Metal fans are well known obsessives when it comes to their favorite bands.....Metallica, Black Sabbath, Manowar and the like have mass armies of fans who stop at nothing to obtain all and everything released by their heroes. But one band stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of the mania they inspire amongst collectors - IRON MAIDEN. Much of this is down to clever marketing, but some credit must also be given to the band in terms of the effort they put in to their artwork and presentation, which keeps the fans coming back for more. Chris Doran runs troopersounds.com - one of the finest Maiden fan sites out there, containing many examples of rare and interesting band memorabilia. He is obsessed with Iron Maiden. I am obsessed with Iron Maiden. Here, Chris talks us through the reasons for his obsession and his thoughts on all things Maiden, both old and new. I thoroughly recommend you check out his website if you have even a passing interest in collecting Maiden, or even as a colourful lesson in the bizarre ploys employed to keep the fans hungry for more product. Most of the images of Maiden releases are from my own personal horde.

Do you think that Iron Maiden fans are the most obsessive of all Metal fans? TS - Well I think it would be hard to disagree with that. But I guess MANOWAR fans might have something to say on that front, as they can tend to be overly obsessive especially South American and the German Manowarriors. However Maiden and Manowar in particular come from that old school of giving 100% every time; on stage, on album, on record packaging etc. I would also put money on the chances that most Maiden fans have a soft spot for DeMaio and crew and perhaps feelings are reciprocated from the Manowar side of things. At the end of the day it was the South American and European fans that keep and have kept both bands afloat and in Maiden's case this was never truer than in the Blaze days. But when it comes to collecting Maiden wins hands down. Outside of KISS and perhaps METALLICA you will not find a Hard Rock / Metal band so well documented and preserved for all time than Iron Maiden. I remember when 'The First Ten Years' box sets came out. I was still at school and didn't have a part time job and only got a few pounds pocket money each week, which I saved just to buy those bloody vinyls and get the tokens. I endured ten weeks of sitting in the pub without very little cash for a pint just to have that box set. These day the vinyl 'First Ten Years' set and the CD set are hard to come buy and fetch healthy prices. What was the first item you got that hooked you into Maiden collecting? what was it that attracted you to Iron Maiden in the first place, above and beyond all other bands? TS - I am showing my age here! I bought 'The Trooper' single away back in the summer of 1983 when I was on holiday in England. My cousin had this little portable record player and I would sit in my cottage bedroom and play the shit out of that record. Both sides. In fact I played that record so much I broke the center piece and couldn't play it thereafter! 'The Trooper' Eddie sleeve was just the best and is still the best Eddie ever drawn. Maiden owes a huge amount to Eddie as he is more famous than any of the band members and is easily recognizable as that guy from the Maiden albums! Brilliant marketing. However I didn't start actually collecting Maiden as a serious hobby until around 1994 when I picked up 'The Soundhouse Tapes' from a guy in Record Collector. I had all the albums and most of the singles plus a couple of box sets and had already built up a limited knowledge of collecting Maiden so it was just a natural progression to start buying as much as I could get my hands on. My first introduction to Maiden was seeing them perform on Top Of The Pops with 'Run To The Hills' in 1982. The music just caught me. Can't really remember what sparked my attraction but I liked it! The twin guitar intro and the superb chorus all added up to what I wanted to listen to. Then Christmas of 1983 I got 'The Number of The Beast' and 'Piece Of Mind albums and my fate was sealed!! My brother was into AC/DC big time so maybe being into Maiden was a counter reaction. It was always a battle to see who could get the records on the record player in our house! Where did the idea for the website spring from, and do Maiden themselves sanction the site? How confident are you that as many items as possible are featured? TS - Trooper Sounds sprung from searching through the Web looking at other Maiden fan sites and noticing that they where much of the same. And I don't mean to put any of them down but at the end of the day they all featured much of the same material. The basic discography, lyrics, Eddie