New location announced for Chesapeake Collectibles taping weekend

Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) flagship original series Chesapeake Collectibles is accepting registrations for its 10th annual taping weekend. The event, during which an entire season of content for the series is recorded, takes place August 3 and 4 at a new location – the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park.

Collectors are invited to complete their reservations by visiting mpt.org/programs/chesapeakecollectibles/register.

Chesapeake Collectibles 10th anniversary season will premiere in January 2020. Rhea Feikin will return to serve as host of the popular series, as will many of viewers’ favorite appraisers.

The two days of taping for the series’ new season will take place during four sessions – Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon, respectively. As in previous years, registration is required for admission to all sessions. To facilitate traffic flow and ensure timely evaluations of items, a limited number of registrations will be accepted for each session. Spots often fill quickly, so interested collectors are encouraged to register soon to secure their reservation before capacity is reached.

After staging the annual taping event in northern Howard County for several years, Chesapeake Collectibles’ producers are excited to reach new collectors by conducting the event at the University of Maryland. With the series move inside the Capital Beltway, the event is more accessible to collectors from Washington, D.C., surrounding Maryland counties, and northern Virginia.

Each year, Chesapeake Collectibles appraisers evaluate unusual artifacts, rare heirlooms, and one-of-a-kind collections. Just a few highlights from the series’ ninth season include a $100,000 baseball signed by Babe Ruth and the entire 1928 New York Yankees team, a Star Trek episode script with handwritten edits by series creator Gene Roddenberry, memorabilia from a collector’s sailing trip with John Lennon and his family, and a 7,000-item Hot Wheels toy collection worth more than $1 million. Other highlights from recent seasons are Tibetan wine cups saved from Mao Zedong’s takeover of China, an authentic Shakespeare folio, and a collection of items from the U.S. Supreme Court signed by justices including Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall.

In addition to gaining insight into the history and value of their personal heirlooms, collectors who participate in the Chesapeake Collectibles taping weekend have the unique opportunity to experience the “show-behind-the-show.” The production enlists dozens of crew members ranging from videographers to floor directors to makeup artists, among others. The “antique shop” main set boasts four cameras while roving camera units tape segments near the appraiser tables and film Rhea Feikin’s introductions for the season’s 13 episodes.

For more information, visit the series’ website at mpt.org/programs/chesapeakecollectibles and the Chesapeake Collectibles Facebook page. Episodes from previous seasons of the series are available for viewing at video.mpt.tv.

Major funding for season 10 of Chesapeake Collectibles is provided by Alex Cooper Auctioneers, Inc.