Keen interest in rare ABBA memorabilia at Swedish auction

An online auction of ABBA memorabilia to be held this weekend, including two rare recordings, has attracted keen interest from fans, a Swedish auction house said today.
Some 25,000 items from the legendary Swedish pop group being sold by a collector are expected to fetch some 830,000 kronor (USD 123,000).
"Interest in the auction has been huge since we announced it in late June," Stockholms Auktionsverk curator Beata af Donner said.
But the viewing of objects has not attracted many visitors in person.
"We don't have any numbers for how many visitors" have come to look at the objects in person, she said, standing in front of the display cases in a showroom devoid of visitors on Thursday.

"People look (at the items) on Internet, some potential buyers don't come but rather ask for information, they call and take a chance by placing a bid ... We have a fair amount of tourists (who visit in person) also," she said.

Among the rarities to go under the hammer are two maxi singles that ABBA recorded in Swedish but never released commercially: "Hovas Vittne", made for their manager Stig Anderson's 50th birthday party in 1981, of which there exist around 200 copies; and "Saang till Goerel", a song recorded for their record company assistant Goerel Hanser's 30th birthday in 1979, of which there are only some 50 copies.

Other items up for sale include unusual merchandise from around the world, such as ABBA clogs made exclusively for the American market, rare ABBA soaps and dolls, a large collection of clippings and books, and original posters.
The auction will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with bidding on the final object scheduled for Sunday until 2100 GMT.
The items are being sold by Thomas Nordin, a 48-year-old ABBA fan who has been collecting the objects since 1974 when he was nine.
"My collection fit into 37 moving boxes, I'm almost 50 and it's time for me to move on. I can't have ABBA around me my whole life," he told AFP with a laugh.

"When they came to pick up the boxes, I wasn't even sad," he added.
The sale comes three months after the much-hyped opening in Stockholm of an ABBA museum.
The ABBA museum may bid on selected items, but is not interested in buying the entire collection, Nordin said.