When does a Beatles fan grow into a Beatles collector? Mark Lackey, who is retired from the military and is now a meteorologist residing in western North Carolina, had to give that question some serious thought. “I think my first Beatles (related) record purchased was the Capitol 45 RPM single, Listen to What the Man Said, in 1975. I paid $1 for it. I was a 12-year old die-hard fan of Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 radio show and I loved Paul McCartney & Wings. By the following year, I purchased my first Beatles album, The Beatles 1967-1970. It was a double LP and therefore a big purchase for me,” Mark explains.
To make that purchase (it turned out to be an investment), Mark had to save up his allowance for several weeks. At this point, he said he was a kid mainly interested in the musical acts of the current mid-seventies era, but he knew and liked several of the more popular later Beatles recordings. “My deeper interest in The Beatles was still a few years away,” he said. “I remember for Christmas, an aunt got me the Ringo’s Rotogravure album, which had the Top 40 hit, A Dose of Rock ‘N’ Roll on it, and I started to note that anything I’d heard with one or more of the Fab Four on it was something I enjoyed listening to.”
But he still wasn’t a collector. Mark obtained a copy of the soundtrack from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie in 1978. “I recognized a few of those songs from my copy of The Beatles 1967-1970 and then one day, I figured out that ALL of the songs on that double soundtrack album were Beatles songs. I slowly got drawn in to not only the music of The Beatles, but all of this legend, lore, and pop culture that still surrounded them nearly a decade after they had broken up. I went to the library and checked out the Hunter Davies biography, The Beatles. I had been ‘sucked in’ at that point,” Mark says.
“When I turned 16 in May of 1979, I got a job at a grocery store making $2.90/hr. I started saving to buy a car but that was slightly delayed because I also started buying up all The Beatles albums I could find. So it was about this time that I first considered myself somewhat of a collector—not a ‘serious’ collector—but someone with a more than average interest in getting ALL of The Beatles music available,” he emphasizes.
“In early 1980, at the age of 16, I made my first ‘expensive’ Beatles purchase. It was a box set of all the stereo British albums called collectively, The Beatles Collection. I remember being crushed later in the year when my mother came into my bedroom to announce she had just heard on the news that John Lennon had been killed.”
The first time Mark ever paid what he considered an “exorbitant amount of money for a single record” was in 1986. It was an original first pressing of John and Yoko’s Two Virgins LP. He paid $65 for it (even though the original price tag sticker on it said $1.98).
During the eighties, Mark started getting serious about “filling the cracks” in his Beatles collection. “By the nineties, I decided to complete my collection of all of the ‘post-Beatle’ Beatles stuff because the talent didn’t just end in 1970, right? So I starting acquiring all of the John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr material. Getting ‘everything’ by Paul proved very difficult because so many things were limited releases.”
An inventory of Mark’s complete collection is available at mybeatlescollection.com. Currently, his holdings (including bootlegs and official recordings) include: 1036 CD titles, 623 vinyl, 209 video disk titles, and 11,561 individual tracks. Mark points outs, “These are just the latest numbers. I am constantly adding to the collection.”
Of course, any conversation about The Beatles eventually gets to the controversial “Butcher” cover LP (Yesterday…And Today). The cover features the group holding doll heads and raw meat. At the time, many considered this a Beatles protest against the Vietnam War.
Mark explains, “The Butcher covers (the first pressings of the Yesterday…And Today LP) are classified as first state (most valuable – alternate trunk cover was never pasted on to jacket), second state (alternate trunk cover is pasted over butcher cover, but under a bright light butcher cover is detectable underneath), or third state (trunk cover has been professionally removed from second state). I have four Butcher cover LPs.”
The Yesterday… And Today (Butcher Cover LPs) are among the more valuable and interesting pieces in his collection—but not the most valuable. Other examples of valuable pieces in Mark’s collection include Decca 45: My Bonnie/The Saints by Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers (aka The Beatles) (Decca 31382 stock copy), which is very rare and was worth $30,000 in 2013; and Vee Jay LP: Introducing The Beatles (mono “Ad Back” version), worth $8,000 in 2013.
When asked what other individual items would be of particular interest to Beatles fans or collectors, he replies, “The collection is not only vinyl but also includes lots of CDs, videos, USBs, cassettes, VHSes, Beatles Rockband stuff, posters, etc. I have all the bootlegged material that I am aware of and a few odds and ends. Of course, the vinyl is the most valuable of my holdings from a monetary standpoint.”
His Beatles collection is so extensive that Mark devotes an entire room in his North Carolina home to exhibit his items. So expert is Mark that he used to have a blog and do a radio podcast on a regular basis from 2007 to 2016. “I was more in touch with other collectors and fans then,” he says, “but these days the collection is mainly for my own enjoyment.” You can check out Mark’s collection at mybeatlescollection.com.
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As the second decade of the new millennium ends, Marvel’s iconic superheroes seem to have found a global stage in cinema. In 11 short years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has shattered box office franchise records, grossing over $18 billion worldwide.
With the final film of the flagship Avengers arc (Endgame) hitting theaters in late April, 2019 is something of a capstone year for the storytelling juggernaut. While fans mourn the recent passing of the legendary Stan Lee, his legacy and the company’s 80th birthday will be honored with the opening of the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit in Philadelphia, PA. In Charlotte, NC, HeroesCon will be sure to delight casual and hardcore collectors alike.
