The 80s is back and the demand for it's music memorabilia proves it

Every collector dreams of owning a top-shelf, holy grail item. But how do you ensure you’ll have a spot at the head of the collecting class someday? Well, it’s kind of like a 401(K) plan. There’s a lot of saving and planning, some discipline, and quite a wait for payoff.

“If you buy to collect, then the golden rule still is to keep whatever you have sealed, whether you buy an album or a CD or toy or anything,” said Jacques van Gool of Backstage Auctions. “Don’t be tempted to open it or listen to it. The moment you do, the item will lose value.”

Oh, sure, the item may still be in pristine condition. But breaking that protective seal is a lot like driving a brand-new car off the dealer’s lot: The depreciation starts the minute you do.

If you have any open or unsealed items, be sure to invest in good storage materials and bag them up now, because at the end of the day, the value of the collectible is driven by its condition. If you have vinyl, be sure to store it with a backing board, so the corners won’t bend.

For those of us who have limited impulse control, consider buying today’s “limited-edition” collectibles in duplicates — one to enjoy, and one to save for the future as a true collectible.

Just don’t expect to see a massive return on your investment overnight, van Gool warns. You need to be patient enough to keep the piece long enough so it can grow in value.

“Everything in music collectibles are like wine. There’s an incubation period, and they need to ripen and they need to season,” van Gool said. “If you buy something now and try to sell it or trade it in the first 10 years, the chances are the piece you bought is at the same value, or it might have lost a little bit of value,” he said. “That’s not different than the bundles of money we pay today for items from the 1960s and the 1970s. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, they were worth nothing.”

So, what are the items you should be saving today for your collecting investment tomorrow? Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “foolproof” investment. That said, for the most part, everything that was collectible — records, posters, signed memorabilia —is still collectible, van Gool says. But a few specific areas have enjoyed a bit of a growth spurt in recent years.

“One type of item that has become increasingly popular over the past five years are vintage T-shirts, and that entirely has to do with the fact that five, six years ago, vintage concert T-shirts became fashionable, so they were, all of a sudden, in style, and it was cool to be seen in style with a 1976 Peter Frampton T-shirt or a 1974 Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt,” van Gool said.

Vinyl is also enjoying a bit of a rebirth. “There’s more new vinyl that’s being sold,” van Gool said. “When you see large retailers such as Best Buy jump on the bandwagon to start selling vinyl again, that’s a good sign.”

And it’s not just Baby Boomers buying back their old albums.“It’s people in their 20s and 30s, who did not grow up with a record player who are now discovering the wonderful world of vinyl,” he said.

When it comes to a certain “genres” that are on the rise, new wave, post punk and metal all land on van Gool’s list.

“If there’s a category lately that is really jumping and more and more demanding high prices, it is the ’80s hard-rock, heavy metal, whether it’s Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or Metallica or Def Leppard or Saxon,” van Gool said.

When Backstage Auctions conducted a Motley Crue auction a few years ago, it was kind of a gamble for the auction house, van Gool said. “It ended up being our first completely, 100-percent-sold-out auction. It was an over-the-top auction.” The event was such a success that Backstage is planning another auction around hard-rock/heavy-metal items.

“I think this current decade, meaning 2010 through 2020, is probably the decade where you might start to see the popularity decline of a lot of 1970s bands,” van Gool said. “I think that is going to be replaced by the Madonnas and the U2s and the Princes of the world. They are already collectible. But I think they will become serious collectibles to the tune of where you see auction houses really honing in on what I call the late ’70s and 1980s pop and rock artists,” van Gool said.

Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Boy George … they’re all heading for their day in the collectible sun, he predicted,

“Whatever you fell in love with as a teenager and as a high school student and college student … once you’re in a job and made a career and bought a house and have a couple of cars, you’re at a point where you start looking back and becoming sentimental, and you start to associate a lot of happy moments of those years with the music you listened to,” van Gool said. “You want to reconnect with that time in your life; you want to own something, whether it’s as simple as a poster or T-shirt or album, or something really big."

Reconnect with your music history and rock on over to Backstage Auctions and check out their current auction events and online store.

Punk Rock Memorabilia - More than just a button or two

When staunchly classic auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s host sales related to a popular culture era, you know the market is on to something.

