Today's entry due date (26 September) was to be
dedicated to Cliff Burton, who 29 years ago was killed in a bus accident after
a concert in Solna, Sweden. The occasion for this was supposed to be a ticket
from last Metallica concert with Cliff, who managed to "finally" get
it. Ticket… which turned out to be fake. So, Cliff Rest In Peace (Thank’s God
Cliff was REAL) and today's entry will be devoted to the nasty surprises that
await ticket collectors in the network (I write as an example but not only my
own experiences).
R.I.P. Cliff Burton
First of unlucky ticket from Solna (Sweden) September
26, 1986. At first everything looked fine. I discovered auction in the
"last minute" and before bidding I saw the ticket only on my phone not
on a computer screen. Description however, clearly said that the ticket is the
original and the other old tickets offered by the same seller convinced me that
this is an old fan selling off part of his collection. I knew less or more how the ticket looks
and what I saw on the phone was enough for me to bidding. As it turned out it
was a mistake but I learned about it only when I received ticket and posted
scan at TMCC forum. Proud as a peacock I wrote under the photo that I became a
happy owner of a real evergreen (because in fact this ticket is evergreen ….
when it is original). Posts befriended collectors and pictures of their tickets
quickly brought me to the ground. Judgment sounded - Buddy You bought a FAKE.
It hurt but a man learns life.
Fake ticket ....
....and real evergreen (from Mike "butchamet" collection)
Below about how unpleasant surprises may lurk for you
on the Web.
1) Fraud.
This is a situation with which we deal in the case described above. You buy a
ticket, whose description clearly introduces you into error and from the
accompanying pictures cannot be said that you are dealing with a fake. In
addition, the seller not answer your questions ... but much you care on the ticket and the
problem ready.
2) Concealment
of relevant information #1. The ticket (Madrid, Spain 19-06-1993), which
was looking for a very long time. In the end, he appeared on sale somewhere in
Spain. The description and picture were OK ... I did not pay attention why the
picture shows a ticket from edge to edge, no background. After opening the
envelope, it turned out that the seller did not mention anything about the fact
that the ticket is laminated. Of course, it was the original ticket but
laminated. From my point of view as a collector ticket has no value ... maybe
as a bookmark.
This is what You see at ebay
This is what You get
3) Concealment
of relevant information # 2 – Ticket from Louisville, USA 25-07-1986. A
similar situation as above except that we are not dealing with laminated
ticket. In this situation, neither the description nor the image is not made me
any suspicion. Well, it turned out that the ticket is glued to thick cardboard.
I do not remember how many hours I spent holding the ticket on the steam to
loosen it from the board. All for nothing. Amazingly the person (other
collector) from whom a ticket does not see anything wrong with that. Remember,
always ask for photo ticket on both sides, or at least ask if there is to glued
to something.
This is what You think You get
Oupssss .....this is what You get
4) Wrong
description – Ticket from Atlanta, USA 09-09-1986. The average Metallica
fan wanting to be in possession of a souvenir from Cliff era could get caught
on this "bargain". Ticket described as being from Ozzy Osbourne /
Metallica Tour in 1986. However, the average fan may not know that this Tour
ended August 3, 1986, and ticket for which I am writing is from September 9,
1986. In addition, it can confuse us that most of tickets from that tour no
mention of Metallica.
"Real bargain" (pics stolen from ebay)
5) Incomplete
ticket. Part of the American tickets from the 80s and early 90's had a
specific narrow, oblong shape (different than the typical tickets from
Ticketmaster). Those were the times when the tickets did not have bar codes and
at the entrance to the concert portion of the ticket was simply peeled off. Often,
together with part of the ticket, which contained information about the date of
the concert, venue, etc. In the case of purchase of such incomplete ticket
(sometimes it is only a small part as in my case) we rely then on the
description of the seller, who sometimes misses the truth . Remember when I
bought at eBay Ozzy Osbourne ticket from summer 1986 US tour and seller wrote
in description that this is probably the ticket from the Ozzy Osbourne “Bark at
the Moon 1984 Tour” but he wasn't sure. He was sure the ticket came from the
concert, which took place in Portland. It was a half of a ticket without date
and venue details. At that time I used Metlist site as a main info base - info
from this site was clear - Ozzy played with Metallica in Portland June 25,
1986. Later I discovered that this is Ozzy ticket from 1984 not 1986 and not
related with Metallica at all . At metallica.com June show in Portland not
exist and probably Metlist info was wrong.
What year and venue ?
Other incomplete tickets from my collection
6) Lot tickets.
Rather frequently in my case the situation when the auction relates to a lot of
tickets and the seller does not provide in the listing specific dates. In general picture shows a large number of
tickets and in addition is blurry. We only know that there are some Metallica
tickets. Often, I am buying such lots hoping that among the tickets is
something I'm looking for. Mostly there are tickets that already have in my
collection. In the end, somewhere, these nearly 150 duplicate tickets in my
collection came from.
Are there any Metallica tickets in this set ...or aren't
