Q:  Was my figurine personally signed by Alan?

    A:  I've seen many auctions on eBay where the sellers claim that the figurine was personally signed by Alan, and they display the blocked letters on the base as the signature.  What they don't understand is that each figurine needs to leave the studio with Alan's name on it.  The blocked letters would be considered the "Artist's Mark" or the identifier that the figurine is a 
"C. Alan Johnson" figurine.
    In the beginning of the business, from 1958 to around 1968 or so, Alan was the only china painter.  So he actually painted the "Artist Mark" himself during that time.  After that any one of the skilled china painters may have painted the mark.
    Alan does sign figurines personally on occation, using a permanent marker rather then china paint.  Below is a sample of a signature and the "Artist Mark".

Q:  What is my figurine worth?

A:  In truth, we don't know.  We've had indications from on line auctions like eBay, but even then it may be hard to say what something may be worth.  Many people are not connected to eBay. I track the online auctions and post notices of ongoing auctions on our Auction page, but that is as close to the secondary market as we get.
Prior to the online source we were completely out of the loop.  We would often get asked what a figurine's value would be, but since no one would tell us what they sold or paid for a figurine, we would have no answer.
In the end, the actual value is what ever someone will pay for it or sell it for.

Q:  Is the copyright date on the figurine the year my figurine was produced?

A:  No.  There are four exceptions.  When Alan started in 1958, yes, the copyright date did indeed indicate the year the figurine was made.  That was the case for the first four years.  Those years were 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961.
In 1962 Alan re-copyrighted the entire figurine line.  All the figurine designs in production at that time would forever have the copyright date of 1962, even if they were produced in 2005. Each figurine pattern  introduced after 1962 would bear the copyright date of  the year that it was introduced.   Every Ahtoon, for example, will always have a 1962 copyright date.  Every Tollu will always have the copyright date of 1970.  Tollu was introduced and copyrighted in 1970.

Q:  Is there a way to tell when my figurine was produced?

A:  If your figurine was produced prior to 1972 then we could only estimate the age.  In 1972 we introduced serial numbers.

Q:  My figurine has some sort of serial number on it.  What does it mean?

A:  In 1972 we introduced serial numbers.  The serial number consists of one or two letters followed by a number.  The letter or letters indicate the year your figurine was produced and the number indicates the numerical sequence in which your figurine was produced.  For example, a "CORA" with the serial number "V-151" will be the 151st "CORA" produced in 1981. An "AHTOON" with the serial number "V-151" will be the 151st "AHTOON" produced in 1981. The letter "V" indicates the year 1981.  So there may be a number of figurines with the serial number, V-151, but there will only be one "AHTOON" with that number, one "CORA", one "JOEY", etc.  You can find a chart of serial numbers {HERE}.

Q: Is my figurine made of Porcelain?

A:  No.  Porcelain is a translucent ceramic that is incapable of supporting the detail Alan wants.  Porcelain lends itself to a more delicate sculpture.  C. Alan Johnson figurines are more sturdy and durable, with detail towards realism.

{More questions will be answered as they get compiled.}