With all this pomp and circumstance, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it all started with the humble comic book. True collectors will recall the progress Marvel made since its inception as Timely Comics in pre-war 1939.
A brief history of Marvel Comics
Martin Goodman published Marvel Comics No.1 under the Timely Comics banner in 1939. Superhero comics had seen a rise in popularity during this time–known as the Golden Age of Comics–and Goodman wanted to capitalize on it.
By 1950, superheroes suffered a decline in popularity. Westerns, sci-fi, and humor-based comics had overtaken them. Timely Comics changed its name to Atlas Magazines and catered mostly to these genres.
Then along comes DC Comics with The Flash in 1956. People loved it, prompting DC to form The Justice League. Atlas responded by becoming Marvel Comics and answering with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s The Fantastic Four (1961). The Silver Age of Comics was underway.
It seemed the superheroes were here to stay. With both DC and Marvel publishing huge successes, every decade after the sixties ushered in new waves of writing and illustrative talent for both companies.
Marvel ran into some trouble in the nineties, declaring bankruptcy in 1996 due to poor sales and issues with management. But like its resilient characters, Marvel was down, not out. In only two years, Marvel was back and had its sights set on more than just comics and figurines coming into the 21st century. Marvel Studios, for one, was about five years old at this point… and we all know what it’s grown up to be!
Whether or not Marvel continues a meteoric rise in the world of fantastical storytelling remains to be seen–but it is clear that people all over the globe have embraced the characters, their stories, and the universe. We can probably count on seeing Marvel’s 100th.
Suggestions for celebrating Marvel’s 80th birthday
Four-fifths of a century is a pretty solid achievement. There’s lots you can do to help celebrate:
- See a movie! Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home are Marvel’s (and Sony’s) releases in 2019.
- Visit the Marvel Universe of Super Heroes exhibit. The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia will have this exhibit up from April 13 to September 2, with over 300 awesome pieces of art, costumes, and more from the Marvel universe.
- Attend Comic-Con International: San Diego. It is the biggest of its kind, and something of a rite of passage for many serious collectors: July 18-21 at the San Diego Convention Center.
- Read a Marvel comic. You can buy digital versions of comics from the forties or see the very latest releases at Marvel.com.
The Silent Guardian: Collectibles Insurance
Whether 80 years old or purchased yesterday, Marvel and other collectible memorabilia are precious things, and it’s important to protect them beyond the vacuum seal. Homeowners insurance often does not. Be a superhero. Make sure your marvelous comic collections are adequately insured.
Super Bowl LIII is around the corner! Eric Geller is a Los Angeles Rams fan that has been collecting memorabilia for years. Some items in Geller’s collection include tickets from the 1980 Super Bowl to numerous Rams toys and autographed jerseys. According to ABC7, “Geller’s most cherished piece is a Rams helmet signed by members of the 1951 Championship team, the 1980 Super Bowl team, and the 2002 Super Bowl team. He’s already planning to squeeze more big names onto that helmet.” Read more here.
Thinking about giving away some of your childhood toys? Before you clean out your attic, you may want to check how much the toys are worth. Certain Barbie dolls, Pokémon cards, and PEZ dispensers are worth a fortune today, while some Beanie Babies and Tamagotchis may increase in value in the near future. Read more here.
Have any sports memorabilia laying around your house? How about old books or comic books? Before you clean out your attic, you may want to check out the value. A copy of Action comics #1 with the first appearance of Superman, for instance, sold for $3.2 million a few years ago. In addition, a hardcover first edition of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” is valued around $7,000, according to Sotheby’s. Are you a sports fan? You may be interested in knowing that a Nick Foles bobblehead doll increased in value from $30 to $300 after the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Learn more here.
Calling all Babe Ruth fans! Multiple items owned by Babe Ruth will be going up for auction next June at Yankee Stadium. According to WABC, “Items include a professional model bat with home run notches from 1926 to 1929, a 1923 Yankees World Championship presentational Spalding trophy, and a 1923 Yankees World Champions team autographed ledger sheet.” Learn more here.
Attention Stan Lee fans! A rare collection of items by Lee, former president of Marvel Comics, were recently auctioned off on Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17 in Beverly Hills, California. The collection included a signed copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, valued between $30,000 and $50,000, as well as a signed 1985 edition of Star Wars #97. Check it out here.
The holidays are upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by taking out your vintage ceramic Christmas tree that’s been laying around your house for years? But did you know that tree may just make you hundreds of dollars richer? According to Today, the value of vintage ceramic Christmas trees significantly increases around the holidays. Read more here.
Luke Skywalker’s famous igloo home, located in the Tunisian desert, has been saved. A team of six Star Wars fanatics raised around $9,000 to renovate the igloo. According to one of the team members, Terry Cooper, “It’s such an iconic building to fantasy fans. It was going to waste for the sake of a relatively small amount of money and effort to save it.” Check out photos of the renovation here.
Check out this new Forever Stamp, which was recently unveiled in Montecito, California, home of the Thomas Fire last December. The stamp features a firefighter, a paramedic, and a police officer. As Oprah Winfrey said, “The stamp is merely a symbol of what the spirit of each of you represents. Each of you represents the best of us. You represent the rising of courage, the rising of honor, the rising of compassion, endurance, survival, and thriving.” Check out the new stamp here.
