New Jersey's Bob Russell collects a variety of instruments, music and related memorabilia.

Longtime reader Bob Russell of of New Jersey has been part of  Goldmine’s collecting family since the 1980s. He collects everything from guitars and amps to old discs — and he’ll even give you a sneak peek with his video tour. Would you like to join Bob and be profiled as one of Our Readers? Send an e-mail today to goldminemag@fwmedia.com!

What do you do for a living?
Retired. I did have a lot of jobs. I even owned a small business in New Jersey.

What are your passions besides collecting records?
Bob Russell: Everything music, guitars, tapes, older stereo equipment, tape decks, record players!

How did you get into music collecting?
BR: Started in the ’50s, when my mother took my brother and me to the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, N.J., to see the rock and roll shows — and The Three Stooges opened!

What’s your record-collecting motto/philosophy?
BR: It it’s at a garage sale and it has dust on it — it’s for me!

What’s your favorite musical act of all time?
BR: The Who — not just for the music, but for what they did for me at the moment: seeing them live, opening for Herman’s Hermits and watching them perform at Drew University in New Jersey. It was the time and the moment for sure — nothing in the world like it. I also saw them at the Murray The K Easter show with Cream, Blues Project and many, many other great acts, all for $3. It was unbelievable!

What is the focus of your collection?
BR: I think I really have enough right now (yeah, right), so my real focus is to put everything in some kind of order!

What is your most-prized item?
BR: My two Danny Gatton guitars. But of course, my first two guitars that I got when I was a kid, along with my first amps, that would be my Fender Mustang, Gibson ES 335, — Vox Viscount amp and my Kustom 100 amp.

What’s your method of collecting? Where do you usually find the best bargains?
BR: Any and all garage sales, and flea markets — sometimes in the newspapers. I just always look, but I am running out of space!

Who’s your favorite record store operator/record dealer, and why?
BR: I only kinda deal with one dealer, and that is John Tefteller — and I found him in the ’80s from your great magazine! If John says that a record is “such and such,” it is — he is truly the best. I rate him as I would George Gruhn (guitar expert). They are really the best “go-to people” in the world.

Goldmine wants to know: What’s on your want list?

What's on your want list? Photo courtesy Shutterstock.

Is it a First State Beatles Butcher Cover? An original copy of The Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen” 7-inch single on A&M? Robert Johnson’s “Me And The Devil Blues” 78 on Vocalion? What about The Sweet’s “Sweet Fanny Adams” picture disc, or Pink Floyd’s “Live At Pompeii” colored vinyl? Or maybe you’re a completist who’s seeking one last record for your collection of all things Annette Funicello.

Whatever it is that rocks your world but continues to elude your grasp, we wanna know! Send us your Top 5 Want List of  the records you seek (and a sentence or two about why each one is on your list and how long you’ve been looking) so we can share them with fellow Goldmine readers.

E-mail your want list to goldminemag@fwmedia.com; be sure to include your name and the US. state or, for our international readers, the country you live in. For a blast from the past, pop your list in an envelope, add a stamp and mail it to us at Goldmine Magazine, Attention: Most Wanted Stories, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. We hope to hear from you soon!

By Susan Sliwicki

The Doors are one heck of an influential band. But don’t expect their collectibles to leapfrog past those of fellow ’60s artists The Beatles any time soon.

While select pieces of Doors-related memorabilia have done well — Jim Morrison’s signed copy of “The New Creates” together with “The Lords/Notes on Vision,” which recently sold for $5,795 comes to mind — there just isn’t the same depth and breadth to Doors-related collectibles as exists for other bands.

Depending on your point of view, this could be good news. If you’re a big-time fan, it means collectibles are likely in reach of your budget. If you’re strictly collecting Doors memorabilia with the hopes of getting rich, though, you should probably swap teams and get on The Beatles’ bandwagon (or maybe even pick up some KISS collectibles).

