| Queen Archivist 16.08.2007 18:57 |
A friend of mine has several ULTIMATE QUEEN boxed sets he wants to sell now. They are unopened and still in their boxes, so mint condition obviously. It was my bright idea that he buy them, so I would also like to help him sell them... he's had them stuck in his house all these years!!!!! Not one of my best ideas. Anyway... Does anyone have any ideas who might to buy one? Or does anyone have a genius concept that might be a way to pass them on? FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR, THIS IS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE... link The box comprises these CDs... Queen Queen II Sheer Heart Attack A Night At The Opera A Day At The Races News Of The World Jazz Live Killers (disc 1) Live Killers (disc 2) The Game Flash Gordon Hot Space The Works A Kind Of Magic Live Magic The Miracle Innuendo Live At Wembley '86 (disc 1) Live At Wembley '86 (disc 2) Made In Heaven He wants to get back the £400 he spent on each one. Any suggestions welcome. Greg |
| Soul Brother 16.08.2007 19:04 |
Stick them on Ebay with a £400 starting price/reserve? |
| Queenman!! 17.08.2007 05:24 |
Why has this 'Friend' have several boxes and now what to sell them? Was it an investment? Is he working as a queencollector or is he working at a store? Bring them out at QP instead of a RE-RE-RE-RE release of Montreal and a RE-release of LIVE AID!! ;-) |
| onevsion 17.08.2007 07:19 |
400 pounds each? Good luck selling ... Also bought a couple of Queen Rocks seconde issue LP's or Made In Heaven black vinyls? That would've been a good investment.... |
| escuderodelareina 17.08.2007 07:33 |
greg, your friend is losing money... |
| escuderodelareina 17.08.2007 07:51 |
hey, will not be that greg this making a sounding of the market to see whatever we are arranged to pay fans of queen by, in this case 20 cds, but hypothetical and speaking to future they could be the anthologies? they do not do case to me, single I joke… |
| john bodega 17.08.2007 08:13 |
"does anyone have a genius concept that might be a way to pass them on?" Drop the price. |
| Micrówave 17.08.2007 12:40 |
Queen Archivist wrote: He wants to get back the £400 he spent on each one. Any suggestions welcome.Put a big bag of crack in there with it. |
| Penetration_Guru 17.08.2007 14:49 |
Take em to the convention, I sold mine there and got the £375 I originally paid back. if they've got the outer cardboard box with the logo on that should seal the deal - one woman was going round last year asking for JUST the cardboard. £400 is a big ask though |
| A Word In Your Ear 17.08.2007 15:36 |
Give him several unreleased demos (that have not already been leaked) to go with the box sets & he will sell them for £400 easy. (in fact, i'll buy one if you did) LOL!!!!!! |
| Darren1977 18.08.2007 03:42 |
Some chance of that.Would they include the voiceover Property Of Queen Productions i wonder! |
| Penetration_Guru 18.08.2007 06:30 |
You don't have to snipe at him EVERY time he posts. |
| pittrek 18.08.2007 10:35 |
I would LOVE to have this. But 400 pounds ? Forget it |
| John S Stuart 18.08.2007 13:24 |
A classic argument. Sorry if I appear to be pessimistic, but as a ‘specialized’ Queen collector, I believe that in these more modern times, the internet (especially illegal downloads) has killed the whole ‘old-fashioned-record collecting’ thing. Let’s face it, who wants to pay £400 for a collection of tracks, which could be downloaded for free? In my day, we paid exorbitant prices just for the exclusive B-side. It’s not that we were any wealthier than the youth of today – it’s just that we had no other choice. For example, if one wished to obtain a copy of Queen’s ‘A Human Body’, then we HAD to purchase the 7” single. Now, (thankfully) that is no longer the case – so both the exclusivity and financial value of the recording have plummeted like a stone. However, if it is true that ‘ephemeral music’ has lost all value, could it still be argued that genuine artefacts such as the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ 7” Blue-vinyl single remain highly collectable? Unfortunately, I think not, and a quick look at some collectable sites (or even E-bay) suggests that some of these ‘top end collectables’ are not only sticking in value, but also dropping in price. I guess that there are many reasons for this, but, perhaps, one the primary causes may be that ‘Queen’ may be perceived by those outside this forum as well past their sell-by date. I personally know some serious collectors of other artists such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and even ‘The Beatles’ who have also seen the value of their collections fall. It’s not only the fact that both LP and CD’s have superseded some of these 78-rpm records, but that the interest for these collections has waned, thus spiralling a downward trend in the market. So while back in 1987, a ‘Blue-vinyl’ may have seemed a ‘safe investment’, twenty years later, I do not think that is the case. (Of course, while it is still true a handful of fans remain who would like to own a copy of this disc for its own sake – I believe the numbers willing to pay c£2,000 for the privilege has greatly diminished). |
| PieterMC 18.08.2007 14:11 |
