Post by lowbasso on Apr 9, 2010 12:25:50 GMT -5
As I was perusing the dealers room at the recent Fest For Beatles in Seacaucus NJ, I noticed the very small handful of dealers that display original Beatles Concert tickets from the '64-'66 American Tours. There were some complete tickets available for the '66 Shea concert and the '66 Suffolk Downs concert in Mass. Very few complete tickets are available for the '64 & '65 Tours, and if they are they command thousands of dollars. Even stubs or partials are expensive, commanding hundreds of dollars for worn, torn, color-faded tickets that half the time don't even show that The Beatles were the band that was playing that night, only the date and venue info is on the stub.
I have in my collection a '65 partial from Shea (color-faded), and a complete '66 from Candlestick (color-faded) as well as a partial from the '65 Cow Palace (barely showing the name Beatles) which were some of the more important historical concerts. But those three tickets alone set me back close to $1000.00.
I regularly check on E-bay to see what the going prices are for the ones I cannot afford or for the really rare ones, like the Feb. '64 Washington DC or the '64 Carnegie hall (which if you even find any will set you back upper 4 figures easily.)
Now along has come the new fad of REPO tickets (reproductions of originals) which are complete tickets in pristine colors just like the originals for many of the '64-'66 concerts and run anywhere from $2.50 to $13.00 a ticket. So for under $200 or so you can amass quite a collection of complete tickets which show off all the unique different ways they were created and printed for each individual venue The Beatles played in America.
I am a first generation Beatlefan (9 years old in 1964) whose generation most covets these tickets since we were alive when The Beatles existed as a band and toured the US. I think once we begin to pass on, the desire for the original tickets will fade, and their worth will drop considerably, so I decided it is stupid to pay these astronomical prices for them and have now in my collection, repos of complete tickets of almost all the 1964 concerts, which are embossed in plastic and should retain their vibrant colors for my lifetime and longer.
I know Beatles memorabilia like autographs, original handwritten lyrics, vinyl album covers, etc. will/should retain their value well after 1st generation fans are gone, but it seems to me that tickets and ticket stubs most likely will not and it is foolish to give in to these crazy prices for that particular piece of memorabilia.
Any comments?
I have in my collection a '65 partial from Shea (color-faded), and a complete '66 from Candlestick (color-faded) as well as a partial from the '65 Cow Palace (barely showing the name Beatles) which were some of the more important historical concerts. But those three tickets alone set me back close to $1000.00.
I regularly check on E-bay to see what the going prices are for the ones I cannot afford or for the really rare ones, like the Feb. '64 Washington DC or the '64 Carnegie hall (which if you even find any will set you back upper 4 figures easily.)
Now along has come the new fad of REPO tickets (reproductions of originals) which are complete tickets in pristine colors just like the originals for many of the '64-'66 concerts and run anywhere from $2.50 to $13.00 a ticket. So for under $200 or so you can amass quite a collection of complete tickets which show off all the unique different ways they were created and printed for each individual venue The Beatles played in America.
I am a first generation Beatlefan (9 years old in 1964) whose generation most covets these tickets since we were alive when The Beatles existed as a band and toured the US. I think once we begin to pass on, the desire for the original tickets will fade, and their worth will drop considerably, so I decided it is stupid to pay these astronomical prices for them and have now in my collection, repos of complete tickets of almost all the 1964 concerts, which are embossed in plastic and should retain their vibrant colors for my lifetime and longer.
I know Beatles memorabilia like autographs, original handwritten lyrics, vinyl album covers, etc. will/should retain their value well after 1st generation fans are gone, but it seems to me that tickets and ticket stubs most likely will not and it is foolish to give in to these crazy prices for that particular piece of memorabilia.
Any comments?