• A limited-run picture disc plus photo lot of The Doors’ Jim Morrison drew $250 in an online auction.

OK, OK, so technically, this column is called “Beyond Vinyl,” and this lot definitely lands in the record category. But the seller’s description — including a remark that he didn’t have a record player to test the disc, so he was unsure whether there were any scratches — suggests this was treated more as a piece of memorabilia.

This disc, titled “The Doors — The Lizard King,” was one of 500 made, and it was accompanied by an 8 ”x 10” photo. The front side of the disc is in color, and the back side is in black and white.

The disc is a combination of sessions — Smothers Brothers Show in December 1968; Matrix, San Francisco, Oct. 3, 1967; Matrix, San Francisco — July 3, 1967. Featured songs include “Touch Me,” “I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind,” “People Are Strange,” “Summers Almost Gone,” “The Crystal Ship,” “Unhappy Girl,” “Orange County Suite” and a 20-minute version of “The Lizard King” from Westbury, Conn., in 1969. According to the seller, the photo has slight condition issues, and the seller grades the total package a six out of possible 10.

• A statue of The Doors’ Jim Morrison by Marko recently sold for $105 in an online auction. The bronze-finished piece is 17 inches tall and weighs approximately 9 pounds.

• A good-condition Video CD copy of “The Doors: The Best of Doors Jim Morrison” sold for $68. The 71-minute production was first offered in 1997.

• A color concert photograph of The Doors shot in 1970 sold for $49.85. According to the seller, the 8-1/2” x 11-3/4” print was made by the photographer from the original negative. Other than some dimpling and an abrasion along the top edge, the photo was listed in excellent condition.

• Collectibles come in a lot of different formats, and a tapestry-style vintage throw blanket of The Doors’ Jim Morrison is one that caught a buyer’s eye recently. The 6-foot-by-4-foot blanket, which the seller said had been used as a wall decoration, then stored in a box, sold for $47.

• You know you’ve made it when you’ve got your own action figure, and Jim Morrison McFarlanes showed up a few times. The first one, listed in new condition in the box, sold for $40. The figure is described as 6 inches tall; no other information is offered. The second was listed as an “extremely rare” McFarlane Jim Morrison “Spawn” figure, and it brought $39 at auction — not bad considering the package was heavily worn with creases, dents and warps, according to the description.

• Vintage T-shirts are an area that experts say has been showing growing interest among collectors, and The Doors are no exception. A size XL vintage Jim Morrison T-shirt that had some small holes under the armpits and some pinholes in the front of the shirt brought $39.99 at auction.

A size XS/S vintage Doors T-shirt brought $27.34 at auction — not bad considering the limited size. A brand-new, size medium Converse T-shirt, still with its tags, sold for $19.99

And a lot featuring a collection of Morrison/Doors memorabilia, including a T-shirt, a 283-page book by Hyperion a 245-page Doors songbook and a copy of the Jim Morrison biography “No One Here Gets Out Alive” sold for $22.50.

Other featured items include:
• A copy of the Sept. 17, 1981, issue of Rolling Stone issue regarding the death of Jim Morrison, $24

• A pair of CDs featuring an interview with Jim Morrison and his girlfriend, Pamela Courson, as well as Jim Morrison’s complete first poetry session, $19.99.

• A lot of five vintage Doors posters, $19.99.

RELATED STORIES: Find out about the documentary “When You’re Strange” and read an interview with the director, Tom DiCillo.
Read about “Morrison Hotel,” 40 years later. Interview with Ray Manzarek.

THE BEATLES are collector Gib Robbie’s favorite band. This Swan blue-and-white label 45 is a prized possession. Photo courtesy Gib Robbie .

To say Gib Robbie knows Goldmine well is a bit of an understatement. The Medford, N.J., collector hasn’t missed an issue of this magazine since 1985.

Well, now it’s our turn to get to know Gib a little better. You’ve already met him — or his work, at least, when you picked up this issue. His depiction of Elvis Presley graces this issue’s cover. We hope you enjoy Gib’s art and his story.

