The BBC is auctioning off a wealth of rare vinyl records, vintage music gear and BBC memorabilia later this month.

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Thousands of BBC archival items, from rare vinyl records to hard-to-find vintage recording equipment and one-of-a-kind BBC memorabilia are included in the ‘BBC Collection’ auction, which takes place online on 30 January.

Omega Auctions, with access to the BBC archives, is making online sales possible, with the first wave of these auction items currently online and ready for bidding.

In terms of gear and memorabilia, there’s an original 1970s ‘On Air’ lightbox, a 1930s BBC stopwatch, a neon sign, an original BBC used panel board from a ‘Type B’ broadcasting console, a vintage STC 4038 microphone, a mid-century Saba Lindau radio and loads more.

The majority of the auction, however, is made up of rare LPs from one of the world’s premier music archives. According to Omega Auctions, items primarily consist of duplicate copies of LPs, in an effort by the BBC to make more space available in its offices.

Among the highlights available for bidding are a Pink Floyd rarities LP pack, The Beatles’ Please Please Me LP pressings pack, an SST Records LP Collection with Black Flag, Husker Dü, and Minutemen pressings, an original David Bowie self-titled LP, and an original pressing of The Man Who Sold The World with the UK ‘Tonny’ original sleeve dress.

This isn’t the first batch of BBC history to have been sold recently. In August last year, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, along with Love Actually and Cats producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, became co-owner of the historic BBC Maida Vale studios.

Upon the sale, Zimmer insisted that he wants Maida Vale to continue to be “a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity, and gives the next generation the same opportunities I was given: to create and to never give up”.

The auction of BBC archive items will take place on 30 January. You can check out items and even sign up to bid via bid.omegaauctions.co.uk.

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