"World's Largest Record Collection" For Sale on eBay
Here’s your chance, music lovers, to own the purported “world’s largest record collection” — more than 6 million songs on 3 million records and 300,000 compact discs — being auctioned on eBay with a minimum reserve bid of $3 million.
Paul Mawhinney, the Pittsburgh-based publisher of the Music Master record price guide, started the collection about 50 years ago with a Frankie Lane record. His plan hit a rough patch as the collection passed the 160,000 mark: His wife told him that either he had to go or the records did. He stayed, and the records went into a climate-controlled warehouse.
Mawhinney is seeking a buyer such as “a museum, library, university or charitable foundation” that can keep the whole collection together, saying that “cleverly arranged and displayed, and surrounded by additional cultural memorabilia, the collection could even become a tourist attraction.” That could be especially true in 10 years or so, when only hard-core music fans listen to physical music formats.
More on Mawhinney’s website.
Doug
Apparently the collection is sold, and for not much more than the reserve — US $3,002,150.00. The seller had said that if no one bid, he would immediately re-list, but it appears there were 6 bidders including the winner.
I hope the collection finds a nice home, but I suspect that it may be worth more broken up than kept together. Hopefully, the news will tell us something about the buyer.
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Reader Comments (9)
Just what I need, a warehouse of old records. A nice collection but for only a small group of collectores with a) the interest, and b) the money to acquire and maintain it.
Not a bad investment. Maybe if we pool our resources, .....
What would someone do with this collection? I don't see people coming to a museum to look at walls of racked albums. I doubt the public would be able to even handle them. So what is the point?
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame might be able to use the R&R albums, but they would have to sell off the rest.
Should be an intersting auction. Wonder if it will make the reserve. Maybe some rich Arab will buy it. Vinyl still offers a unique audio experience, serious platter collectors will argue it's the purest of all sounds played on good audiophile quality equipment.
I hope it goes to a music museum (if there is such a thing) that will keep the collection intact. It would seem a shame to break it up.
Has bidding already started, or is it just "coming"? Might be fun to follow.
I would say he is obsessive. I wonder how many other things he collects.
There can't be many people on the planet who would want this collection. Then, I could be wrong.
I found it interesting to read some of the inquiries from prospective bidders. One asked if he could pick up the collection [assuming he was the successful bidder] since he lived in the area. That seemed like a goofy question considering the collection is presently housed in a climate controlled warehouse and would require a similar facility or a McMansion to house.
Some of the others were equally funny as were the owner's replies.