Is a question I get several times a week. Sometimes I have a few extra minutes to help the writer of the note find their item or at least get more information, but usually I do not have enough time to devote to all individual requests for help. That is one reason why I suggest folks try the Forum. There are several Forum members who are really good at helping.

But when a request particularly piques my interest -- it's kind of fun to figure out more about an item. Sometimes I am successful, but not always.

For instance recently I was asked to help find information on what was thought to be a Heidi Doody Marionette. A picture was sent. Here's what I did to find more information on the doll. This only works when you have an idea of what it might be, a later article will deal with searching when less information is available.

• Using Google type in Heidi Doody. The first page came up with several links that looked promising.

  http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/howdy-doody.htm Where I learned that Heidi Doody was Howdy's sister and all sorts of fun information about the Howdy Doody show.

  http://www.geocities.com/howdydoody_howdy/howdy/Prices.html A few more listings down the list was this resourceful site, it shows several values of Howdy Doody items, but Heidi wasn't listed. Still, this is a good resource for me to file away for another time.

  http://www.howdydoodytime.com/cast.htm I already knew about this site from previous articles, but the Google search led me to the exact page needed. There was a picture of Heidi Doody and did prove that the picture sent was, in fact, a Heidi Doody marionette. also has an online price guide, but no Heidi listed.

• Now that I was sure it was a Heidi Doody doll I checked out my books -- the generic price guides, e.g. Millers, Warmans, Kovels. I couldn't find any listings for Heidi Doody. There is a Howdy Doody Collectibles book, but unfortunately it's not in my library.
• At this point I also checked Clubs and Associations to see if perhaps there is a Howdy Doody collectors club, I couldn't find one.
• Surprisingly to some, eBay is not the first step in my search, but now it was time to check out eBay. Online auctions prices can vary widely, it all depends on when it's put up for sale, how the item is described, the category, the pictures, etc. Many factors are involved in how well an item does when sold at an auction. First check I do is of current auctions to see how popular an item is, e.g. how many are offered and the number of bidders.
  

  There was only one Heidi Doody currently being auctioned and it was a wait to see what the final price would be. The ending bid was $450. with the reserve not met. I also checked the closed auctions and no other Heidi's showed up.

Now the owner of the Heidi doll that originally contacted me had an idea of what the doll could fetch. Later I saw she put the doll up for sale on eBay with a starting price of $450. and it ultimately sold for $620. with seven different bidders participating.

Now does this give me a "true value" for the doll? Or tell me what I could find it for elsewhere? Not necessarily, but since there were two Heidi Doodys both in the same range on eBay (even though one didn't sell), it does give an idea or price of what it might go for. And since both auctions had quite a few different bidders, other people also felt it was worth at least that much. Remember that anything that as specific and hard to find as this doll would most likely go for more in a more specialized auction, convention or club setting with more interested parties aware of the doll being offered.

Tips:

• When doing a search, check several pages deep. You might find a hidden jewel.
• Try misspelling the words to see what shows up.
• Although I use Google 99% of the time, occasionally I will try Dogpile.com.
• Always use the advanced search option on eBay.
• Always check the Titles and Descriptions box.
• Don't limit your search to just one category, many times items can show up in "strange" categories.

Search Resource Links:
Google
eBay Advanced Search (Also shows completed auctions)
Dogpile - compiles results from several search engines