pics and band photos. I knew that Maiden had an already well established collectors fan base and using my knowledge I had the idea of building a Maiden Collectors web site that catered for the hard core and determined Maiden collector and also for the passing casual fan. I wasn't interested in showing the basic stuff. If you were a serious collector you would already have got hold of that stuff. I wanted to delve into the heart of Maiden collecting and unearth records/ CDs/ cassettes etc that rarely saw the light of day. Promos from South America, the USA and Japan. Vinyls from Asia. T-shirts from North America. There is such a wealth of rare and hard to get Maiden items that even if I put one new collectible on the site each day for a year I would have only scratched the surface of collecting Iron Maiden. I feature anything that is unusual, unique, rare and most importantly items that a hard core Maiden fan would love to have in their collection. There is no point featuring the UK singles from 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' as every man and there dog has them but to a collector featuring the different pressing labels that come from the UK singles is far more interesting and essential information for the completist. Maiden do not sanction the site but at the same time nor do they condone it. They are way to busy to worry about other things than fan sites. As long as you don't advertise new songs as say MP3s before the new album comes out they leave the web sites alone. But it would be a big bonus if I was sanctioned in some part by Maiden but until that day I will keep plugging away. How cleverly do you think Maiden have manipulated marketing down the years? From the 'Eddie' mascot, their attention to detail when it came to the fan club, the multi-formating of the singles.......they do it well, but with a purpose behind it. TS - Maiden always had a set agenda and that was down to two people Steve Harris and Rod Smallwood. Both knew that for Maiden to survive they would have to play it safe with the finances. So safe in fact whilst Maiden where celebrating a UK number one album the band were still on a very low wage and still to reap the financial rewards. All that came later of course but in the beginning Harris was very much into giving the fans value for money. He wanted a stage show even if it was dry ice coming from a mask above the drummer's head, he wanted to perform his own songs and not rely on covers and simply entertain. Coupled with this is Rod who is a very shrewd businessman and knew that Maiden were bound for glory and with Eddie being a very focal point they had they goods to promote themselves, the talent and self belief. However in the early days it was much more down to Maiden being a live tour-de force that got them recognition than any marketing tricks. That came after 'The Number Of The Beast' album. So the two where mixed after 1982 and it would be interesting to see if Maiden didn't have Eddie then where would they be. The whole purpose of Maiden of course is to make money for the record company and band. Which Maiden do. I don't think you can survive in the music business and for so long if you are not marketed aggressively. Ultimately talent will see you through though. Do you think the regimented regularity with which Maiden singles came out (7"/12"/12" picture disc) helped spawn the collecting mentality? It was certainly a nice way to assure uniformity of your collection. TS - Yes I do believe that. This was seen none more in the release of 'Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter' in six formats - etched vinyl, brain pack vinyl, vinyl picture disc, 12 vinyl, cassingle and CD. Not only did Maiden know that us collectors would pile out to buy all the different formats but each purchase would count as a unit sale in the charts thus the combined sales of 'Daughter' where strong enough to displace Cliff Richard from the top spot and give Maiden a Number One single! At the end of the day it was purely fan manipulation by Maiden's management. They knew we would buy all the formats and Maiden knew that no matter how many formats where put out the collector would buy it. I think Maiden perhaps suffered a little with this in the long run. Going from a band that released two singles from each album and on two or three formats vinyl, 12" vinyl and say a picture disc Maiden entered a period during 'Seventh Son' that made them issue four singles from that album and by 'No Prayer For the Dying' the CD was in ascendancy so now there was another format to add to the release pile and of course this played right into the hands of the collector: more Maiden to collect. However many people outside of Maiden world saw the band just