Rare, Rarest and Most Expensive VU items

[MJG196]

Someone else was selling the complete Aspen #3 magazine with an unplayed "Loop" - that sold for US $3000:

Offered for sale is an original Pop Art piece by Andy Warhol, Aspen Magazine #3 (December, 1966), which hired Andy Warhol to take over as creative art director for one issue, which he transformed into a Pop Art Object (a magazine in a box) wherein the two dimensional format of the magazine is transformed into a three dimensional experience, as you open the box (a detergent box from one of the sponsors - Fab Detergent) to pull out three dimensional items correlating to the content of the magazine, like actual advertising brochures from the companies placing ads in the magazine, pop art exhibition cards, underground film flip books, ticketbook for the first LSD Conference (Berkeley, CA), a psychedelic portfolio with essays by Lou Reed and other notable music critics, and the final gem in the bottom of the barrel is a flexi-disc 45rpm record which is technically VU's first release on vinyl!!!

This is a genuine Pop Art piece, and the only 100% complete one that I've ever seen offered for sale, as all the other I've ever come across for sale were incomplete, but still selling for thousands of dollars. This box set contains the following:

1. "Music Man, That's Where it's At!" - portfolio, contains (3) stapled essays, and a questionaire - "Are You Confused Enough...", concert flyers for VU, etc.
2. VU's Flexi Disc - John Cale
3. Pop Art Paintings Postcard Set
4. The Plastic Exploding Inevitable Newspaper
5. Underground Movie Flip Book
6. Berkeley Conference on LSD ticket book
7. Season's Greeting Booklet - content for Aspen Magazines usual format
8. Vanguard Records Brochure
9. Guild Guitars Ad Flyer
10. Advertisements; fold out poster
11. Subscription Form

The box set is in nicely preserved condition, and has a fair market value of $4,000+ if you can find one for sale (!!!), which is a fraction of what Warhol's silk-screens sell for (tens of thousands of dollars), and it has the VU's first ever release, so this is truly a historical art piece! (see bio info below). The box set measures 12" x 9", is in well preserved condition (minor wear in spots; very suitable for display / framing).



And for another US $3000, someone bought an original WL/WH promo poster:

[velvetfan]

Glad things have worked out for you! Remember kids the Velvet Underground are for life..partners will come and go but Lou & the gang will always be around for you..

As I recently told bleach, I had to put away my turntable when my little one was born (it's been 2.5 years...). I have no room to set it up now, so I've been without my VU/Lou LPs for years! Thankfully I have 'em on CD.

As for the topic of this thread, an original 1st edition Warhol Index book just sold for US $242. It had almost everything, and although it looks a little bit worn, I am very surprised it didn't go for more:



I am pleased to offer for auction this rare and collectible Andy Warhol Index Book. I am offering this book at a low starting price with no reserve. This is the first edition soft cover from 1967. As far as I can tell everything is there except for the post card (I have been told). I have included many photos of the book. There are a couple of binder separations and some sections have come loose, Also some small glue stains from the binding, and small tears, minor. Also there is some corner wear and normal issues seen in this type book. The accordion wheezes. The record is included but detached. The dodechedron and string are present and all the pop ups are there. The only serious issue is the pop up castle has a tear and has come apart. It looks to be all there and would work if not torn. It can be repaired. The balloon in there but melted and stuck the pages together. The staining is visible from both other sides. I am told this is normal on every known copy. Also I have made no attempt to force it apart. The Chelsea disc and spring has come unattached but both spring and disc are accounted for. The airplane and tomato paste can are fine. Overall this book is in very good condition and a rare and valuable collectible piece of American Pop culture at it's best. Please email with any questions or concerns or comments. The book is sold as is but I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Check my other listings for more Warhol stuff.

