It’s a Kind of Magic, 7 stunning Queen Collectables!
Last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody box-office hit has revived the nation’s interest into one of the greatest rock bands of the 20th century.
Of Course it wouldn’t be Queen without the one and only Freddie Mercury. Many regard him as the greatest singer in the history of rock and still mourn his death in 1991 – He would be 73 now if he had lived.
There has always been a massive interest in collectables linking to Queen, so here at Collectology we’ve picked out a few of our favourites.
Here’s seven of the best items that have gone through auction rooms in recent years.
7 Vinyl treasure
A seven-inch vinyl version of Bohemian Rhapsody from 1975. It was signed by Freddie while in Belgium. It was priced at £1,950.
Fan’s pic
Freddie Mercury signed a wonderful original Official International Queen Fan Club photograph which was mounted on card.
It was offered as a rare example of an early fan club item and priced at £3,250.
Ratty’s Chain
This fine link chrome-plated metal necklace worn regularly by Freddie Mercury in the late seventies.
It was given by Freddie to his roadie Peter “Ratty” Hince.
Peter collaborated with Queen from 1973 when the band supported Mott the Hoople. He worked full-time for the Queen in 1975 during recording of their A Night at the Opera album. He stayed on as the head roadie until their final concert in 1986. In December 2018 Peter’s necklace sold at auction for £7,500.
Costume drama
Freddie loved original stage costumes. Fans will remember this example. It was in a military style with multi-buckle fastenings and a pair of white trousers with red and gold piping. He wore it during Queen’s sell-out 1986 Magic European tour. It also made an appearance in the video for the 1989 single release, The Miracle. In 2004, it resurfaced and sold for £26,290.
Silver Shadow
Freddie bought himself a Rolls Royce Silver shadow in 1974.
RR Silver Shadows were always popular among rock icons.
Ironically Freddie himself never learned to drive it. He relied on a chauffeur. In 2013 his former Roller limo was bought at auction by a Russian businessman for £74,000
Magic notebook
One of Freddie’s well-worn lyrics notebooks, from the late eighties, caused a frisson of excitement when it came up for auction. It began life as a simple Challenger spiral bound notebook which anyone could buy in any newsagents’.
It was inscribed in black marker pen, Mercury Song Bookin an unknown hand. The lined pages, contained numerous complete or partial or unused lyrics and song structures written in various ballpoints, felt-tip pens, pencil and crayon – most in Freddie’s own hand.
There were some entries by Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. Titles included Party, Was It All Worth It?, Don’t Try So Hard, Headlong, These Are The Days Of Our Lives, I Can’t Live With You, and The Show Must Go On. It sold for a staggering £62,500 in June 2016.
Ivor Novello
Queen’s greatest hit Bohemian Rhapsody is regarded by many as the finest pop/rock song written ever!
It won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for the band to put it forever in the pantheon of popular music hits.
Freddie won three ‘Ivors’ and the band were awarded a further three. One of the trophies for Bohemian Rhapsody, emerged for sale a few years ago and was valued at £450,000 but it’s not known if it ever found a buyer.
