be lucky and have a White Cat! (height approx 4 1/2″)

We will also have another show special, to be announced soon!!!!!!!

C&S Collectables will have a Princess Elizabeth Whimsie as their show special. (pictures to follow soon!)

Our Blue cat whimsie will be given on entry to the show, entrance is still just £3 andincludes a free prize draw where you can win an all over gold Arundel Cat.

As always, the ever popular bran tub will be there where some fantastic prizes can be won for just £1 including a Star prize of a One of a Kind!

More details to follow soon………….

Wade Summer Fest, 28/29th July 2012

admin — Sat, 05 May 2012 15:43:39 +0000

The dates for this year’s Wade Summer Fest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA are Saturday and Sunday 28/29^th July 2012.

Plans are already being made for this fun show and as always there is a hospitality package on offer to those who want to attend. Details can be found on www.wadefest.com

Our show special this year will be a set of 3 Cat Whimsies in a limited edition of just 150 sets. We will keep some setsback for our members who cannot attend the show.

There will be over 85 tables full of Wade at the show with the top US dealers all exhibiting along with the Club and C&S Collectables from the UK. There is always a fantastic range of Wade on offer at this show in fact something for everyone! Hope to see you there!

Along with our show specials, we will also have our very popular bran tub, where some fantastic prizes can be won. If previous years are to go by, we will run out of tickets by the end of the weekend!

The host of the show, Keenan Antiques will have a green colourway cat Whimsie for those entering the show and taking advantage of the package deal on offer. C&S will be selling their 100 limited edition black and white Ruddy Ducks. The Club will have their pink and blue Ruddy Ducks.

The weekend is full of entertainment, Friday evening there is the traditional Meet and Greet with ice cream, huge cakes and competitions, and of course – talking Wade! Saturday evening is the banquet that includes fun games and English bingo as well as the sumptuous meal!

The weekend is always enjoyable and has something for everyone, so why not make your plans early to join us there!

Dates for your Diary 2012

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:04:26 +0000

We are pleased to advise you of the dates to put into your new diaries for the next 12 months.

Sunday 8th July 2012

Wade Collectors Meet, Arundel,

Sat/Sun 28th/29th July 2012

Wade Summer Fest, Harrisburg, PA, USA

Sunday 30th September 2012

Wade Collectors Fair, Aylesbury, Bucks

Sat/Sun 20/21st October 2012

Wade/Tea Fair, Windsor, CT, USA

Saturday 1st December 2012.

Wade Christmas Bonanza, Arundel.

New Figures now available!

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:10:04 +0000

Launched at the Wade Show on Sunday 25th March 4 new figures

A Teddy Bear in 3 colours, blue, pink and honey and a yellow colourway cockatoo.

To order click here:-

Wade Fair Review – Stoke-on-Trent, March 2012

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:54:54 +0000

What a weekend we had for the first Wade show of 2012, it was a scorcher! The weather was unusually hot for the time of year but that didn’t deter our collectors from visiting our home town of Stoke for the fair.

By the time the doors opened at 10am the dealers had their stands ready for the waiting collectors, the queue of which snaked back down the hall to the front of the hotel!

Once the doors opened visitors were quick to snap up the show specials, the yellow colourway Master Richard and

the red Cockatoo, both of which will make fabulous additions to any Wade collection.

The dealers stands were busy throughout the day with collectors looking for those elusive missing pieces from their collections!

Our bran tub was as popular as ever, with all the tickets once again going out of the tub and all the prizes won! We had 2 new cat whimsies on the day, the first being the orange cat, the admission whimsie and we also had a black cat as a consolation prize in the bran tub, look out for more colours throughout the year!

The lucky winner of our door prize draw was Emily Jawson who one a gold Master Richard Pig money box.

A great day was had by all who attended, we hope to see you at the next show in Arundel on the 8^th July 2012.

We did keep a few of the show specials back for those unable to attend, click here to buy

Laughing Rabbit Monthly Whimsies

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:58:13 +0000

We are now offering our members the chance to purchase a Whimsie a month!

Our laughing Rabbit Whimsie will be running through to November 2012.

priced at just £9.99 including postage, this is a fantastic offer for all Wade Collectors.

(the gold and silver Whimsies pictured will be used as prizes throughout the 12 months).

Just click the pictures below to order the Whimsies already launched.

February Magazine offers

admin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:54:34 +0000

The February magazine is now on its way to all our members. Included are some fantastic offers, including the first 2 limited edition Jessie van Hallen Lady Whimsies!

It also sees the launch of the next Wade Pig, Master Richard, who is part of the extended Nat West Family, being first cousins to Annabel and Maxwell!

Make sure you check out the new enrol a friend offer featured!

Filled with news, views, articles, competitions and more, we hope you enjoy reading it!

Just click the pictures to find out more:-

Betty Boop resin giftware range

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:20:53 +0000

Betty Boop is an iconic character and is extremely popular worldwide!

