Collectors don’t always want comfortable period chairs or vases decorated with roses – sometimes they want the unusual to display.

Tastes change. In the 1950s, a pale-colored living room with matching walls, carpet and upholstery and little pattern was the “look” seen in the decorating magazines. But some collectors moved their collections of toys, advertising items, Battersea boxes, 18th-century Worcester plates, Royal Bayreuth vegetable-shaped dishes, porcelain shoes, pressed glass and more to shelves and tabletops to be admired.

Now many homes feature a collection, and a few collectors have what others would call “oddities.” Many even have built extra rooms to house a large collection. We have seen kitchens decorated with hundreds of potato mashers or egg beaters, family rooms entirely surrounded by shelves of tobacco tins, windows covered with glass shelves holding bottles or paperweights, bedrooms with plastic purses on the walls and libraries filled with antique toys. To the collector, these are not only important to display but are also examples of history.

One of the strangest collections we have seen is focused on disasters. It covers everything from postcards showing the San Francisco earthquake, Currier and Ives prints of fires, Staffordshire figures of slain heroes, to memorabilia from recent events like the fall of Enron.

Most prized are pieces that have survived a disaster, like the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Because so few authentic Titanic pieces remain, prices are high. A deck chair from the Titanic auctioned last year for $36,883, a menu found pasted on the back of a picture sold for $74,750, and a boarding pass for $110,000. Much less-expensive items can be found that are reproductions of old postcards, posters, ads, dishes, or were part of the props used for the movie “Titanic” or pictures taken of the underwater wreck of the ship.

This genuine Titanic folding deck chair auctioned last year for 6,883.

Q: Which method helps a piece of antique furniture retain most of its value: repairing, refinishing, restoring or just leaving it alone?

A: It depends. If you are looking at a table that’s 100 years old or older, it’s worth the most if it’s in perfect and original condition. If one of the legs is broken so the table can’t stand up, it has to be repaired just to be usable. But repairs and restorations of any kind decrease value unless the piece is very old and very rare or the repairs are simple ones, such as tightening handles or unsticking drawers. As for refinishing an antique, the rule is: “Less is better.” Don’t strip a piece that can be restored. Don’t remove paint that can be saved.

Q: My four pieces of Capodimonte porcelain are decorated with applied roses and are in perfect condition. I have two covered boxes and two small vases. What are they worth?

A: Capodimonte porcelain was first made in 1743 in Naples, Italy. Later in the 18th century, the factory moved to Spain, but returned to Italy in the 19th century. Your pieces, like most other Capodimonte porcelain in the hands of collectors, was made in the 20th century. The mark has been widely copied, however, so it’s best to check with an expert to see if your pieces are genuine. The company’s Web site offers appraisals. Most postwar Capodimonte vases and covered boxes sell for $20 to $75.

Q: I would like information about my 14-inch hard plastic Toni doll by Ideal. She has blond hair and is wearing her original clothes: plaid V-front taffeta jumper, white blouse, white socks and red oilcloth single-snap shoes.

A: Ideal Toy Corp. introduced its line of Toni dolls in 1949, the year after Gillette Safety Razor Co. bought the Toni Co. and granted Ideal a license to use the Toni name. Toni dolls were sold with a Toni home permanent that could be used to curl the doll’s nylon wig. The advertising scheme was designed to help Ideal sell dolls and Gillette sell Toni home permanents. Your doll, with blond hair and plaid jumper, was sold from 1949 to 1953. The doll alone, in perfect condition, with her hair in its original set, is valued today at about $350. If you have the original box and her original Toni products, unopened, then she would sell for $500 or more.

Q: When my parents visited Indonesia in the 1960s, a friend there gave them a gift he called a “chop” and described as “rare.” It’s a wooden box containing more than 100 bamboo strips with Chinese characters on them. What are they for?

A: You have a Chinese “chop pack” or “chop set.” Think of it as a Chinese set of rubber stamps. Chops (the bamboo stamps) have been used by the Chinese for centuries to sign their names on official documents. Sets usually came with a bowl for ink.

Tip: Do not store silver in cardboard boxes, newspapers or any wrapping secured with rubber bands. They will all discolor the silver.