cashing in on success and becoming a more commercially viable machine for making EMI money which is true to a certain extent but that's the music business for you. And to this day the release of 'Edward The Great' was a bit much to stomach for even for the hard collector like myself as I saw absolutely no point in doing it. Sure it gave the chance to pick up promos but life long fans must have been wondering just what message Maiden where trying to convey in releasing this. Since 1996 Maiden had only produced two albums 'Virtual XI' and ''Brave New World' but amazingly we had been treated to 'Ed Hunter', a collection of old tracks, 'Rock In Rio', a live album, 'Edward The Great', a collection of old songs and 'Eddie's Archive' which at the end of the day contained nothing new as most of us had heard it all before. Bruce had already quoted as saying that he wasn't returning to Maiden on a nostalgia trip then the band went out on tour in 1999 and played an entire tour of old songs! Maiden looked like they were turning into ageing dinosaurs. What interests me is that although Iron Maiden must have sold many millions of records down the years, and even sold many thousands of the limited editions, they still retain a high value despite the fact that many fans must own these items.....you would think that the more obscure the release the higher the price, but its actually regular picture discs and coloured vinyls that still fetch consistently high prices. TS - yeah that it is true especially of the 1980's picture disc vinyls and picture disc albums. The pic disc from 1984 to 1987 have held their values very well and command prices around the £20 level. Those from 'Seventh Son' sold in such abundance that the prices for them are anything between £10 - £15. Maiden LP pic discs are very valuable. 'The Number Of The Beast' and 'Powerslave' regularly go for £40 a piece which is surprising given that Maiden's album did sell well in the 1980s and Maiden did have a lot of chart activity in the UK. Mind you the normal singles and albums from theoe years are worth little more than the original price paid because of the volumes sold. Moving into the 1990s the 'Man On The Edge' release was only available for a limited two week run which has forced this single to be good collectible particularly the vinyl picture disc with poster. Of all Metal bands indeed any genre of music, Maiden has retained the value of its recorded output very well. There are bands that have sold more records like Motley Crue and Guns N Roses but do not have anything like the collectors fervour that accompanies that of following Maiden. That's a good thing as not only for sellers but also collectors as Maiden fans will keep hold of their records for longer and keep them in better condition. Where/how do you find out about Maiden promo items - do you perhaps have a mole or something at EMI leaking info to you? Often the promo items are more exciting than the official releases, can you pick out one or two promo gems that collectors should be on the look-out for? TS - where do you want me to start on promos! I could be here all day. I have contacts from the UK and in Europe who find out about promo releases before the release date and occasionally I get my hands on the actual CD or vinyl. I had 'Virtual XI' a full two weeks before release date. Maiden weren't happy about that I can tell you but that's a rarity these day as was proved when 'Brave New World' came out promos for that were so scarce you wouldn't have believed it. Hence the reason why the Tommy Vance Brave New World promo CD is valued around the £100 mark. Most Maiden promos are basic affairs especially concerning single releases but it is this simplicity that has endeared them to the collector. The promo vinyl pressings for South American releases are very basic. No sleeve only a generic record label but still they are valued in the high hundreds of pounds. Maiden has never balked in producing some of the finest promotional items known. The lavish 'Best Of The Beast' promo box, 'Fear Of The Dark' glow in the dark promo box, the 'Man On The Edge' promo stuff is very hard to get as a complete set as is the 'No Prayer' box promo but looking further a field the Canadian vinyl promo for 'The Trooper' is extremely hard to get as is the Canadian promo CD for 'Wasting Love'. Most of the USA promo vinyls and CDs are rarely offered for sale these days, as are the promos from South America where you will need a large amount of cash to secure those beauties. Any promo from Japan is highly sought after like the vinyl promo for '2 Minutes To Midnight' reputed to be limited to only five pressings and then onto Europe where the likes of the Spanish 'Where Eagles Dare' and the ludicrously