Collection of Apple Records Beatles 45s

Appraised on: June 16, 2001

Appraised in: Miami, Florida

Appraised by: Elyse Luray-Marx

Category: Collectibles

Episode Info: Tomorrow's Antiques (#917)

Originally Aired: September 26, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:00)

GUEST: It's an Apple 45 American collection. It's every 45 that was issued on Apple Records, in mint, unplayed condition. Every picture sleeve that was issued, every B side that was issued, every different label that was issued.

APPRAISER: How long did it take you to assemble this?

GUEST: Maybe 20, 25 years.

APPRAISER: And how did you get started, and why 45s of the Beatles?

GUEST: I'm a big Beatle fan, first of all... (laughing) And that's foremost. The hardest part was getting the ones that were unplayed. I have others that I do play. I grew up in Philadelphia watching "Bandstand" after school and collecting records, and when the Beatles came out, it was just like, wow, you know, it was my generation, and listening and collecting.

APPRAISER: Well, it's a great collection. People often ask me, "What should I collect?" And I say you should collect something that you're very passionate about, and obviously you're really passionate. And it's very focused. A lot of times people get lost. They love the Beatles, but they're not really sure what to collect, and this is just a great example of the passion. And while you and I were talking about it before, you mentioned that you paid a lot of money for some of the sleeves.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: And that sometimes you would replace an album if you got one in better condition.

GUEST: Correct.

APPRAISER: So when we look through this, we see we have things in mint condition. And the interesting thing is, what most collectors don't know are that the sleeves are usually more valuable than a lot of the records.

GUEST: I've paid a dollar for the record and $150 just for a sleeve.

APPRAISER: These two are really interesting because it's an example of a black-and-white and a color-- totally different, but very, very collectible, in great condition and really desirable. And then you have an interesting piece over here. You want to tell us about that?

GUEST: Yeah, I just happened to run across that. It's actually a radio ad for two of the first releases on Apple Records.

APPRAISER: Usually radio ads aren't that collectible, but because it's the Beatles, we find that it's a lot more sought after. The collection itself-- again, it's so focused, it's so great, and the fact that it took you 25 years to assemble it makes it, as a collection, a really fascinating group, and I would estimate the entire collection at $5,000 to $7,000.

GUEST: Gee, that's wonderful. I'm so happy.