Since 85, Prince has had to endure fickle fans and calls that he has lost it. It did not matter, he had a loyal fan base in the tens of thousands who always held on.

Other artists have enjoyed this bizarre loyalty. Depeche Mode, Pearl Jam, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz to name a few.

There always seemed to be one simple way of telling if the underground fan base was alive and well. The trade of collectables. Prices always remain high, when there is a market.

But have you seen the Prince collectable prices in the last 12 months? Its dying. You can pick up some vinyl and CDs for a quarter of the price they would command only 3 years ago.

Even the die hards are even moving on.

Where is P going wrong?

Is he washed up?

Will anyone be buying the Vegas Rio tour tees this time round?

Been collecting since 1981. I've spent over $100,000 in the past 26 years on the little guy (believe it or not!) I'll be collecting for years to come....

SexualSuicide said:

Me too, but the market is dying. Sign of the times?

SquirrelMeat said:

Yeah but think what it'll be worth in 20-30 years...Cha Ching

I'm still here!

I never considered my collection to be of any monetary value. Although I bought it with money. It is priceless to me. Who gives a fuck if the bottom drops out.

Where do u even find prince's stuff these days?

I think it stems from a general lack of fresh collectible material.

Most of the collectible material originates from the 80's and early 90's. The majority of the people who wanted those items now have them. Due to this, the prices are having to be lowered to attract new buyers, who perhaps aren't as commited or do not have such a large disposable income.

The last real collectable item I can think of is the unreleased 'Face Down' Maxi-single. And that was way back in 1996. Over 10 years ago now ... .

I think there is a similar situation with the bootleg scene. As Prince has tightened up his security, there simply are no new, unreleased studio recordings circulating.

pkidwell said:

NewMr7 said:

And that too.

As a collector i am glad to see the prices go down, now i can get some things the were way out of my price range. A collector collects for the love of the item not the money. I would never sell my stuff. Years ago i purchased double copies of Madhouse 8 and !6 at pawn shop to sell. Needless to say i still have them i could not part with them

I've sold most of my collection off, as i knew the market was bad and prices were suffering, so i got in early and cashed in my chips.

Least i got back some of what i spent on Prince over the years, the hardcore have moved on, collections only collect dust and are only worth something to another Prince fan.

Since we're losing fans on a daily basis it makes SENSE to sell up, i mean...you don't wanna be stuck with 500 CD's ou can't sell...can you?

Sell up, put the money into your kids education or splah out on a holiday to Hawaii.

pkidwell said:

Totally agree, collect it coz u love it & not coz u wanna sell it on 4 profit!!

I stopped caring about so-called collectibles and bootlegs in the mid 90s. There's still a whole lot of stuff that I don't have that the average die-hard does (Extra Loveable, Dream Factory stuff, concerts, whatnot). But I lost interest. I figured either the stuff will be released one day or not, but I ain't gonna go looking for it and I'm happy with the collection I have so far. Although I did try to sell a few items back in the day.

Since the release of the "Ultimate Prince" collection a few months ago, which included several 12 Inch versions, I would assume that the price of those particular 12 Inch vinyl singles would go down since they are no longer hard to find.

vainandy said:

But would that conversely mean that the price of 12"s not on 'Ultimate' would go up in value if peoples interest was piqued?

However it is certainly true that prices have taken a tumble. In the new just released edition of Record Collector magazines 'Rare Record Price Guide' The Gotta Stop Messin About 12"s are now listed at £100 each whereas I seem to recall they were previously £180ish. Likewise Let's Work 12" now £100 was £130.

The Lovesexy era CD singles are now a tenner each and so on.

Mind you a big hit album and tour could change things I guess?

well since i don't buy collectibles, i only buy the music, i would have to say, yea, i will still be around buying the music, but not the t-shirts, LOL.

The onlly "collectible" I bought was the hatbox package, and that was for (1) the incense, (2) the music, and (3) the box....i used it to put my wedding momentos in as my colors were purple and lavender.