Seller: rbantq44

This is a softcover, first. He speaks of separations in the binding, detached record, accordion wheeze, not squeaking, Chelsea Girls disc, unattached, castle pop-up torn, and not working, actually quite a bit wrong, stains. He tried to be honest, but actually kinda talked the price down by himself. To show the wide range of pricing, there is a guy who has a hardcover, he claims almost mint and is asking $3,200.00! He's living in a dream; like the guy with an Aspen box asking $5,000! It's not autographed either. I agree it's a bit low, but with what is "wrong" it's a fair price, IMHO. Btw, The guy with the "mint" Index in his description says that the page where the dodecahedron is attached with a string, actually lies between two pages that are sealed with folded circular stickers in 2 places, top and middle of page, leaving the dodecahedron able to drop down and be looked at without the pages being "cut" open. this is new to me. My copy has it attached by a string, but I don't remember seeing the stickers keep you from being able to open the pages fully. He also mentions having a dust cover on the hardcover. I have NEVER heard of the Index book ever having a dust cover. It doesn't show in his photos. Input anybody?

[velvetfan]

Someone else was selling the complete Aspen #3 magazine with an unplayed "Loop" - that sold for US $3000:

Offered for sale is an original Pop Art piece by Andy Warhol, Aspen Magazine #3 (December, 1966), which hired Andy Warhol to take over as creative art director for one issue, which he transformed into a Pop Art Object (a magazine in a box) wherein the two dimensional format of the magazine is transformed into a three dimensional experience, as you open the box (a detergent box from one of the sponsors - Fab Detergent) to pull out three dimensional items correlating to the content of the magazine, like actual advertising brochures from the companies placing ads in the magazine, pop art exhibition cards, underground film flip books, ticketbook for the first LSD Conference (Berkeley, CA), a psychedelic portfolio with essays by Lou Reed and other notable music critics, and the final gem in the bottom of the barrel is a flexi-disc 45rpm record which is technically VU's first release on vinyl!!!

This is a genuine Pop Art piece, and the only 100% complete one that I've ever seen offered for sale, as all the other I've ever come across for sale were incomplete, but still selling for thousands of dollars. This box set contains the following:

1. "Music Man, That's Where it's At!" - portfolio, contains (3) stapled essays, and a questionaire - "Are You Confused Enough...", concert flyers for VU, etc.
2. VU's Flexi Disc - John Cale
3. Pop Art Paintings Postcard Set
4. The Plastic Exploding Inevitable Newspaper
5. Underground Movie Flip Book
6. Berkeley Conference on LSD ticket book
7. Season's Greeting Booklet - content for Aspen Magazines usual format
8. Vanguard Records Brochure
9. Guild Guitars Ad Flyer
10. Advertisements; fold out poster
11. Subscription Form

The box set is in nicely preserved condition, and has a fair market value of $4,000+ if you can find one for sale (!!!), which is a fraction of what Warhol's silk-screens sell for (tens of thousands of dollars), and it has the VU's first ever release, so this is truly a historical art piece! (see bio info below). The box set measures 12" x 9", is in well preserved condition (minor wear in spots; very suitable for display / framing).



And for another US $3000, someone bought an original WL/WH promo poster:

I have a great program called Evernote, that allows me to save images and entire web pages and then sync my Evernote notebooks between my laptop, pc, and Iphone. Anyway, I searched my eBay database for Aspen box and between Sept 09, thru current day, I found 4 sold auctions of the Aspen box. They sold for $1088.64, $1600.00, $1000.00, and $725.00. The $725 auction had 2 items missing and box sides were torn; the others were complete and in good condition. I may have missed a few, but I try to search eBay daily. I didn't save a few that didn't sell, i.e the one for $5,000.00 that I knew wouldn't sell. I use this info to try to keep track of sale prices on Lou/VU items to help me decide what items I can sell for the most money. Going by this info, it may be time to try to sell my Index and aspen. It is SOOOO hard to let go, but I won't live forever and I don't want my son doing this someday when I'm gone.

[BallroomDays67]

Btw, The guy with the "mint" Index in his description says that the page where the dodecahedron is attached with a string, actually lies between two pages that are sealed with folded circular stickers in 2 places, top and middle of page, leaving the dodecahedron able to drop down and be looked at without the pages being "cut" open. this is new to me. My copy has it attached by a string, but I don't remember seeing the stickers keep you from being able to open the pages fully. He also mentions having a dust cover on the hardcover. I have NEVER heard of the Index book ever having a dust cover. It doesn't show in his photos. Input anybody?

