If you fancy starting off your own Goo collection and need some tips on where to begin, read this guide with ten pointers which should help get you started.

1. Knowing What You Want

Do you only want to collect vinyl?  Do you only want to collect CDs? Are you interested in tour programmes or laserdiscs?  Are you interested in anything to do with the band at all?  Try and start with an idea of how you want your collection to pan out and begin at that point.  With the era of the band at their highest point, I would suggest you concentrate on vinyl and see what else comes along.

2. Knowing Where to Look

You won’t find anything unless you know where to look.  Here are some sites where I have found to be a useful source for a good selection of items:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/
http://www.discogs.com/
http://www.musicstack.com/
http://eil.com/

Also with eBay, look outside of the local box and think global.  Checking the .com site and the .FR and the .DE sites usually turn up some interesting items.

3. The Big Five

Start obvious and pick up the big easy five 7″ vinyls.  They are:

Too Shy

Ooh to be Ah

Hang on Now

Big Apple

Lions Mouth

These vinyls sold in large amounts so they are still out there in large amounts.  Ignore sellers who advertise there as rare, scarce, hard to find etc.  Be fussy with these five, they are out there in big numbers so look for ones in great condition.

3. Get The 4 Main Vinyl Albums

White Feathers

Islands

Extra Play (Released as Kaja)

Crazy People’s Right to Speak (Released as Kaja)

The albums should be easy enough to find, slightly harder to get hold of Crazy People’s Right to Speak but it’s out there.

4. Look for Variations

There are many variations of vinyl out there to bulk out your collection and they are all important parts of the discography.  An example of this is the variations of ‘Too Shy’, such as the French release:

And the German release:

Variations also includes picture discs.  These are always interesting items and there are Goo ones to collect, such as

Hang on Now 7″

Turn Your Back On Me 12″

See also section 7!

5. Promos

There are many Promo releases to be had and generally, they will cost a bit more money due to the extra rarity.  Two scarce 7″ promos to look out for are these ones of Too Shy and Big Apple.  They are marked by (DJ) on the label:

Many other promos exist.  The 12″ Big Apple promo is a particularly sought after item and will fetch a higher price than most other KajaGooGoo vinyls, usually around £30+.  Ensure any promo you buy is actually a promo.  Don’t just pay double for a record because the eBay seller includes the word promo in the item title.  Make sure it is one.

6. Know The Band History

Knowing the history of the band will ensure any more obscure items do not escape your radar.

One of the rarest items of band memorabilia is this 7″ ‘Fear Machine’ vinyl from the early days when the band were known as ‘Art Nouveau’.

This item was only released on a private pressing of 1000 copies so if you are lucky enough to find one, it could cost anything from very little (seller has no idea what they have) up to triple figures.  With a record like this, less attention has to be paid to the condition, if you see one for sale, buy it.  The point is though, if you don’t know it exists, you won’t be looking for it!  Pay attention to anything by Art Nouveau and Chris Hamill.

7. Japan

The Japanese market went crazy for KajaGooGoo and there are many japanese items out there to be found.  There are japanese versions of pretty much everything vinyl, CD and Laserdisc!  Expect to pay more for these items because generally, they’ll be from sellers in Japan and the shipping will cost more.

One particularly interesting aspect of the japanese items is the OBI strip:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi_strip

Examples of the Obi Strip:

An item with an obi is worth more than one without.  Do not expect to pay the same price for an item with a missing obi, pay less!  Look on sites such as eil regularly for interesting japanese items, sometimes with great discounts!

8. Knowing What to Pay

Generally, you can pay whatever you think an item is worth but many items have a general price to which you know anything beyond, is asking too much.  Here are a few example prices:

Too Shy 7″. This single is in abundance.  You’ll pay a couple of pounds or even less for one.  Five pounds would be asking too much unless in pristine condition.

Islands LP. This album is still easily available.  Expect to pay around ten pounds for a very good condition example.  More commonly, just a few pounds can pick this album up.

White Feathers Tour Programme. These will occasionally pop up and they are a fantastic item to have.  You’ll pay just a few pounds for one if there isn’t much competition for it, around ten pounds would be a reasonable top price for a good condition one.  Any more than that and I’d expect a good reason why!

White Feathers Laserdisc. Rare but not stupidly rare.  Less than ten pounds will pick one of these up if you can find one, excellent condition might expect to go anywhere up to around twenty pounds.

9. Look for Oddities!

There are some fantastic items out there for your collection and due to the era of the main success of the band you will be able to find video cassettes, laserdisc, flexi and very rare videodisc releases.  Things like these will always interest any collector:

10. Final Golden Rules

Follow your instincts and if you see an item that looks a little too rare, just take a few moments to take a closer look.  One such item that came up fairly recently was a Too Shy gold disc on eBay.  At first glance, the desire to click ‘Buy it Now’ is almost overwhelming but on second glance, it’s just not the real thing.  Just use your head a little before diving in with your heart.  Firstly, the gold disc had a plaque with 1982 on it,  the single didn’t even get released until 1983.  Secondly, the picture on the item was only of Limahl and even that was a shot taken well after the band had split.  Thirdly, it just looked wrong.  It was a fun little item if you accepted it was fake but it was being sold as genuine, so watch out!!

Don’t be fooled by signatures.  Not just fakes but in general.  I’m a little old skool in my belief of signatures, I just won’t pay extra for them because I only see the value if they have been signed for me personally.  Do not be tempted to pay £50+ for a photo of the band which has been signed at a 2009 tour gig for example.  The person selling is just trying to cash in and there are easier ways to get a signed item if you are just looking for signatures.  Shame on you all for selling your items which the band signed personally for YOU!!  You will have noticed signed items on eBay for £50+ and £80+ and you will have noticed they’ve been there for quite a while now. Sellers, drop your price!!

Ask!  I have been collecting memorabilia now for some time and have a good knowledge of what is worth buying and what is not.  If you see an item which you are debating about, please ask!  I am very respectful of items which others have ‘found’.  If you’ve found the holy grail of items and you ask me about it, I won’t dive in and gazump you as that would be quite terrible!

I know many of the active Goo collectors such as the hugely knowledgeable ‘Steven AKA Denny’ and ‘Steve AKA theraggedtiger’ and between us, I’m sure we can help you out.

Check for new items regularly.  Just because everything was same old same old yesterday, doesn’t mean someone hasn’t just listed a rare item today.  It happens and if you’re not there, you won’t get it.

Remember new collectable items such as mugs, CDs and T-Shirts are available from the official KajaShop:
http://www.kajashop.co.uk/shop/category_Kaja/Kajagoogoo.html?shop_param=cid%3D%26

Please do support the band directly wherever possible!!

Lastly, just enjoy collecting.  Once you start, it’s very addictive!!

2010 KajaFax