The Grail Hunt magazine

Stories

Every grail has a backstory. The history, the accidents and the obsessions behind the things collectors chase.

History · Action FiguresThe Empty Box: How Kenner Sold Star Wars Toys That Didn't Exist YetCaught flat-footed by a blockbuster, Kenner spent Christmas 1977 selling an envelope full of promises. The gamble worked, and it changed toy collecting for good.5 min read

History · Die-Cast CarsMatchbox in a Matchbox: How a School Rule Launched a Toy EmpireA London die-casting shop, a toy small enough to fit in a matchbox, and a royal coach that sold by the carload. The improbable story of how Lesney made Matchbox.5 min read

History · Vinyl RecordsBlue Note Records: How Two Berliners Built Jazz's Most Coveted LabelA German émigré, his photographer friend, an optometrist with a microphone and a designer with a type case created the sound and look collectors still chase.6 min read

History · StampsUpside Down in Washington: The Sheet That Made the Inverted JennyIn May 1918, a young collector bought a sheet of new airmail stamps with the biplane flying upside down. What happened to those 100 stamps became philately's great legend.5 min read

Culture · Pokémon & TCGGotta Catch 'Em All: Inside the Pokémon Card Craze of 1999Empty shelves, frantic trades and principals banning cards from recess. How the English Pokémon TCG swept America in 1999 and planted the nostalgia behind later booms.5 min read

History · Vintage WatchesThe Swim That Sold a Watch: Mercedes Gleitze and the Rolex OysterIn 1927 a London typist swam into the cold Channel wearing a new Rolex Oyster. She never reached France, but the watch's story made advertising history.5 min read

History · Sports CardsThe Card That Wasn't Supposed to Exist: The T206 Honus Wagner StoryA tobacco-pack giveaway became the most famous baseball card ever printed. Its scarcity is still debated, and its best-known copy carries a confession of trimming.6 min read

History · Pottery & GlassFiesta's Radioactive Red: The Dinner Plate Color the Atomic Age Took AwayHomer Laughlin's cheerful 1936 dinnerware owed its famous red-orange to uranium oxide, until the atomic age claimed the supply. The glowing story of Fiesta red.4 min read

History · LEGOFrom Wooden Ducks to the Perfect Clutch: How LEGO Became LEGOA Danish carpenter, a Depression-era workshop and a 1958 patent for studs and tubes turned a small toy maker into the brick that snaps together everywhere.5 min read

History · US CoinsThree Little Letters: The 1909 V.D.B. Cent and the Uproar Over InitialsThe first Lincoln cent carried its designer's initials for only a few days before a public outcry erased them, and a small San Francisco run became a legend.5 min read

History · Paper MoneyThe Last Days of Silver: When Americans Lined Up to Cash In Their DollarsFor decades a silver certificate was a promise of real silver. In June 1968 that promise expired, and Americans hurried to collect before time ran out.4 min read

Culture · Vintage JewelryBlack Jet and Braided Hair: The Story of Victorian Mourning JewelryWhen Prince Albert died, Queen Victoria wore black for nearly forty years and a nation followed her into jet, hairwork and jewelry made to keep the dead close.6 min read