Oh how I love to stumble upon Metal memorabilia without trying. That is exactly what happened when I glanced upon this particular Metallica lot at a recent, (monthly), silent auction. How recent? It was this past January of 2010. Where was this silent auction? At an antique mall… where else? What is this Metallica lot? None other than the enormously popular – LIVE SH*T: BINGE & PURGE, which was released back in 1993. This version, (see images below), was up for bid as a sealed-in-plastic package, minus the tour equipment transport box version. This package included three sealed VHS videos, a tour program, a copy of an access pass to the Snakepit portion of the stage and a cardboard stencil of the scary guy image on the packaging. I just couldn’t resist my Metal self… therefore… I placed one solid bid on this Metallica bounty. A bid of $3 meager dollars was already put down on this Metallihistory. I grinned upon seeing the other lone and miniscule bid… $20 bucks I wrote down along with my “official” bidders number, too late to recant now… Metal game on.
Did I bid too low? Did I bid too high? The ever antagonistic, self doubting thoughts, seemed to envelope my mind like a cornerback blitz from the Philadelphia Eagles defense. I never owned this piece of Metallica Thrash Metal before… as astonishing as that may seem. Back in 1993, I was very, very, broke… and broke again. My Metal buying habits came very close to a standstill for a few years, back in the early ’90’s. Metal truth be told, I usually get outbid on these silent auctions… I tend to bid low… or so it seems. Approaching a silent auction or any auction for that matter, needs to be done with an open mind… and NOT an open checkbook!
As the days went by, I checked in on my $20 bid on this Metallica item… I was the highest bidder up until the closing yell of – “bidders, put your pens down!”. I was semi-psyched upon learning that the winner for this Metallica lot was me. Why was I semi-psyched? Heck, I always want stuff cheap… real cheap. Free is even better. Regardless, I picked up this now vintage Metallica lot from the antique mall a few days after the auctions close and was Metal smitten about it too. The tour program is worth the $20 bucks alone, in my Metal opinion. This program is chock full of incredibly cool tour photos of Metallica, with reprinted correspondence/letters that have to do with all things Metallica… it’s Metal history. Metallica history is a good thing to feed the Metal mind with.
So, after 18 years of not having LIVE SH*T: BINGE & PURGE in my Metal collection, I finally landed it through a silent auction at an antique mall. Metal be damned, if someone told me back in 1993, that I would one day, 18 years later, win this Metallica package at an antique mall’s silent auction… I would have told that person to go suck an expired egg. Rest assured, I am regularly checking out this silent auction… one of these days I will land the big Metal fish… and you will all know about it on Metal Odyssey.
Here is the copy of an access pass to the Snakepit:
Here are the 3 VHS videos that are still sealed. Don’t worry, I am going to watch them… I still own a, (gulp), VCR. The tour program is also shown at the bottom of this pic.
At the end of the Metal day, I’m pleased to have bid the $20 bucks for this Metallica booty. I still would like to get my hands on the tour equipment transport box version too someday… it has the 3 CD’s as a Metal bonus. I’m not complaining though, I feel fortunate that I have the few extra bucks to spend now, compared to my financial situation back in 1993. Plus I’m just enjoying collecting Metal and Metallica.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
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