Backstage Auctions just finished up their “Summer Music Swag Auction” on September 9. There were some unique hard rock / heavy metal displays and promotional items (aka ‘swag’) that the rock auctioneer offered for the auction, including a real oddity: a Raging Slab promotional ‘kit’ from 1993 which contained a tube of sniffing glue (shown in the photo at left. To read specific details on that item click here).
Owner Jacques van Gool answered some of Powerline‘s questions post-auction.
Overall, how well did the ‘Swag’ auction do, specifically the hard rock/heavy metal items.
Jacques van Gool: The auction did very well! We sold close to 70% of the items we had in inventory and in the week following the auction end we probably sold another 10%. For a summer auction, that’s about as good as it gets. As expected the rock collectibles did the best, whether it was classic rock, hard rock or heavy metal. The ones that stood out: although that’s hardly a surprise – were Kiss, Dio, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Thin Lizzy.
There were three assorted promo lots for hard rock/heavy metal that were bid on. What did they go for and what kind of stuff was in each one?
van Gool: One lot was for small promotional items (pins, buttons, stickers, cards, etc.) which went for $125.00 The next lot was for small promo display (anything under 24 x 24 inches) and sold for $100.00. The last lot was for larger displays (anything bigger than 2 feet) that found a new owner at the tune of $475.00
Do you think bidders like assorted lots and why?
van Gool: Yes, I think they do because it gives them maximum flexibility. They will keep what they want to add to their collection and the rest ends up in trades or sites like eBay, which gives them a chance to make their money back (and possibly some extra, as these lots as we offered them contained a high number of items that will sell well individually on e.g. eBay).
Which Hard Rock/Heavy Metal vintage t-shirts did well (or drew a lot of interest)?
van Gool: The one that surprised us the most was a 1979 Thin Lizzy Black Rose tour shirt, which sold for $350.00. It’s a great shirt but I honestly hadn’t expected it to sell for that much.
A 1976 KISS Destroyer tour shirt took the cake at nearly $400.00 but that didn’t surprise us as much as the Thin Lizzy shirt. Other shirts that all went easily past the $100 mark were shirts by Black Sabbath (one went past $200), Judas Priest (with one shirt going for $225), KISS ( three shirts going for respectively $130, $300 and almost $400), and Ozzy (one went past $200, another one topped at $130).
How much did the Raging Slab promo go for? What do you expect a collector to do with that oddity?
van Gool: It sold for a little over $40 — and all I can hope for is that the new owner will keep it intact! This was such a cool promo piece that it would be unfortunate to see the integrity of it being altered. If there’s room for it, it would be great if it could be displayed in full.
Any disappointments or surprises?
van Gool: No disappointments really. Sure, there are always a few pieces that you’d like to see sell for more but that’s easily compensated by those items that sell for way past your expectations. If there is a surprise I’d say that it is in the volume of items we sold -and in particular the promotional display lots. Overall, we’re very happy!
What’s up next for the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal collector? What can we expect in the next auction?
van Gool: Our next auction will be in November and this will be a more generic offering of 1960s, 1970s and 1980s pop and rock. And when I say ‘Pop’ I am referring to The Beatles and not Menudo. We have over 300 lots alone of nothing but authentic concert slides and negatives, which will all be offered with a full transfer of rights. This is mostly 1970s and 1980s material and it will blow you away. We have loads of rare promotional material coming in from several record company executives, an amazing collection of ‘unofficial’ live CDs, vintage concert posters from the 1960s, record awards, signed memorabilia and so on. Among the highlights will be a full signed Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy album, Bruce Springsteen’s oldest acetate and several original Beatles tour itineraries, issued by Brian Epstein, dating back to 1962. We’re still adding more stuff on a daily basis but it promises to become quite the event.
And our 2013 calendar will continue with impressive auctions, including a third Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal auction, that hopefully will eclipse the one from earlier this year.
For more information on upcoming rock auctions, visit www.backstageauctions.com