rare vinyl for 'Wasting Love' are gonna get you re-mortgaging your home! The UK has also some mighty fine promo stuff but it is impossible to list all that's out there. That's the fun in collecting uncovering something new and unusual. What are the hardest Iron Maiden items to find and why? TS - the most rare Maiden record in the world is the Japanese vinyl promo for '2 Minutes to Midnight' which will set you back £1000 plus no problem. It's simply a case of demand outstripping supply for all of Maiden's hard to get items. There are a lot of collectors out there who have the money to indulge in collecting Maiden and will pay very highly for the prized rarities. Pre-Internet days Maiden collecting was a lot easier and less stressful on the wallet. The introduction of the Internet and email and in particular the eBay auction site has opened record collecting to the whole world. Now you can buy vinyl from a seller in Korea just as easy as going to HMV. This has advantages as you can start to see the rare items getting offered for sale but conversely the amount of people on line and chasing the rarities has multiplied at a furious rate. These days it is not to good to be a novice in collecting Maiden as most of the hard items have already been snapped up. If you want to have a look though and want to dive in at the Maiden collecting deep in then try getting the Venezuelan vinyl pressing for 'Maiden Japan' a snip at around £500. There again the UK brown vinyl miss press for 'Twilight Zone' is gonna reach £1000 plus no problem. The coloured vinyls for 'Live After Death' from South America are valued at around the £1000 mark. Even 'The Soundhouse Tapes' vinyl can go for around the £400. And try the Japanese CD box set for 'The First Ten Years' issue. That's up at around £700. The Greek 'Maiden Mania' vinyl box set around £200 - £300. Try picking up the UK CD single for 'Bring Your Daughter...' that is bloody difficult to get. Many fans think they have it but it was probably pressed in Holland. If you look at the CD it should have been pressed in the UK. There's also a great Australian promo LP for 'Powerslave' that has a bag of sand attached to it. Never seen or owned a copy but that would be a good item to have. Lastly the super rare 'No Prayer For The Dying' Spanish promo LP in plastic sleeve is a great and almost mythical promo vinyl. I dread to think how much that one will be worth. There is just so much to list that it's hard to pick out all the good items. And I've missed out t-shirts and tour programmes! What's the best Maiden bargain you've picked up down the years, and what has been your most expensive purchase? TS - I picked up 'The Soundhouse Tapes' for £40 away back some years ago. Now that was a real bargain. I also managed to buy a complete private collection form a fan, which realized me a very healthy and solid foundation to start collecting Maiden. It contained most of the USA promo vinyls and CDs plus some European hard to get stuff. I also picked up a CDR acetate for 'Best of The Beast' release, which features re-mixed tracks for some of the songs on that 1996 release. It is only one of two copies in existence and I had to contact Maiden's management about that and I got to put in touch with Paul Dando who let me keep it so that's a particularly special piece of Maiden. Picking up some Irish vinyls was also good as they are notoriously difficult to get along with a few South American promo issues. My most expensive purchase was the studio pressing plates for '2 Minutes to Midnight' which set me back a few quid but worth every penny as they are beautiful and perhaps the only existing set in the world. I also picked up a Radio City US Tour shirt from 1983 for a silly amount of money and I couldn't even wear it! Sometimes getting the chance to buy a rare item can get you paying way over the top for it. Also collecting isn't just about paying high prices for records. I managed to get a couple of Davey Murray sweatbands from the Shepherd's Bush show in 2001. They cost nothing but since Davey wore them and I had to do a little fighting for them they are very special to me as is getting plectrums. I am a dab hand at getting those! Do you have a favorite piece of Iron Maiden art? The art of course always lent itself so well to picture discs, can you pick just one picture disc that has the special look about it - my money is on 'Aces High' as a great piece of Metal art TS - most Derek Riggs inspired Eddie's have my vote. The Eddie's of today are to graphically enhanced to be considered up against Riggs' efforts. As for a favourite Eddie art work: 'The Trooper' is excellent as is the album sleeve for 'The Number Of The Beast', 'Purgatory' is exceptional and the 'Killers' art