Of course, when that something is punk rock, more than a few traditionalists were scratching their heads. But with a handsome sale result of $747,300, the Christie’s Punk/Rock sale in late 2008 confirmed what rock and roll memorabilia collectors and auction houses like Backstage Auctions already knew: Punk is hot.

“Punk, at the time, was not a musical genre that was meant to be collected,” said Jacques van Gool of Backstage Auctions. “Punk was an expression, and punk was a statement, and punk was something you lived. Punk wasn’t something you put in a plastic sleeve and put in a display case.”

Collectors today want to do just that, and they are willing to pay handsomely for the privilege. But finding a mint-condition punk collectible is a bit like finding a needle-toting unicorn in a haystack.

“Punk collectibles were not necessarily handled with care, so to find anything for that matter that is still in pristine condition is an exception, rather than the rule,” van Gool said. “If you had a punk T-shirt, the first thing you would do is rip holes in it. If you had a punk poster, the first thing you’d do is tape it on your wall and put stickers on it and write on it.”

But the other reason it’s tough to find top-shelf, mint-condition punk collectibles comes back the golden law of economics: supply and demand.

“I think what makes a mint punk collectible so rare is it wasn’t meant to be kept, and because there was a very small quantity, the survival rate is low,” van Gool said. “We can all ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ about the first Beatles album on Capitol Records from 1964, which is still worth a lot of money in mint condition, but what people forget is there were hundreds of thousands of copies. When you’re looking for a punk single, you’re lucky if they pressed 200 or 1,000 copies.”

Our Market Watch feature has hosted a variety of hot-selling punk records in recent months.

As for punk memorabilia, there’s one thing that van Gool will always associate with the punk movement.

“When I think of punk, I think of buttons,” van Gool said. “You couldn’t walk the street and see a punk rocker without 20 or 30 buttons.”

In the eBay collectible world, punk buttons are an easy buy — not to mention a great choice for collectors who may be strapped for storage space, or even funds.

A single Clash pinback recently sold for $52, but that kind of premium tends to be the exception rather than the rule in online auctions.

By comparison: A collection of 100 metal, punk, hardcore and ska buttons and badges sold for $16.99; a group of The Cramps’ pins sold for $11; and a group of Iggy Pop and The Stooges pins sold for $8. Collections featuring Screeching Weasel plus Sloppy Seconds, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer and NOFX each sold for about $6.

Another hot collectible these days? Vintage T-shirts. “That entirely has to do with the fact that 5, 6 years ago, vintage concert T-shirts became fashionable, so they were all of a sudden in style, and it was cool to be seen with a 1976 Peter Frampton T-shirt or a 1974 Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt,” van Gool said.

A collection of vintage T-shirts that featured a 1984 The Clash “Out of Control” shirt, as well as shirts from Scorpions, Billy Squier, ZZ Top and Quiet Riot, recently sold for $225 online.

-Susan Sliwicki - Goldmine Magazine

http://www.goldminemag.com/collector-resources/memorabilia-market-makes-room-for-punk-collectibles

Music Memorabilia Collector Turned Auctioneer - Living His Dream

By Stephen M.H. Braitman

It never fails that our truly personal “Rosebud” is humble, perhaps common, and not what others expect. When asked what he would save if the flood waters were rising, Jacques van Gool reflected a moment and then said without embarrassment: a 1975 issue of the Dutch magazine Muziek Express with Kiss on the cover.

Apparently it was the first time Kiss had made the cover. “Emotionally, that magazine brings home more memories to me than anything else.” It was, as he said, “a life-changer.”

Jacques van Gool - Backstage Auctions

That change in life turned van Gool into a music collector, growing a personal collection into a significant leisure activity apart from his main gig in the globetrotting corporate world. When he and his wife Kelli became fed up with relentless travel and no home life, they seized on the opportunity to capitalize on their obsession with music memorabilia. Jacques and Kelli now run Backstage Auctions in Houston, focusing on collectibles personally owned by artists, managers, producers and promoters.

We wanted to hear from van Gool as someone totally immersed in the world of music memorabilia for a perspective many collectors simply can’t have. Like other professionals in his field, he has a view that is helpful on many levels to understand the dynamics of the market. Like, what the heck is happening now? And should I buy everything in sight?

