Buddy Holly & The Crickets Collection

Appraised on: July 14, 2007

Appraised in: San Antonio, Texas

Appraised by: Mike Gutierrez

Category: Collectibles

Episode Info: San Antonio, Hour 3 (#1209)

Originally Aired: March 24, 2008

IMAGE: 1 of 4  

Appraisal Video: (3:03)

GUEST: My dad was a career Air Force officer and he was transferred to Burtonwood RAF Base, which is about 30 miles from Liverpool. And he got to take the family. And on the American base there, we had a youth center. And one of the activities that they scheduled for the kids was a trip into Liverpool for the Buddy Holly concert. And we were absolutely thrilled to death because here we were, stuck in England, and rock 'n' roll was big in the United States. So they filled up a bus and we went into Liverpool and went to this concert. And being American kids in England, we got to sit on the stage--

APPRAISER: Oh, my.

GUEST: --with Buddy Holly and The Crickets. There were about 30 of us, maybe. And it was just the thrill of a lifetime. And after the concert, we went backstage and Buddy Holly and The Crickets gave each of us the card that they had signed beforehand. But they spent about 30 minutes with us at least back there, that I can remember, signing the concert programs for the kids, and talking to us and... It was just a big deal. And I will remember... I can even remember what I wore that night. And then about a year later, I bought the album. Of course, I wore Buddy out, almost, playing him. But after a while I put the concert program inside the album and put it up and had really forgotten that it was there.

APPRAISER: Well, it's good that you did that, because it kept both of these pieces in really nice shape. And of course, Buddy's been gone for about 50 years now.

GUEST: Yes, what a shame.

APPRAISER: And there's a premium to his autograph. On both of these pieces here, you've got not only Buddy, but you've got The Crickets also. Which makes it more enticing. This larger photo, which is the back side of the program that you've kept for all these years, has just really nice, dark signatures of Buddy and The Crickets. It's a wonderful piece. It's oversized. I think that in auction, this particular piece would bring upwards of about $2,500.

GUEST: Wow. Oh, my goodness. That's exciting.

APPRAISER: Yes, it is. Now, the smaller one would still bring about $1,500.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: This original Buddy Holly album on Coral Records-- it's got a lot of wear to it unfortunately,

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: but it still probably has a value of about $50.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: Sure.

GUEST: I'd have thought 50 cents maybe.

(laughing)