work is Eddie at his most demonic, 'Somewhere In Time' has a lot going for it and a lot going on in the drawing. The picture disc for '2 Minutes To Midnight' is perhaps not the most ferocious Eddie but there is eeriness about him just pointing the finger at the listener. Eddie was born to be displayed on vinyl and takes the heat off from the band as they can troop off to the back sleeve. Eddie is easily the most recognizable character in Metal along side Lemmy and Ozzy not bad for a drawing! For many years Maiden always recorded unusual, special B-sides for singles - are you disappointed these days that all B-sides seem to be live tracks, rather than something new and unheard? It makes the collectibility as little less interesting I think TS - to be honest Maiden collectors will buy the records/ CDs regardless of what is on the b-sides. Although recently the addition of the likes of 'Powerslave' and 'Killers' to the b-sides is welcome as they have never been released live before or have been long missing from the live set. Mind you it would be more interesting to hear Maiden doing a few more covers like they've done in the past covering Free, Zeppelin, Tull and The Who. Steve Harris has long said that Maiden only record enough songs to fit an album and rarely have anything left over. Maiden don't record demos much these days if at all but it would be pleasing to hear a Maiden b-side that is a Maiden song rather than a cover version and if they could write a song in the style and quality of 'Total Eclipse' then that would satisfy a lot of fans. Are you particularly obsessive about collecting other bands or is it solely Iron Maiden that you concentrate on? TS - No I collect Maiden and put all my concentration and effort into them. There is just about enough stuff to collect and more than enough to keep even the most hard core of collector. Collecting a band like The Stones, Elvis, The Beatles, Queen, Kiss and Metallica is an impossibility as there is a never ending myriad of stuff being released. Maiden is big but not as big as those just mentioned so it's a touch easier to keep up to date with what's out there to buy. Of course I just don't listen to Maiden. I love all things Metal. From AC/DC to Van Halen to Candlemass to Jag Panzer. If I like a band then I'll more than likely go out and buy all their albums but only occasionally will I buy anything collectible from a band outside of Maiden. I do collect box sets though as Metal bands tend to put a little extra into these things. If I had the cash I'd probably collect Manowar, Dio or Iced Earth records. What's the one item that you'd love to own that you don't currently possess? TS - that's easy, the Japanese promo vinyl for '2 Minutes To Midnight' or maybe the brown vinyl 'Twilight Zone' or the Venezuelan 'Maiden Japan'... I can't possibly limit the choice to just one. What did you think of the Blaze-era? Its kind of ironic now that the releases with him in the band are amongst the most collectable, presumably as fewer people bought them at the time..... TS - those fans that deserted the band in the Blaze days and I am talking mainly the USA fans here, (By the end of 1999 'Virtual XI' had only sold around 58 000 copies in the USA) are now paying the price for not picking up on the items that came out from the two Blaze albums. Some Blaze stuff is amongst the most collectible for fans but certainly items like the US promo CDs for the awful 'Angel and The Gambler' and 'Futureal' command very healthy market prices. The UK 'X-Factor' LP is worth around £50 - £80 and even the 'Man On The Edge' CD singles and vinyl pic discs are generate strong sales and of course that's just down to poor sales. The 'X-Factor' concert programme will fetch £100 in some cases. I think Blaze had an impossible task to begin with and also that 'Arry may have made a mistake in taking him on board. Never in a month of Sundays was he gonna replace Bruce. He just didn't have the voice, stamina or song writing ability. Plus the loss of Adrian was showing as well as `Arry had to come up with more and more ideas on his own. But I also feel that Blaze was never given a chance and in particular the media crucified him at every turn. 