The world’s largest private collection of James Bond memorabilia is being sold for £250,000 by a 007 fanatic.
Since 2014, Nick Bennett holds the Guinness Book of Records title for the largest James Bond collection, with over 12,000 unique items.
The 57-year-old began his collection in the 1990s – during the Pierce Brosnan ‘Goldeneye’ era – and has built up an impressive array of 007-related toys, posters, shop displays, props, books and arcade games.
Mr Bennett, from Leigh in Greater Manchester, even owns a Bond speedboat which was used in cinemas in 1973 to promote Live and Let Die.
His collection is now so large that he is currently forced to rent a warehouse on an industrial estate to store it.
Nick Bennett, 57, (pictured) holds the Guinness world record for the world’s largest James Bond collection
The businessman now has such a large collection of James Bond memorabilia that he is forced to store it in a warehouse. This poster collection is expected to sell for £3,000
Nick Bennett is going to sell his collection of memorabilia at auction for £250,000. His collection of paperbacks is expected to sell for £3,000
Nick Bennett started collecting James Bond memorabilia in the 1990s, during the Goldeneye era
But he has now decided to auction the huge collection to Omega Auctions of Merseyside, who are calling it an ‘unprecedented’ auction.
Mr. Bennett has been a fan of the world’s most famous spy ever since his parents took him to see Live and Let Die at the cinema at the age of seven.
The businessman started collecting in the 1990s and quickly amassed a huge amount of Bond-related items. He traveled all over the world meeting other collectors and buying pieces he didn’t have.
But he says he doesn’t watch the movies often, doesn’t go to fan events, and doesn’t show his collection to friends and family, just collecting the memorabilia in front of his eyes.
He said, “I had a friend who collected Batman and I was so impressed with his single subject collection that I thought I’d like to do that too. I had already collected toys and I had a few James Bond ones so decided to go for that.
“I had a toy company, so I bought entire collections, took out what I wanted and needed for my collection, and sold the rest. I traveled to the United States and drove through parts of Europe.
His collection has built up an impressive range of items over the decades, including this ‘You Only Live Twice’ advertising sign which is expected to retail for £600.
Nick Bennett’s ‘You Only Live Twice’ poster is expected to raise £1,200
This copy of the first edition of Casino Royale is expected to retail for £3,000
Nick Bennet’s first edition of Casino Royale is expected to sell for £3,000
“I wanted to know how I compared myself to other people, so I contacted Guinness and they gave me a number of what they thought I needed to have the record, which was 10,000 unique items, and I thought I sure could do.
“I hadn’t counted mine, I had it everywhere: offices, garages. As soon as one place was full, I closed the door and went to the next.
“I bought a warehouse and started putting everything together and I had almost 13,000 unique items.
‘I’ve gotten smaller now.
“I don’t own any James Bond, I don’t do fan clubs and I don’t particularly watch the movies. I don’t discuss it with my friends and no one comes to look at the collection, it is my private collection.
‘But now I’ve sold my company and it’s time to move on. Life is about collecting stories. I am a man who loves and loved to put together his collection, but now realizes it’s time.
“Over 30 years of collecting and now these items will find a new home for the world’s greatest spy.”
Omega Auctions believes it would take at least ten auctions to sell the entire collection.
This dr. No six-sheet US poster from 1962 is expected to sell for £1,500
This double bill poster of The Spy Who Loved Me/Live and Let Die is expected to fetch £300
This A View To A Kill, 1985, ‘Marley Hayley’ Poster Set is expected to sell for £2,500
The first sale of the collection will begin on September 26 with more than 300 lots, including rare posters and first edition books, expected to fetch more than £70,000.
The best lots include a full set of first edition Pan paperbacks, estimated to be worth £3,000, an original US poster of Dr. No, which is expected to fetch £1,500, and a UK first edition of Casino Royale from 1953, which is worth around £3,000.
Auction Manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: ‘It is a real honor for us to have the opportunity to work with Nick on a collection of this significance.
His collection is truly breathtaking. It’s so impressive and it took him a long time to put it together.
“Some items are incredible and extremely rare, especially some of the toys. It will certainly be a process that goes through everything.
“We are seeing a marked uptick in sales and general interest in James Bond memorabilia and collectibles, especially first edition posters and books, so I think that while it has been a difficult decision for Nick to step down of the collection, it’s as good a time as ever to do just that.
‘We don’t yet know how many sales we need to work through the entire collection, probably about ten, but to offer this kind of quantity to the market is certainly unprecedented.’