Reasons to Build a Time-Traveling DeLorean: The History of Ten Club Poster Sales

If you're a Pearl Jam geek, you've saved every bit of mail that Pearl Jam and the Ten Club has sent you. If you're a borderline obsessive, ultra-extreme geek – like me – you use those mailings to piece together a brief history of Ten Club poster sales. Warning: the following may cause severe regret.

1996: Issue #9

As Issue #7 marked the beginning of my Ten Club membership, I cannot speak to the availability of posters prior to this (Winter 1994?) issue. Other than the outside chance the 1992 Alive poster was available from the 10c, I don't believe any posters would have been for sale prior to this time. Issues #7 and #8 make no mention of posters so with Issue #9 (left, received early 1996), we see our first opportunity to purchase the 1995 Salt Lake and San Diego posters. The description reads:

“LIMITED EDITION POSTERS – From Salt Lake show with Seattle's own Fastbacks and legendary San Diego show with the Ramones. These 21x33” silk-screened pieces of history can be yours, so don't hesitate. Only 1000 in existence.”

Each was listed at $13, and at the time shipping was included for all US orders.

1996: Show handout

Later that year, I was fortunate enough to attend the Buffalo, NY show. At the merch table, the flyer to the right was available, advertising an assorted bag of PJ goods – “Just what the Doctor Ordered”. Interestingly, only the 1995 San Francisco and New Orleans are offered, at $13/each. Contrary to the other similar “snakeman” prints, San Francisco is listed as having a run of 1200. Text reads:

“#11a LIMITED EDITION SILK-SCREENED POSTER. From San Francisco show with Bad Religion and Neil Young. 4 color print. 1 of 1200 posters printed on the finest Italian paper, micropulverized for quality!

#11b LIMITED EDITION SILK-SCREENED POSTER. From New Orleans show. 4 new colors. Highlight any wall or door with this attractive piece of history!”

1997: Blow-out postcard

The postcard at the left was likely received by 10c members in the spring of 1997. It may have been enclosed with Issue #11 (below) because it displays the Vitalogy Health Club logo on the top right – which I believe made its debut with Issue #11. Regardless, it offers for $10/each, the 1995 San Diego, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans “snakeman” posters. In addition we see for the first time the 1993 Fall Tour poster, (incorrectly offered as the “92 European Tour Poster”), for $5. This postcard also marked the first time the Ten Club charged shipping for US orders.

1997: Issue #11

The goods section of Issue #10 contained no posters for purchase. Issue #11, postmarked 7/3/97, introduces 10c members to the “Vitalogy Health Club” and also gave us the opportunity to purchase a handful of the 1996 No Code Tour prints. For $12/each, the following prints were available:

Seattle, Washington, Hartford, New York, Ft. Lauderdale, Berlin, Spain, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Portugal, London, Rome/Milan, Hamburg, Istanbul and Ireland.

1998: Issue #12 and the renewal notice

Mailed in March 1998, Issue #12 offered a more limited supply of 1996 prints, but brought back the Fall Tour 1993 poster (still labeled “European Tour”), 1995 New Orleans, San Diego and Salt Lake posters, and debuted the 1997 Oakland (elephant) print.

Prices were as follows:

• $5 – 1993 Fall Tour
• $10/each – 1995 New Orleans, San Diego, Salt Lake City
• $12/each – 1996 Hartford, Ft. Lauderdale, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, Portugal, London, Rome/Milan, Hamburg, Istanbul, Ireland

The membership renewal notice (mailed early/mid 98?) offered the same selection as Issue #12, with the exception of Hartford '96, which had apparently sold out.

Fall 1998: Issue #13

Mailed in Fall 1998, issue #13 provides perhaps the largest selection of PJ prints of any newsletter. Several tours are represented, with the 1998 prints pictured in full color. The 1993 Fall Tour poster is for the first time correctly labeled “US Tour 93”, and is actually now priced $3 higher, at $8. The 1995 New Orleans, San Diego and Salt Lake City and remaining 1996 and 1997 tour prints are discounted to $8/each! Breakdown is as follows:

• $8/each – 1993 Fall Tour, 1995 New Orleans, San Diego, Salt Lake City, 1996 Hamburg, Istanbul, London, Paris, 1997 Oakland
• $16/each – 1998 Vancouver, Virginia Beach, Montreal/Toronto, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Rushmore, Salt Lake City

Kicking yourself yet?

1999: The end of newsletter poster sales

The 1999 membership renewal notice (I received mine in April) proves that the 10c had by this time sold out of most 1996-1998 posters, with the exception of 5: Salt Lake City, VA Beach, New Zealand, Los Angeles, and the 1998 North American Tour poster. Each was still available for $12.

Newsletter #14 was received around this same time, and contained the same selection as the renewal notice, with the exception of the NA Tour print. Salt Lake City, VA Beach, New Zealand and Los Angeles were still available for $12/each.

Issue #15 contains a single poster for sale – the NA Tour print that for some reason was not available in #14. Priced at $12, it marks the end of limited edition prints being sold through 10c newsletters.

It is, however, interesting to note that some of the 1995 posters were still available at this time via the newly born Tenclub.net. These remaining prints were available in the “Goods” section of the site for several months, at $8/each.

Afterword

The information above was pieced together from my personal PJ collection, as well as memories from my feeble little brain. I believe most of it is accurate, but I welcome any comments, corrections, or questions you may have. In addition, I would be very interested to hear if any posters were available via the 10c prior to 1994.

And while I have you here, I'd like to bring something to your attention. As early/late as 4/1/98, you could have ordered the 1996 Istanbul poster for $12 + $3 shipping in the US. On this same date, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10,734.97. On 10/21/06, the Dow closed at 12,002.37 – an adjusted increase of 12% over that period. As of the same date, the Istanbul poster has a 6-month average selling price of $709.75. That's an increase of 4632%. Is poster collecting only about money? Of course not… but stocks aren't nearly as fun, are they?