'Virtual XI' is slightly better than the dreadful 'X-Factor' which is a bleak and depressing Maiden album missing all the trademark Maiden galloping riffs, foot on the monitor bass runs and soaring vocals. It's also unfair to criticize Blaze too much. He actually got to sing with Maiden and travel the world and was picked out of hundreds to do so, so for that he must gain respect but the re-joining of Bruce and Adrian was inevitable as it was necessary. What did you make of Bruce re-joining the band? I always thought that the return of Adrian Smith was even more significant, in terms of songwriting quality... TS - it had to happen sooner or later. Bruce's solo career was successful but not Maiden terms successful and as for Adrian's attempts to divert into stadium rock with ASAP and back to Metal with Psycho Motel was really a disaster. I was excited for sure that both were coming back as I think British Rock music needed a voice again and that voice was Iron Maiden. Picking themselves up from a few barren years and to return with the impressive 'Brave New World' was way better than I had ever suspected. With Metallica hiding up Lars's arsehole for the best part of the 90's Maiden had to do something to put Metal back on the map and I think they did that and if proof was needed then look at Madison Square Garden selling out in two hours. Although Adrian wrote and co-wrote many of Maiden's most successful singles in the 80's it was Davey Murray that pulled out the stops on 'Brave New World' to get writing credits on three songs to Smiths two with Harris handling the most. At the end of the day 'Brave New World' was an Iron Maiden album written by the band and not relying on Harris to deliver the goods which made for a much better record and tour. I have a theory that Iron Maiden always includes one sub standard track on every LP - 'Alexander the Great', 'To Tame A Land', 'Losfer Words' - these do not stand up next to the Maiden classics. Its almost like they do it on purpose. Do you feel this theory has any weight to it or do you feel the quality meter in full on all the time? TS - I think a lot of bands fill albums with sub-standard tracks. Queen is one of the worst for it. I also reckon that `Arry wouldn't agree with you. The majority of bands are known for their single releases and over the years Maiden have released some poor singles as opposed to sub standard Maiden tracks. However you site a couple of songs 'Alexander the Great' and 'To Tame a Land', which are to me at least Maiden classics and not album fillers. Although the 1980's Maiden albums contained strong and quality songs the 1990's saw the quality meter beginning to dip. 'No Prayer For The Dying' and 'Fear Of The Dark' are strong contenders for containing sub standard tracks: 'Hooks In You', 'The Assassin', 'Run Silent Run Deep', 'Fear Is The Key', 'Wasting Love', and 'Weekend Warrior' all spring to mind as fillers and songs that will not go down as Maiden favourites. On the other hand songs such as 'No Prayer For The Dying', 'Fear Of The Dark' and 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers' have enough class about them to save the entire albums. Steve writes what he thinks is the best songs for the album and leaves it at that and then lets the fans decide which is the best and which is not. Maiden's reputation for quality is generally well-founded - 'The First Ten Years', 'The Beast of the Beast', 'Eddies Archive' etc are all quality collectors sets, do you think that Maiden do all they can to bring value for money to the fans. Or do you feel they are quick to exploit the loyalty of their devotees? The albums have been re-released themselves in many variations in recent times, and the less said about 'Eddies Head' the better... TS - Undoubtedly Maiden try to give the fans value for money and can also be accused of exploitation on a grand scale. I understand that it's important to keep the Maiden merchandise machine in full public view but patience does tend to wear thin on the likes of the 'Eddie's Head' box set which was issued for no other reason that to have another box set. The CDs in this set where yet another re-release to go with more re-releases in the early 1990s. Once again there were no new songs. Different artwork here and there, some more photos but nothing to shout about. Maiden have always had their finger on the technology pulse and true to form they were the first band to release multi media CDs complete with bonus video tracks a feature that is now all to common in the music business. To be fair to them they haven't issued any more than stuff than some bands have. Maiden know that there is a huge collectors market out there and are only to willing to tap that market as we the collectors are only to willing to but up all the stuff that is offered. 