We’ve had a certain amount of controversy over what constitutes “music memorabilia” lately, like Elvis’ medicine bottles. How do you define it? Is absolutely everything worth buying and selling?

Jacques van Gool: Honestly, I try not to define it. To me, memorabilia is anything that you enjoy collecting. And if you ask a thousand people why they collect, you probably get a thousand different answers. So, if collecting medicine bottles is your thing, then by default those bottles become memorabilia to that collector.

Having said that, I personally don’t believe that absolutely everything is worth buying and selling. We’ve been offered many very personal items over the years and that’s where I draw the line. Sure, I’ll take Bruce Springsteen’s boots, jeans and sweaty shirt any day, but I’ll pass on socks and underwear. I’ll gladly offer up Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics or letters, but an expired passport or a hospital bill with a social security number goes a step too far. I realize that the lines have been blurred over time, but I still believe that true music memorabilia is comprised of items that were meant to be collected: records, posters, shirts, autographs, photos, instruments, lyrics, magazines, etc.

Fortunately, that still makes up 95% of what’s out there, so I think we can easily group the remaining 5% as novelty items, which, by nature and design, attract mostly a different audience than the traditional collector.

At what point do you recommend that an object be authenticated? How rampant in the industry are counterfeits and frauds? And what categories of memorabilia are most suspect?

Jacques van Gool: Oh man, you sure know how to ask the tough questions, don’t you? I guess that once it became clear that there was money to be made in music memorabilia (and this goes back to the 1970s), you started seeing the first counterfeits. It likely began with autographs but has since spilled over to high-end concert posters, rare vinyl, vintage T-shirts, toys, tour programs, you name it.

It’s really no different than what you see among sports or movie memorabilia, or art, coins, stamps, jewelry — heck, even wine for that matter. I’m not sure that you can weed it out, but as an auctioneer you have an obligation to your buyers to protect them from fraudulent practices. We’ve eliminated it by exclusively representing the authentic source of whatever we auction, which creates huge peace of mind for everyone involved.

Short of that, if you want to sell or buy an item that comes from a secondary source, you really need to do your homework. Fortunately, there are many experts in many different fields who can help you authenticate. I must add, though, that you have to make sure that this expert is truly independent and has no other agenda but to serve you with the highest level of integrity.

Naturally, the most suspect area is that of signed memorabilia, simply because we all want a fully signed Beatles photo or poster from 1964. The reality is that only so many true signed pieces are in circulation and once the prices start to hit the four and five-digit levels, it’ll bring out the crooks from around the world. I’ve seen loads of fake autographs coming from Australia and Europe and Canada, so it’s not an American problem per se.

I’m not even going to touch the whole subject of whether to use a forensic expert or an autograph expert. At the end of the day, even though this is a massively complex issue, I believe that it’ll come down to something very simple: If you, as a buyer — in heart and mind — are happy and satisfied with the item you bought, than that’s all there is to it.

Every collector has a unique standard to which they measure their own collection. Some may need three independent reviews, letters and documents to pull the trigger, whereas the next buyer acts on impulse and buys simply because he or she likes what they see. That’s something that we (the sellers) can’t control. But what we can do — and must do — is take every step possible to provide the right stuff. After all, we are being looked upon to uphold a standard, and I like to believe that — since we have seen it all — we should know how to separate right from wrong.

There are many auction houses and retailers dealing in music items, and there’s tons of stuff out there — and not even counting eBay! Is there too much stuff? Is this a bubble market?

Jacques van Gool: I agree that there is a ton of stuff out there and naturally, from a competitive viewpoint, I’d like to see less; but that’s a bit of a double edged-sword. The fact that so many generic auction houses have jumped on the music memorabilia market also helps the rest of us in that it supports and promotes the overall hobby. The more places there are where you can buy collectibles, the more potential there is to create or generate new collectors, something that in the end is always good for our business.

I don’t believe it is a bubble market, though. Collecting music memorabilia is something that I see continuing for as long as there is music. The only fluctuations you will see is in the number of sellers. When the market is strong, there will always be an increase in auctioneers, retailers and stores that want a piece of that pie. When the market slows down, some will retreat and move on to something else. The diehards will always remain loyal and fortunately, there are some great music memorabilia stores and sellers who have truly been dedicated to serving the market for decades.

