Both the original value range and the current value range for West German pottery is huge. Certainly, the production numbers for tourist items and dime store items were much larger. However, there were also many high design items that were sold in high end department stores.
At the moment, you can find low, medium, and high quality items without much distinction in price because collectors don't know the pottery well enough to realize just how much difference there is, especially when only seeing it online. When I set up at shows with a 100 or so good examples, people tend to be rather shocked. By the way, a variety of NYC designer/decorators have used W. German pottery, but they don't yet go specifically looking for it.
I think it was Mark Hill who noted on a trip to Germany early this year that the traditional antique shops in Germany considered it an insult when asked about this pottery, but there were also "hip" shops that were getting into the pottery.
Several of the German sellers on eBay have noted that it's getting harder to find the good pieces in Germany because more of them are going to the shows and at higher prices...especially since prices on eBay are still mostly in the toilet for the good pieces.
I really believe that the market in the U.S. would be much better established if the economy and consumer confidence had not nosedived about 6 years ago.
Forrest