'Edward The Great' was way too much for some fans and the impending 'Visions Of The Beast' DVD/ Video isn't going to set the heather on fire. Two new studio albums in seven years - the fans want something new to get their teeth into and not a almost constant round of re-releases and re-hashing of old ideas. Of course this is compounded by a new world tour that is playing seventeen songs with only one new song! It's like 'Ed Hunter' all over again. But when Maiden do it well few can touch them. For sheer presentation and quality Maiden excel themselves in every department. The range of ideas and extras that get put on to the CDs, the variations on vinyls is all what is expected from Maiden and goes along way to explaining the devotion of fans. Explain why a foreign pressing can mean as much to a collector as regular domestic one, and highlight if you will some examples of unusual non-UK pressings that inspire collectors to go to such lengths to obtain them. TS - to a hard-core collector every pressing is a must! It's relatively easy for the UK collector to get the UK pressing but not so for those outside the UK and vice versa for UK fans trying to get non-UK rare items. When you talk about foreign pressings the most sought after are the promos for 'Where Eagles Dare' and 'Wasting Love' - try getting it in the post card sleeve and both from Spain. The 'Maiden Japan' from Venezuela I've mentioned already. Any promo for North and South America are vigorously pursued and I've yet to mention one of the hardest European rarities the exhaustingly difficult to get Italian 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' picture disc. Early promo vinyl pressings from Germany are very hard to get a hold of as well. How is it that some territories get Maiden releases that we Brits don't - I'm thinking of stuff like the 'Wasting Love' single, or the Greek 'MaidenMania' box set? TS - ah that's one for the marketing men me thinks! Fortunately Maiden fans are treated quite well in this department, as Maiden doesn't tend to issue different singles or albums for different parts of the world that often. 'Wasting Love' and 'Lord Of The Flies' are exceptions to the rule but I can only suggest that they weren't released in the UK simply because they are weak songs and not suited to the UK market. Of course some countries like Japan get treated to a wealth of slightly different things like the lavish 'Somewhere In Time' vinyl with booklet and vinyl interview single and the poster vinyl of 'Stranger In A Strange Land' plus the odd vinyl from the early 80's including 'Prowler' and 'Wrathchild' complete with different sleeves. At the end of the day Maiden have concentrated their efforts on the UK market for the box sets, rare pressings etc and the odd few that escape and only get issued in other countries are far out weighed by what the UK gets. Is there a high degree of competition among Maiden collectors or do you help each other out? I can imagine a pretty fierce battle brewing if two hardcore collectors have their eye on the same item :-) TS - it's all healthy competition I am sure! There is a lot of helping each other out. I wouldn't have built the connections or the collection if it weren't for Maiden fans lending help and advice over the years. I have some of the craziest Maiden fans email photos and info on rare items for inclusion on the web site and to these guys and girls I owe a huge debt of gratitude so although there is competition, Maiden collectors like few things else better than talking about Maiden collecting. It's in the blood. Some fans will pay for the rare stuff and some won't it's all a matter of how keen you are to build your collection up. When new promos come up for sale there can quite heated battles as there was for the 'Edward The Great and 'Archive' promo CDs some fans were shelling out very high amounts for these but in the long run if you wait the promo prices will come down to more reasonable levels and won't burn a hole in your wallet. I remember feeling really disappointed when CD singles came out - despite gallant efforts there has never been a CD single that topped a vinyl release in my opinion. Do you agree and regardless of your answer, what do you consider to be the most interesting Maiden CD single release? TS - yeah the vinyl will never be topped. The sound of a record is just so much better and it actually feels like you've bought something with a vinyl. I don't think Eddie was meant to be squashed onto a CD sleeve. To this day it always the Maiden vinyl that you'll buy before the CD and the vinyl is always the format that sells out the fastest. For me Heavy Metal was born on the vinyl record. In particular bands such as Maiden, Megadeth, Ozzy, Dio, Judas Priest and Kiss used the LP format to generate interest from non-Metal fans just by having such strong album covers and recognizable characters. I remember opening the gatefold sleeve to 'Live After Death' and just looking at the most awesome sight of Maiden in glorious full colour and Eddie appearing almost larger than life. You just don't get that same reaction with a CD no matter how good the packaging is. The vinyl will never go away so its encouraging to find that