What type of people are actually spending thousands of dollars on higher-priced items and objects? Are there enough rich or well-off collectors out there, or is the market mixed with pure investors?

Jacques van Gool:  Well, you never can have enough rich collectors as far as I consider, but in reality, the real high-rollers make up for perhaps 5 or at best 10 percent of collectors. The beauty of collecting is that literally everyone can do it — and does do it. As such, you’ll see a perfect bell-shaped graph, which I believe to be a reasonable reflection of the income classes in the industrial world.

You’ll always have a good chunk of collectors that solely operate at the lower value end, the largest population is to be found in the middle, and only a small percentage operates at the very top of the curve. I have always operated on that principle and, as such, aim to have our auctions reflect all three levels. In other words, I always want to have something to offer for every wallet, and no one should ever feel left out.

As for who buys the higher-end collectibles, in my experience that’s an exotic blend of clients. Naturally they have one thing in common, which is sufficient disposable income, but as far as their motives for collecting, I think only a small portion buys for the purpose of “investing.” Most high-end collectors are still true fans and motivated by the exclusivity of the item.

Are the voracious buying habits of showplace retail establishments like Hard Rock Cafe and museums like the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and Experience Museum drying up collectibles and driving up prices?

Jacques van Gool: The museums used to buy in the very beginning, but once they established themselves, they have for the largest part relied on donations. The HRC has many deals directly with musicians who will provide them constantly with new material. By the way, most of the products you’ll see these days are reproductions.

The Hall of Fame is almost exclusively donations, which are mostly on temporary loan. They rotate their pieces fairly quickly and at some point, most of it will be returned to the consignor.

If your question is whether places like these generate a positive effect on collecting as a whole, I’d say the answer is yes. Everyone who likes music has visited at least once a Hard Rock Café, and you can’t help but be excited about the cool stuff that’s hanging on the walls. As a true collector, you naturally would love to have a piece just like that, whether it’s a signed guitar, a vintage concert poster or a record award. And that’s where the auctioneers and memorabilia sellers come into play. I’m all in support of places like the Rock Hall and the Hard Rock Cafes because, in the end, it’s good for the hobby, thus it’s good for business.

Is there any comprehensive database yet for music memorabilia similar to those available for fine art, like Artfact.com? Or is it still the Wild West — nobody really knows what’s out there, and new stuff is always being discovered? In other words, how mature is the field of collecting music memorabilia?

Jacques van Gool:  I don’t think it’s mature, but it is certainly maturing. Ever since the ’70s, people — mostly dedicated fans — have been putting together price guides which, if anything, are often helpful sources to knowing what is out there. You can find books these days dedicated solely to guitars, vinyl, T-shirts, posters, etc. On top of that, there are great band- or artist-related price guides for The Beatles, Kiss, Madonna, Rolling Stones and so on. Also, with the continued accessibility of the Internet, you’ll start to find more and more decent Web sites dedicated to pricing and inventory.

So I believe the hobby is getting better. That said, I believe this hobby is still too young to have established a reliable and consistent platform for pricing. I still see too many extremes in pricing to be able to say that a certain poster or shirt or autograph is worth “X” and “X” only. The best you have these days are ranges. But on the upside, the ranges have become more defined and more reliable, which is the result of collectors and Web sites comparing sales data.

What doesn’t make it any easier is the fact that new discoveries are being made on an almost daily basis, and many will have an effect (up or down) on what was established previously.

But, in a way, that’s the beauty of collecting music memorabilia. Unlike cars, coins or stamps, where you pretty much know what’s there, music memorabilia is much more diverse.

Lastly, we shouldn’t forget that this isn’t an exact science. We collect mostly because of our passion, and when you translate passion into value, the number in the end will be different for most of us. To me, that’s also the beauty of collecting music memorabilia. One collector will pay $50 for a certain poster, whereas the next collector will pay $500.

I find absolute pricing to be a bit of a dangerous undertaking, and I personally would like to see us concentrate more on ranges instead. Once we have widely established and accepted ranges, it’s up to the collector to decide whether on not to follow those guidelines. It certainly will make the whole negotiating part a little easier and, better yet, will provide a great aid in assessing the true value of a collectible.

Stephen M.H. Braitman is a music appraiser, writer, collector, and fan.