John S Stuart wrote: Let’s face it, who wants to pay £400 for a collection of tracks, which could be downloaded for free?While I understand where you coming from, I'm not sure I agree. This type of boxset was never aimed at the average fan. It is cleary a collectors item. I think that the reason for the decline in value is not so much to do with illegal downloads, but rather items being more accessible. Years ago you were limited to where and when you could find rare items. Now they are often available on ebay. Once something starts to become easier to get hold of it is going to drop in price. |
| John S Stuart 18.08.2007 15:29 |
PieterMC: I totally agree with you, and I guess that there are many more significant factors, which could also be taken into consideration. I just don't think this only applies to Queen - but to the whole collecting scene - namely that the bottom has fallen out of the collectors market and while £400 for this set is not unreasonable, very unlikely to meet the asking price. |
| Bobby_brown 18.08.2007 18:30 |
And the fact that Internet changed the focus of your atention. Back in the old days i could go into a store just looking for Queen, and it was alright to spend big money. But now? We have so much things avaiable in the internet that i see no reason in spending 500€ on an item - and beig CD´s doesn´t help either! And because i´m not rich : ) It gets to a point in life that collecting can become tedious, and specially, as JSS says, if we already have the songs. But guive it a go at eBay- lot´s of people there willing to spend some money! Take care |
| Darren1977 18.08.2007 21:50 |
I BOUGHT THIS SO CALLED COLLECTORS ITEM BACK IN '95.THE HOLOGRAM HAS ALMOST LIFTED OFF THE FRONT AND THE SOUND QUALITY OF THE CD'S THEMSELVES ARE NOT THE BEST.£400 WAS A LOT OF DOSH BACK THEN AND STILL IS TODAY WHICH PROVES THAT IT HAS NOT GONE UP AT ALL IN VALUE. 15,000 WAS QUITE A LOT FOR A WORLD WIDE RELEASE. |
| YourValentine 19.08.2007 05:02 |
@ John - I think this specific item does not sell that well because there is nothing exclusive on the discs. If there were some rare b-sides or tracks that are not available elsewhere - more people (including myself) would have considered to buy it. Just 20 CDs we already own in some nice case is simply not worth the money, it's just another packaging with no exclusive content. Compare it to the Freddie box - 10 CDs with loads of exclusive tracks and you only very rarely find it on ebay, it's a very sought after item. Hardly any owner sells it. The Freddie box is a gem for any fan while the Ultimate Collection is just another cash-in. I think it has nothing to do with downloading. |
| pittrek 19.08.2007 05:14 |
YourValnetine - exactly. If something rare would be in the box, I wouldn't hesitate a moment. But 400 pounds for 20CDs which we allready have ... Just a little example - I live in Slovakia and all Queen CDs are here available for less than 400Sk, which is less than 8 pounds . Which means all 20 CDs are here available for less than 160 british pounds. So paying approx. 240 for only the box is something which only a total Queen fanatic would do :-) Freddie's box set is something completely different, of course. BTW does anybody have a tip where could I get it ? I'm slightly afraid to use eBay :) |
| John S Stuart 19.08.2007 07:02 |
YourValentine: I totally agree and I think you make an excellent point. Perhaps that is why many 'rare' items are losing value - because all these rare items as musical tracks (be they coloured vinyls, picture discs or picture sleeves) - have been re-re-re-released beyond saturation. I think this is collaborated by your point about the Freddie box-set still being exclusive - and thus being saught after still. I guess what I really wanted to say is that the collecting world as a whole is beginning to bottom out - for many reasons - which on one hand may be bad news for the 'investment collector', but good news for the more 'realistic' fan. |
| Darren1977 19.08.2007 10:59 |
PGURU - I don't snipe all the time. I agree with the Freddie Box being far better value especially at a quarter of the price. |
| goodco 19.08.2007 12:46 |
If someone wants one at $550 USD + postage, feel free to email at goodco39@aol.com Would love to place our extra in a good home |
| Queen Archivist 30.08.2007 12:57 |
Thanks everyone for the good comments. I think you all got it pretty much sorted. They did cost £400 at the time and I think they must be the ONLY Queen CD boxed set in history to actually decrease in value. Bloody typical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good comments. Much appreciated. DARREN1977.... stop sniping. :-) |
| Darren1977 30.08.2007 20:41 |
Greg, i appreciate all the work that was gone into the Freddie set, it must have been fucking tedious listening to the same song hundreds of times in different forms demoes, instrumentals etc. I wonder would Roger Taylor sanction a Solo/The Cross Anthology, now that would be something... |
| M.H 01.09.2007 00:10 |
DARREN1977 wrote: Greg, i appreciate all the work that was gone into the Freddie set, it must have been fucking tedious listening to the same song hundreds of times in different forms demoes, instrumentals etc. I wonder would Roger Taylor sanction a Solo/The Cross Anthology, now that would be something...Yeh thats not a bad idea, particularly for someone like myself, who cannot find any of the Cross CD's in any of the stores in Perth WA. So that would be really cool, but not only for people like myself, but it would be great for more of Rogers music to be heard by the general public. Would probably rise interest in the new Q+PR album to... M.H |