While not all rock and roll collectibles are unique, many are rare and hard to find. There are three great places to buy rock and roll/music memorabilia online.
The best place to look is on eBay (www.ebay.com) for the most items. I usually only check a few pages of items that are about to expire in their listings. The cheapest place to buy collectibles is Craigslist (www.craigslist.org), but you need to do a little more research. Craigslist is broken down by city. If you happen to be in a big rock and roll city like Seattle, you might be able to find Kurt Cobain memorabilia that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. If you happen to be in Minneapolis, you may be able to find a nice selection of Prince collectibles. If you’re in Boston, you might be able to pick up items from a current gang like Entrain. Most sellers on Craigslist aren’t familiar with selling and shipping online, so that’s a major issue.
Woodstick (www.woodstick2007.com) has a selection of rock and roll memorabilia sold online and offers you a good, albeit small, selection. Their Drum Shop is well worth a look. However, you should visit it frequently. The elements are constantly changing. Columbia Pictures recently purchased two items: a collection of drumsticks featuring many recording artists from the ’90s and a similarly autographed drumhead. Proceeds from sales like these help with the overall costs of running the Guinness World Record-breaking fundraising event, which aims to provide funds for hearing regeneration research at the University of Washington.
From a Ringo Starr autographed drumhead to a Beatles-era Liverpool Taxi Cartop sign, the items at Drum Shot are interesting to look at. Care is taken to offer memorabilia that spans more than one generation, so you might find an autographed drumhead by the Smashing Pumpkins (Billy Corgan, James Iha, and D’arcy Wretsky), as well as an autographed drumhead by Cream. (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce).
As the years go by and early rockers and pop stars become fewer and fewer, the rarity of the items and the celebrity’s inability to produce more affects the value as collectibles. For example, a drum head with the autographs of the Righteous Brothers (Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley) should continue to grow in value. Bobby Hatfield passed away in 2003, the same year the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When Bill Medly passes away, the value will increase considerably.
Prices vary based on notoriety and achievements. For example, a drumhead signed by Phil Spector should increase in value no matter what the verdict is in his murder trial. Sensationalism sells.
Prices vary by location. In general, you can expect the lowest prices on Craigslist. The second lowest would be on eBay. The highest prices are at The Drum Shop, but your profits go to a good cause.
The fun thing about music and rock and roll collectibles is that you can enjoy the memorabilia while you have it and possibly enjoy the fruits of your collection when you sell it at a later date. Of course, the main reason for collecting is the sheer pleasure of seeing, touching and thinking about objects that transport you to another time and place. . . even if the time was yesterday. . . and the place was perhaps the hometown of his musical heroes.
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