Maiden still like to issue albums and singles on this format. Maiden have had a few choice CD single issue over the years including the Australian issue for 'Lord Of The Flies', the Japanese issues for 'Can I Play With Madness' and 'The Evil That Men Do' - now very difficult to get a hold of. The European 'Wasting Love' is getting more difficult to track down as it was deleted about two weeks after initial release. Nowadays most collectors know well in advance the different pressings being offered so they have time to get all of them and if Maiden did ever release a single outside of the UK then collectors would buy so many that it would keep the value at a steady level instead of rising and rising like that of 'Wasting Love'. Can you put a value on your Iron Maiden collection, and can you perhaps offer some new fans some advice on which items you can find relatively easily and cheaply in order to start building your own Maiden mini-empire? By a similar token, can you recommend some items to avoid - the recent spate of so called coloured vinyl 'promo' LP's are particularly poor in my opinion. TS - I've been asked that a few times. Very roughly I must have spent around £20 000 on my collection. Some items you just can't get or don't see for sale these days because of the high interest Maiden still hold in the collecting market. Believe it or not Maiden are more popular than ever and the collectors know it. So I was very lucky to pick up the items I have and for a fraction of the price they go for today. My friends think I am mad but it's hard to explain the devotion a Maiden fan has to the band and the music. It's very tribal and like a football crowd at gigs. Full of energy and passion. When the song 'Iron Maiden' plays at the gigs I go all out for it because there is simply no better band or band song than represents the beast that is Iron Maiden. As I've said starting to collect Maiden at this stage in their careers is an uphill task from the start. It is easy enough to get all the old albums and singles from the UK but after that you are either gonna have to have a bit of good luck or a war chest pinched from the Spanish Armada. I can only see prices going up for the rare pieces and Maiden touring and the release of a new album only adds to the interest and excitement for collecting which in turns puts values up. Good places to look if you are starting off is eBay then specialist mags such as Record Collector, then mail order Internet outlets like the excellent Esprit and the best place of all is to get in touch with fans and collectors who are always on hand to offer advice and more often than not actually sell you something. It takes a while to build up a good collection so be patient. These days the amount of bootlegs coming from Europe, Asia and South America is on the increase and increase. I can only wonder what young collectors must think about when trying to decide what is real and what isn't. It's fairly easy to spot a non-official Maiden item from my viewpoint but a novice is gonna be doing cartwheels. Take for example the promo and coloured vinyls coming from Europe. All bootlegs I'm afraid. Sellers try to pass them off because they have EMI Promo printed on the back but EMI don't do that and furthermore the catalogue numbers start with a P. This is a dead give away that it's a bootleg. If you're ever in any doubt please contact me and I will sort it out. The amount of bootleg picture disc albums is also bewildering. Mind you there is a big market for bootleg Maiden concerts with fans more likely to trade CDs and CDRs than make money from them. And not forgetting a couple of excellent bootleg Maiden sets that are much revered by the collector the fabulous Eddie 3D 'Phantom Of The Opera' live CD box set from Holland and the excellent 3 CD 'Kings Of The Twilight Zone' box set. Bootlegging is a whole world of its own. And finally - what hopes do you have the new Iron Maiden LP ('Dance of Death') due in September of this year - and have you got any items relating to the album already secured for your collection :-)) ? TS - I honestly hope that Maiden gives us an album that the fans and most importantly the band are proud off. And at the same time maybe throw in some acoustic stuff, which would be very un-Maiden like. At the end of the day Maiden are a live band and whatever the new album is like I look forward more to the live event. The buzz at Maiden gigs is hard to describe. I don't have any info on the new album yet but I am sure that the unmastered 3 track sampler that is getting aired at shows around the summer will eventually head a collectors way then the promo battle will commence once again!

Interview by Dan Tobin click the logo to return to the Wicked World site