We are delighted to have in stock a fantastic range of officially licensed Betty Boop giftware

We have Keychains, money boxes, miniature figures and larger figures, just click the images below to find out more:-(please note these are not Wade branded products).

Betty Boop Key chains

Betty Boop alphabet figures

Betty Boop Mini Figures

Betty Boop Giftware

Nat West – Did you know????

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:52:06 +0000

Did you know that back in 2006 when the smaller gold Woody pig was being produced Wade also produced a few samples in all over platinum. These pieces carry a prototype backstamp.

We are now able to show a picture of this piece which will be much sought after, as there are believed to be only three in existence!

Have you seen one? Let us know if you have.

Check out the History of Wade & NatWest pigs, by clicking here

Nat West Pigs – a brief history

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:47:30 +0000

The first thing to remember when collecting Nat West Pigs is that Wade were not the only company to produce them. But of course it is those produced by Wade of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent which were modelled by Alan Maslankowski,which have become so collectable in recent years. So remember, if your NatWest pig doesn’t actually have the incised Wade England logo or the backstamp of Wade on the base, it wasn’t made by Wade.

It was back in 1983 that the promotion began. The Natwest Bank in the UK wanting to attract youngsters to save with them came up with the idea of a family of pigs for children to collect. The collection began with baby Woody for investors who opened the account with a minimum of £5. All the rest of the collection were given away free. After six months, if the account contained at least £25 they received Annabel, and then after one year, the account needed to have grown to at least £50 to qualify for Maxwell. At eighteen months if the account contained £75 they were rewarded with Lady Hillary. Finally after two years, if the account had grown to at least £100, Sir Nathaniel Westminster was given to those who had managed to stay the course.

The offer ended in 1988 and altogether Wade produced more than 5 million pigs, relatively few children managed to complete the set – £100 was a large sum for a junior saver at that time. Consequently Sir Nathaniel was not in great demand and so fewer were produced. Today he is worth around £60 to £70. It is interesting to note that Maxwell the son, was named after Sir Robert Maxwell, the disgraced newspaper magnate. The NatWest bank did little to promote that figure, the release of which coincided with his downfall. Less were produced which now reflects on its value which is around £30 to £40.

Ten years later in 1998 NatWest once again approached Wade to add a further pig to the series and it was Ken Holmes who modelled Cousin Wesley, the sixth in the series of pigs which was released in 1999 to promote a NatWest personal savings bond for children which required an investment of £1000. Perhaps because of the high investment involved, this promotion seemed to go almost unnoticed by both collectors and investors and many people still don’t know of Cousin Wesley’s existence even though Wade produced in excess of 5000 of them. Consequently Wesley in now highly sort after by collectors who are now, belatedly becoming aware of his existence. An authentic Wesley sells for between £200 and £250.

Wade also produced 25 gold Woody’s for the NatWest Bank which were meant for the directors of the company but a small number were also given as prizes to a few lucky customers. All had certificates of authenticity with them and rarely come on the market.

Finally, Beware! There seem to be a number of counterfeit Wesley’s on offer both on the internet and at collector’s fairs. This entrepreneurial Wesley was not produced by Wade even though it carries their backstamp. He is smaller than the genuine Wesley, his colouring is different and he has larger feet. If in any doubt contact the Official Wade Collectors Centre or The Wade Collectors Club for advise and finally, remember as always buy from reputable dealers.

In 2006 Wade produced a smaller gold Woody an edition of 250 and then in 2007 a gold Annabel, a run of 400 and in 2008 there was a further Wade pig produced for NatWest. This was the all over gold Maxwell piggy bank an edition of 400. All these three gold pigs are smaller than the originals from the 80s, with a printed rather than embossed backstamp and came with a certificate of authenticity.

Continuing the piggy theme, in February 2011 Wade launched a new piggy bank line with a Lady Margaret –grandmother of the family and later in the year a grandfather, Lord Henry was released. There is a pink colourway of Lady Margaret that was sold at the Wade Fair in Stoke-on-Trent on 3^rd April 2011. This was a very limited edition of just 75 and a green version of Lord Henry which was sold at the Aylesbury show on the 2nd October 2011 again a 75 limited edition, now difficult to find and valued at between £90 and £100

Gold jacket versions of both Lord Henry and Lady Margaret have been produced, limited editions of just 6 pieces which have been used as promotional pieces through the Wade Club. There is also a light blue colourway of Lady Margaret, only 15 of these were made!

Wade have recently (February 2012) announced another member of the extended pig family which they are producing – Master Richard, cousin to Annabel and Maxwell. He will b e on sale from early March costing £35. A good investment and another member of the family to add to your collections. To order the latest Wade pigs click here

Finally C&S have been aware of a smaller version of the Woody Pig in an all over platinum.

silver colour for some time (see picture) and are now able along with the Wade Collectors Club to show a photo of the piece for the first time. A C&S and Club exclusive. Wow. We wonder what he would sell for at auction? Produced only as samples, there are onlybelieved to be three in existence.

by David Chown

C&S Collectables.

(An Official Wade Collectors Centre)

Did you know???? click here to find out more…