What do you do for a living?
Gib Robbie: Commercial illustrator. I have more than 40 images on a page at Art Bistro… www.artbistro.com/member/gib where people can see the diversified works I offer.

GIB ROBBIE enjoys using his natural artistic talents to portray his favorite rock and roll artists, as seen in this sketch of a young John Lennon. Courtesy of Gib Robbie

What are your passions besides collecting records?
GR: Family, friends and Yankee baseball.

How did you get into music collecting?
GR: Growing up with the Beatles…it just came naturally. In 1977, feeling nostalgic about my childhood…I sought to find the picture sleeves and 45s I never had as a kid on a small weekly allowance…that snowballed into LPs… then memorabilia.

As George Harrison once said… “It’s All Too Much” … and in collecting Beatles — when you start out, that’s how you feel at first. It was SO much fun finding out how much there is and learning about all the minutia that there is. It’s fascinating. I love the old labels: the Capitol rainbow, and the orange and yellow swirl 45s.

What’s your record-collecting motto/philosophy?
GR: I never set out to be a “completist”… I just wanted to gather what I really thought was very visually pleasing, and in the best condition I could find.

What is your favorite musical act of all time?
GR: The Beatles… hands down. All the years since… nothing can really hold a candle to their body of work… and “Abbey Road?” Show me a better LP (album).

What is the focus on for your collection (genre, band, era, etc.)?
GR: I have collected other artists along with The Beatles. I love 1950s rock ’n’ roll, Elvis, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, and Carl Perkins. Rockabilly/rock ’n’ roll are the genres… the Blues, also.

As far as era, mid-’50s, for me, had it all: the cars (’57 Chevys ); the clothes (Big E Levi’s ); old ballparks (Ebbets Field in Brooklyn). If I could base myself in any time period, that would be “aces” for me… to live in the mid-’50s.

A WELL-LOVED copy of “Meet The Beatles” is the record with the most sentimental value in Gib Robbie’s collection. He received the album from his father the day after The Beatles’ appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Photo courtesy Gib Robbie

What is your most-prized item (both in dollar value and sentimental value)?
GR: Wow… tough question ! I think it would have to be either my Beatles “She Loves You” 45 on Swan — blue print/ white label, or my Stereo Butcher East-Coast pressing… a decent peel.

Sentimentally — although it has zero dollar value since it’s been trashed — my “Meet The Beatles” LP given to me by my Dad the day after “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

What is your method of collecting? Where do you usually find the best bargains?
GR: Yard sales. But not so much anymore. In the ’80s, you could find all kinds of stuff… that’s dried up.

Ebay: You can find great items that occasinally fly under the radar.

Who’s your favorite record store operator/record dealer, and why?
GR: In the ’60s, I lived in a small town called Glen Rock, in New Jersey. There was a 5 & 10 that sold records — they always had new releases. The elderly lady that worked the register sold me LPs such as “Abbey Road,” so thinking back, that 5 & 10 is tops. The excitement of walking home clutching that brand new LP — so excited to drop the needle on it !

For a “contemporary record Store” it’s Neptoon Records in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. I visit there twice a year and always make a point to “dig” whenever I’m in town. It’s a GREAT record shop — with good prices!

How long have you been a Goldmine reader?
GR: Since April 1985 —25 years strong!

I have not missed an issue in the last 25 years.

What do you like most about Goldmine (print and online)?
GR: The passion for the hobby. Record collecting is as diversified and fragmented as any hobby there is… there is something for eveybody— regardless of taste.
Goldmine is THE forum for people who share this fascinating passion.

What would you like to see in Goldmine?
GR: More BEATLES! Well, sure, but also a feature on the career of Brian Setzer — for 30 years now he’s had an amazing run with the Stray Cats, solo and with his remarkable 17-piece orchestra. There’s quite a collection with his material.