I collected so many copies of NME magazine that my attic almost collapsed – now I'm selling them for £3,000

11/06/2024 05:07 PM

A SUPERFAN who collected EVERY copy of NME magazine for 52 years is selling them for an eye-watering £3,000.

Tony Howard’s attic nearly collapsed under the weight of his massive magazine hoard – which started when he was just 12-years-old.

He bought his very first copy in August 1966, and took one home every week until 2018 – when the magazine stopped printing paper editions.

The 64-year-old stashed his jaw-dropping collection of 2,700 copies of The New Musical Express in his Lincolnshire loft.

But now he’s decided to put them under the hammer after his attic was in danger of collapsing.

The NMEs are being sold individually, with some rare copies expected to fetch up to £50 each.

The collection is going up for auction at John Taylors Saleroom in Louth, Lincs., on November 12.

Auctioneer James Laverack said: “Tony’s interest was triggered at a particularly exciting time when British groups were taking the world by storm, all faithfully reported and reviewed in the NME.

“The very month that he bought his first issue of the New Musical Express, The Beatles released Yellow Submarine and Eleanor Rigby on a double A-side single and then flew off to their final tour in America – and into a massive row over John Lennon’s remark about being more famous than Jesus Christ.

“Tony has decided that the time has finally come to let the astonishing collection go to relieve the weight pressure on his attic and enable other enthusiasts to fill gaps in their NME archives.”

The collection will be sold in three parts, 1966-72, 1973-2018, and a duplicate copies lot.

James added: “In total the collection extends to around 2,700 copies, an almost complete run spanning the years 1966-2018.

“There are just a handful of issues from the sixties missing, mistakenly thrown out by Tony’s mother when she was tidying up.

“There were some weeks in the seventies when printer’s industrial action stopped publication, but apart from that they’re all there.

“It’s quite remarkable.

“It is an extraordinary collection, perhaps the finest ever to be offered at auction.

“Other sales have had runs of the NME, some quite early, but involving limited periods. Nothing of this magnitude.

“We’ve given it a pre-sale estimate of £2,500-£3,000.”

This comes as many people are discovering their unusual collections could fetch them thousands at auction.

A vintage Star Wars toy hoard found at the back of a cupboard is set to go under the hammer for an eye-watering £600,000.

The over 400 near-mint figurines – including Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader – are still in their original packaging.

Dating from the late 1970s and early 80s, the plastic toys had been stashed in a carboard box for 40 years by a pensioner.

In Livingston, Scotland, a dad-of-two hopes his giant collection of Pokémon cards will be worth more than a quarter of a million pounds.

Gordon White, 58, has been hoarding the rare trading cards for 16 years and has amassed thousands.

He has already cashed in by selling half of his collection, which fetched a whopping £200,000 when it went under the hammer in November last year.

And, a collector who found 1,246 coins over the last 45 years sold the lot for £2million.

Robert Puddester paid up to £250 for some of the rarer coins, but the value of East India Company coins has shot up over the last 30 years.

The top selling lot was a Bombay half-mohur from 1765 which sold for £117,800.

A 1765 Bombay gold mohur sold for £99,200, as did a rare 1770 Bombay gold 15 rupees, which was one of only four known examples.