Frank Kozik - Pioneer of the Modern Rock Art Movement

Kozik Green Day 1996

Do a search on eBay for Frank Kozik or just Kozik and thousands of listings will show up in your search results. And if you narrow the search down by type of item you will see everything from gig posters and vinyl to figurines and toys.

Kozik, who is a self taught artist, began in 1981 when he started creating flyers for a friends band and littering telephone poles with his handy artwork all over Austin, Texas.  It didn't take long before his very fetching artwork got noticed and his reputation grew rapidly.

Throughout the 80s and early 90s, Kozik's music related artwork started becoming a true art movement as he started creating large, colorful silkscreen concert posters and doing so for a wide range of up and coming musicians such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Green Day and Nirvana.

One of his most iconic posters is the Soundgarden / Pearl Jam 1992 poster featuring a sultry and

Kozik Soundgarden / Pearl Jam 1992 Poster

seductive image of a young lady. It's a very attractive poster and highly collectible. What you may not know is that story behind Kozik's inspiration for the poster. The young lady was a Swedish erotic film star in the 60s and 70s named Marie Liljedahl. He was inspired by a promotional photo of her for the movie Inga. Kozik went on to use her image in other posters, but it's the Soundgarden / Pearl Jam poster that is one of his most popular posters.

Kozik ventured out and started a record label, Man's Ruin Record releasing over 200 singles and albums including Sex Pistols record and the first Queens of the Stone Age single. In 2001 he closed the label after only six years to devote himself to fine art, design work and an emerging toy movement.

We have been selling Kozik posters since 2005 and the demand for his artwork (all kinds by the way) is still incredibly high. Considered to be one of the pioneers of the AOMR poster movements, he and fellow artists Uncle Charlie, Coop, Martin - just to name a few - put modern rock posters on the map and the road they paved has been beautified with amazing artwork from artists all over the world.

Check out his website here: Frank Kozik

Pick up one, two, three or more of his signed and numbered releases here: Rock On Collectibles

Kozik Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Poster

Kozik Soundgarden Poster

Kozik Dwarves Poster

Kozik Mans Ruin Records Poster

Kozik Masters of Rock Poster

Kozik Dick Dale Poster

David Bowie - The Musican and The Memorabilia

On any given day David Bowie memorabilia exceeds 1,000's of listings on eBay and other memorabilia collecting sites. For some, it's an acquired taste for others it's just natural. Either way David Bowie has

1973 Aladdin Sane Tour

always kept people guessing. A restless artist whose insatiable curiosity and willingness to change identities at the drop of a hat has led him to adventurous experimentation with various musical genres, Bowie – whose real name is Davey Jones – refuses to be pigeonholed.

 In late ‘60s Britain, Bowie was a nomadic mod, moving from band to band, including the Manish Boys, who used Jimmy Page as a session man. Then came his hippie period, where he conjured up the odd psychedelic-folk vision of 1970’s The Man Who Sold the World and shifted into singer-songwriter mode on the 1971 LP Hunky Dory, before adopting the androgynous Ziggy Stardust persona and rising to glam-rock super stardom with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Ever the risk-taker, Bowie washed off the glitter and tried his hand at stylish Philly soul with Young Americans, before embracing the

more avant-garde material of Station to Station and exiling himself to Berlin to work with producer Brian Eno on a trio of electronic records, as he closed out the ‘70s with Low, Heroes and Lodger.

 Proving to be just as innovative with his videos, Bowie’s fame exploded in 1983 with the dance-pop sensation Let’s Dance, and though he went through a long creative malaise afterward, he had already established himself as an influential force in electronica, glam-rock, dance music, industrial rock, R&B, folk and many other areas, including acting.

As one of the most photogenic rock stars ever, with his ever-evolving tastes in fashion and his penchant for dramatic stage shows, photo prints of Bowie from the some of rock’s greatest photographers are highly collectible – some are worth hundreds of dollars. Handbills and rare concert posters from Bowie’s early days are also prized, with price tags of $25 to $350 or more. Less expensive Bowie collectibles include concert tickets and backstage passes, pins and magazine issues featuring the Thin White Duke – although some can be pricey. With regard to records, Bowie has been extremely prolific. Unfortunately, with some notable exceptions, his records are not as valuable as those of some of his contemporaries.