I have a hardcover copy in which the dodecahedron is still sealed between the two pages. There are actually three folded circular stickers...top, middle and bottom. I assume his copy is either missing the bottom sticker, or it was cut. It was issued in a plastic bag, which is probably what he is calling a "dust cover."

[velvetfan]

This is a softcover, first. He speaks of separations in the binding, detached record, accordion wheeze, not squeaking, Chelsea Girls disc, unattached, castle pop-up torn, and not working, actually quite a bit wrong, stains. He tried to be honest, but actually kinda talked the price down by himself. To show the wide range of pricing, there is a guy who has a hardcover, he claims almost mint and is asking $3,200.00! He's living in a dream; like the guy with an Aspen box asking $5,000! It's not autographed either. I agree it's a bit low, but with what is "wrong" it's a fair price, IMHO. Btw, The guy with the "mint" Index in his description says that the page where the dodecahedron is attached with a string, actually lies between two pages that are sealed with folded circular stickers in 2 places, top and middle of page, leaving the dodecahedron able to drop down and be looked at without the pages being "cut" open. this is new to me. My copy has it attached by a string, but I don't remember seeing the stickers keep you from being able to open the pages fully. He also mentions having a dust cover on the hardcover. I have NEVER heard of the Index book ever having a dust cover. It doesn't show in his photos. Input anybody?

UPDATE:
My own curiosity got to me and I dug out my Index. I did find that the pages surrounding the dodecahedron actually had 3 circular stickers; one top, one bottom, and one on the side. the original owner slit 2 and tore off one. I also have a bit of a separation in one spot along the binding where the balloon melted. The pages stuck together are the 2 right before the ones labeled "blank", unlike the seller I spoke of who had his balloon on the blank pages. I also noticed that it seems the balloons leeched through a few pages a slight yellow stain, so it seems it is organic to the aging of this artwork. Mine even has the "acid" tabs, still attached to the page with none missing. God I hate to sell this beauty, but boy could I use the money......what to do, what to do?

[velvetfan]

Btw, The guy with the "mint" Index in his description says that the page where the dodecahedron is attached with a string, actually lies between two pages that are sealed with folded circular stickers in 2 places, top and middle of page, leaving the dodecahedron able to drop down and be looked at without the pages being "cut" open. this is new to me. My copy has it attached by a string, but I don't remember seeing the stickers keep you from being able to open the pages fully. He also mentions having a dust cover on the hardcover. I have NEVER heard of the Index book ever having a dust cover. It doesn't show in his photos. Input anybody?

I have a hardcover copy in which the dodecahedron is still sealed between the two pages. There are actually three folded circular stickers...top, middle and bottom. I assume his copy is either missing the bottom sticker, or it was cut. It was issued in a plastic bag, which is probably what he is calling a "dust cover."

I posted before I saw this post; I have the same but my stickers were slit, opening the pages. When you say "bag", are you referring to a heavy duty clear plastic envelope with a flap at the top? If it is, I have that also. I thought it was just a protective cover provided by the person I bought this from years ago. I almost tossed it and was going to get a nicer protective cover; glad I didn't; original is always better.

[BallroomDays67]

I'm not sure what it looks like, as it wasn't included with my copy. It apparently is very rare.

What I'd like to know is if any of the copies actually contained the mysterious postcard that is sometimes mentioned in item descriptions, but is always missing.

[alfredovu]

I have NEVER heard of the Index book ever having a dust cover. It doesn't show in his photos. Input anybody?

Rick

I will reproduce in my Inevitable catalogue one of those. It seems that the Original Hard Cover Index had a plastic protective bag with Warhol name on it.

Alfredo

[bleach]

Wasn't the hard cover a limited (1st) edition some of which were signed by Warhol. I seem to remember a figure of either 500 or 1000.

[MJG196]

I would imagine the price of this Index book would be significantly more in a proper auction in Europe, as opposed to ePay.