Appraisals of your Rolling Stones memorabilia. How does this work?

I guess it’s about time I finally write up how to get your memorabilia appraised. I’m getting a dozen or so posts a week, sometimes more on “How much is this worth?” or “Where can I get this appraised?”

I’m happy to help out…. for a small fee.

The knowledge I’ve gained over the years  from researching memorabilia, the countless hours online, the gathering of thousands of images and filing them away, the money spent on books and magazines, takes lots of time.

And lots of money.

I’m happy to share this knowledge, but unfortunately can’t do it for free.

If you are interested in having me either appraise your item or sell it, post a comment on my blog. I get an alert to approve this comment.

Usually your email is given to me.

I will contact you directly and ask for details and photos and the information you are looking for.

I have a Paypal account and based on the information you need, will give you a price.

I can also authenticate autographs and provide a letter.

Happy to help.

Thanks,

Garyrocks

Okay…you’ve seen what I have, here’s some stuff I want.

Figured it might be time after roughly three years to maybe post some pictures and descriptions of some things I’m looking to add to my collection.
Most of what I’m looking for can be best described as what I don’t know about. It’s always more fun and exciting to stumble upon something you’ve never seen or heard of before.
But, there are some items I would love to add to my collection.
If you have any of these items or know where they are, I’m always interested in talking.

“Hey GaryRocks, I have one of those, what’s it worth?”

Ever since I began writing this blog I’ve received hundreds of requests from readers to appraise their Stones items.
Usually it’s a message that says…”Hey I have one of those, what’s it worth?”
In the beginning I was very free and open with information.

That information I was so willing to pass along, has taken years of research to acquire.
Hundreds of hours online, searching for photos and information that helps me build a base of knowledge that will help me continue to collect and buy with confidence.
Years of making mistakes, losing money, missing out on items I should have bought but didn’t because I didn’t know any better.
You make a few mistakes, you learn.
I would never consider myself an expert, but have been collecting this “stuff” long enough now to have learned a few things and seen a few things.
I feel comfortable advising or at the very least sending people off to others who are far better appraising certain rare items than I am.

I liked helping people, really…..until after passing along what I’d consider valuable information, I started seeing these items show up on ebay.

Hmmmm?

After I advised, I would on occasion express an interest in buying some of these rarities, and guess what, I never got a response.
That’s where the conversation abruptly ended.

No surprise heh?

I realized most if not all were just interested in picking my brain for free.
Make them smarter, at no cost.
So unfortunately I’ve had to stop.

So for those interested in appraisals, happy to do so for a small fee payable to Paypal, or the chance to buy your item if I’m interested.

Thanks for understanding.
GaryRocks

Happy Birthday Ringo! Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah Me!

http://garyrocks.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/the-christmas-present-that-never-came-my-ringo-starr-drum-kit/

Copy and paste this link and refer to a previous post I made.
Should be able to link directly from this page, but for the life of me can’t figure out why WordPress makes it so difficult.

Anyway, Christmas/Hanukkah came early this year.
July 5th to be exact.
When a special package showed up at my office.
The present that I so desperately wanted back in 1965 that never came, finally did.

My Ringo Starr Drum Kit from Selcol Industries.
Circa 1964-65.

Purchased from my friends at Tracks in the UK.
Just in time for Ringo’s 70th birthday.

Life is good.

The Christmas present that never came. My Ringo Starr Drum kit.

It was 1964/1965 and The Beatles were all anyone could talk about.
Girls brought their Beatle dolls, pins and purses to school.
Beatle lunchboxes were the only thing to carry your PB&J sandwich in.
They were everywhere and on everything.

I was 10 years old and decided drumming would be my life’s calling.
Why not right?
Not a professional baseball player.
Not a Doctor, to my parents dismay.
Not even an aspiring artist, which I already exhibited a real talent for.
But a drummer, just like Ringo Starr.

You see, there was this drum.
Not just any drum.
A toy drum, not even a REAL drum.
But this drum was different.
It had Ringo and The Beatles faces and names emblazoned
all over the packaging and the drum itself.

It must be THE DRUM that Ringo thinks is the best right?
If I’m going to be as good as him, I had to have this.
No substitute.
It was this or nothing.
It was all I wanted and asked for that Christmas.
Sounding a little like Ralphie from a Christmas Story right?

I grew up in a predominantly Italian/Irish neighborhood.
My parents were dead poor.
So we celebrated Christmas, without the tree on Christmas day.

As much as a hoped, begged and pleaded for this, it never came.

Probably couldn’t afford it that year.
So instead, I got “The Big Bash Drum.”
A knockoff.
No Ringo face or decal.
No Beatles.
No fancy packaging.
Plastic, orange with a stand and sticks.

This drum is so obscure, I couldn’t even find any reference on it.

But….I found plenty on the drum I wanted.
The Ringo Drum Set by Selcol Industries.

Someday I’ll buy myself one.

The selling of Mick, Keith, Brian, Bill and Charlie. 1964-1965.

Selling merchandise has long been associated with any kind of music/artist marketing effort.
Make something with their image on it, someone will buy it.
Simple right?
Even back when they were marketing the first “Rock and Roll Icon” of all time, Elvis Presley, you could buy
Teddy Bear perfume, hankies, guitars, record players, hound dog stuffed animals, you name it.

The Colonel made it, and made sure it sold.

It was then a precedent was set that has carried through till today.

No shortage of Hannah Montana dolls, guitars, wigs, or games on the shelves these days heh?

The selling of the Rolling Stones, “The Not So Lovable Mop Tops,” presented its own set of problems and challenges for Andrew Loog Oldham and his team.
What do we create and manufacture that fits their image?
And more importantly, will anybody buy it?
The primary audience for this kind of merchandise was usually young girls, the majority of the fan base.
And although the Stones had their fair share of female fans, The Beatles were probably easier to sell anyone and everyone.

The Rolling Stones were the first band of their time where you
could actually find boys screaming at their shows.

Though The Fab Four had it all.
Dolls, wigs, hairspray, combs, notebooks, pencils, ice cream bars, gum cards, record players, guitars, drums, candy, games, you name it.
Literally thousands of items.

The Rolling Stones ended up with but a handful.
I guess Andrew found that their “bad boy” image in the end wasn’t all that marketable.

Hell, I would bought the stuff.
And fans and collectors are still buying it now.

Only it’s a tad more expensive these days.

Here’s a few of the items from the 60′s.
These are the rarest of all Stones collectibles.
And believe it or not, would command in the thousands if sold today.

Mick's Maraccas. WTF?!!!!

This guitar has and will sell for $2500 in auction is very good condition.

Way before Guitar Hero, real plastic guitars.

Manufactured by a company called Selcol back in 64-65, The Rolling Stones entree to merchandising.

Years before the Guitar Hero craze kids actually played sort of real guitars to emulate their Guitar Heroes like Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison.

Manufacturers like Selcol Industries of England made plastic guitars in all shapes and sizes for fans emblazoned with facsimile autographs and pictures of The Stones and The Beatles on them.

Back in the 60′s these would sell for under $10.

Today the Stones guitar is worth in the area of $2000-2500 depending on condition.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.