Check out our current Bowie offerings: David Bowie Memorabilia

The Beatles Memorabilia and Collectibles

Who doesn't love the Beatles and what's not to love?  "Beatlemania" swept through England and then the United States in the early 1960s, as four young men from Liverpool changed popular music forever. For three years, The Beatles  honed their musical skills in the small, sweaty clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg. Word spread like wildfire of a hot young
band whose sound was based in skiffle and American '50s rock 'n roll, and under manager Brian Epstein’s direction, the foursome became more confident and assured.

Though they started out with other drummers, the eventual lineup of The Beatles included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Nicknamed the “Fab Four,” The Beatles’ popularity in the U.K. grew following their 1962 hit “Love Me Do.” By 1964, they were spearheading the British Invasion of America, with a number of chart-topping, cleverly written pop singles to their credit. After 1965, however, their sound began to expand to include other influences, including psychedelia, pop balladry, and classical elements.

With the help of producer George Martin, they became studio innovators, releasing some of the most critically acclaimed albums in rock history, such as 1965’s Rubber Soul, 1966’s Revolver, 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1968’s The Beatles (or, as it more commonly known, the White

Album), and 1969’s Abbey Road. But there was dissension within the ranks, and in 1970, The Beatles broke up.

All four of them embarked on successful solo careers, with McCartney starting the band Wings with wife Linda McCartney. In 1980, Lennon was shot and killed in New York City, and lung cancer took Harrison in 2001. McCartney and Starr are still alive and continue to work to this day.

Outside of KISS, nobody could ever rival The Beatles as far as merchandising goes. Lunch boxes, juke boxes, comics, pennants, toys, buttons, coffee mugs … the list is endless. Items with authenticated autographs often go for huge prices – even six figures, as a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s signed by all four members recently did. Fan club memorabilia is highly-sought after, as are well-kept vintage magazines with the Fab Four on the cover. Material from their Apple Records days is in demand, and when it comes to vinyl records, some of the most expensive and rare specimens are Beatles records. And because the Beatles stopped touring fairly early in their career, any concert-related items from the early ‘60s are prized, as well.

Check out our current inventory: Beatles Memorabilia

Rolling Stones Memorabilia and Collectibles

In contrast to the fresh-faced image, good-natured wit and bright, buoyant pop of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were perceived as dark and dangerous. The two groups were at the forefront of the

Original Rolling Stones Promo Poster

British Invasion that swept over the United States in the mid 1960s, with the Stones referring to themselves as “the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band” by the end of the decade.

Influenced by Muddy Waters and other traditional rhythm and blues artists, the Stones came together in London in 1962, with the original lineup featuring multi instrumentalist Brian Jones, lead singer/harmonica player Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts, piano player Ian Stewart and bassist Bill Wyman. Jones founded the band and was the initial leader, but the songwriting duo of Jagger and Richards eventually took charge. 

Drugs diminished the physical and mental state of Jones, leading to his departure two weeks before his drowning death in 1969. Their late’60s output included acclaimed albums such as 1967’s Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request, 1968’s Beggars Banquet and 1969’s Let it Bleed – the last record to feature Jones, it also marked the first appearance of his replacement, Mick Taylor. With Taylor, the Stones made the classic LPs Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goat’s Head Soup (1973), and It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (1974), before replacing him with

Rolling Stones Promo Matchbook

Ronnie Wood in 1975 and recording Black and Blue (1976), Some Girls (1978), Emotional Rescue (1980) and Tattoo You (1981) – all eight of these studio albums hitting No. 1 in the U.S. In 1993, Wyman retired, leaving the Stones to carry on with Wood, Richards, Jagger, Watts and hired hands on bass.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012 and have sold more than 200 million records. With one of the most famous logos in rock and roll history, the Stones are among the most collectible artists in music history.

Early handbills and concert posters can go for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, while fine art print photos of the Stones and individual band members – especially Mick, Keith and Brian – are also often pricey collectibles. Vintage issues of Rolling Stone featuring the Stones are also interesting and in-demand collectibles, as are old concert tickets, backstage passes and tour t-shirts. Depending on condition and rarity, some of their vinyl records are worth hundreds of dollars, and some especially difficult to find specimens can reach four or five figures.

Check out our current inventory: Rolling Stones Memorabilia