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A rare pick among a ton of KISS memorabilia

Backstage Auctions Summer Classic Auction is loaded with fantastic KISS memorabilia — everything from unofficial live albums to personal band items — and among all these items are some unusual finds for KISS collectors. One KISS lot in particular is pointed out by owner Jacques Van Gool:

“There is so much stuff,” says Van Gool, “but one other thing that’s kind of neat is one particular lot from 1979, from Iowa, which probably belonged to someone who went to the show and was actually front row. There’s a roll of 36  color negatives — they’re not pro shots but they’re cool fan shots — plus the ticket, plus the articles before and after the show, plus the confetti, plus three guitar picks, of which one is extremely rare guitar pick from Gene (Simmons). KISS is known for all their logo guitar picks. They have the KISS logo on the front and the signature on the back. And KISS would line their microphone stands with these guitar picks. and they still do that and they would have 30-40 picks taped to their mic stand and what they’d do is grab them and flick them to the audience. Gene, however, always had a couple — maybe three at the most — of these gray HERCO guitar picks and those were the picks he actually used. And they’re nothing to look at. If you are into KISS pick collecting you know that those are Gene’s personal picks. It’s very rare for him to shoot that off into the crowd. I just like the lot because it’s just the entire concert as a time capsule and it has mementos to just about everything.”

The Summer Classic Auction runs from Saturday, Sept. 17 until Sunday, Sept. 25.

To register for your all-access VIP pass for the SCA, or for additional information, go to the Backstage Auctions website at www.backstageauctions.com.

For the item mentioned in this story, look for:
KISS 1979 CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
RARE CONCERT COLLECTION
Lot # 1454

Article by Pat Prince

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