The British record collector magazine Record Collector has published several Top 20 to 100 “Worldwide Rarities” lists throughout the years for Queen and solo releases. The ones published between 1998 and 2000 can be found here. Some more lists have been published throughout the years with the last notable one being from 2021, but all were arguably incomplete. The collectors market changes on a regular basis. New items are being discovered every few months or years. Rare items are suddenly not so rare anymore because old warehouse stock was found or interest in a particular artist or release has increased or decreased, changing demand and thus an item’s value.
A small group of Queen collectors came up with the idea to compile a new contemporary list, covering not just Queen, but also the solo releases. Each list will be a Top 100 to ensure that as many releases will be covered as possible. To avoid the fact that many lists will be dominated by obscure one-off releases or test pressings, two main categories are introduced:
- General public releases: these include music formats which could be purchased in a shop, were handed out to radio stations or where released but then withdrawn again
- Non-general public releases: as expected, this one covers anything that was not made for the record buying audience. These include test pressings, acetates, special executive and non-public event releases and anything rumoured
Each of these two categories apply to every artist or band (Queen, The Cross, Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor) and will cover 100 of the most rare and expensive releases up to the date of this publication. This approach thus means that you will get up to 200 releases per artist! The only exception is for John, since his solo output is so small.
The list
Some words about this list. The referenced values are all estimates and not written in stone. They are in most cases for (near) mint copies and based on (recent) sale values. Still, anyone can ask or pay for an item whatever he or she wants.
The title of a release in the list can be a link to a relevant page (i.e. Discogs or Popsike) with further details including images, catalogue number, label information etc. You may even stumble upon an opportunity to buy such an item!
The thumbnails are clickable to see a larger version of the artwork if needed, but please note that many images are sourced from various places across the internet. This means that the quality is not always that great.
Due to the band’s large output, it was decided to create multiple Top 100 lists. This page covers the Queen 10″ releases. Any disc that contains 10″ grooves is a candidate for this list. Unlike the other lists, this one only has entries for non-general public releases. Simply because Queen never released any commercial or promotional 10″ singles or albums.
As with the other lists, only official releases will be included. This thus means that you will not find releases such as the unofficial 10″ acetates which contain supposed alternate radio versions. It is said that these were mainly created in South Africa by an unofficial source.
Non-General public releases
The below entries cover those releases which were not made available to the general public. These include test pressings, acetate discs, releases for special events, executive pressings and rumoured releases.
Unlike the other lists, only 17 different releases are known or documented at the time of writing. There are a few more 10″ discs, though they contain 7″ grooves and are thus considered 7″ releases, which can be found here.
| Details | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | 7.000 € | |
 | Hangman 197?, UK, Acetate (?, Misc) Rumoured, featuring a studio version running approx. 4:37 minutes, label is unknown but possibly Trident Studios |
|
| #2 | 6.000 € | |
 | My Fairy King / Liar / Keep Yourself Alive 1972, UK, Acetate (?, Misc) Expected to be single-sided, size is unknown but expected to be 10″, Trident Studios label, dated 13.6.72 |
|
| #3 | 1.700 € | |
 | Procession / Father To Son 197?, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Double-sided, with Procession on one side and Father To Son on the other, no labels though Trident is mentioned on a sticker |
|
| #4 | 1.500 € | |
 | Let The Race Begin 1976, South Africa, Acetate (10″, EP) Double-sided, contains 4 tracks, possibly made for a withdrawn promo or EP, possibly unofficial |
|
| #5 | 1.000 € | |
 | Son And Daughter 1973, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, with version from BBC July 1973 session, EMI label |
|
| #6 | 1.000 € | |
 | Son And Daughter 197?, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, expected to contain a song from a BBC session, EMI label |
|
| #7 | 800 € | |
 | The Invisible Man 1989, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios, expected to contain the 12″ extended version |
|
| #8 | 800 € | |
 | The Miracle 1989, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios, contains a 4:53 minutes version |
|
| #9 | 800 € | |
 | Bohemian Rhapsody 1991, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #10 | 800 € | |
 | Headlong 1991, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #11 | 800 € | |
 | I’m Going Slightly Mad 1991, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #12 | 800 € | |
 | The Show Must Go On 1991, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #13 | 800 € | |
 | A Kind Of Magic 19??, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #14 | 800 € | |
 | I Want It All 19??, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #15 | 800 € | |
 | One Vision 19??, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #16 | 800 € | |
 | Under Pressure 19??, UK, Acetate (10″, Single) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios |
|
| #17 | 800 € | |
 | We Are The Champions 199?, UK, Acetate (10″, Misc) Single-sided, Abbey Road Studios, possibly made in relation to the 1992 live single |
|
This already concludes the top rarities and collectables for 10″ releases by Queen. It is expected that there are still some gems hidden in someone’s collection or information has gone lost over the years. But anything that may pop up this year, may be a candidate for next year’s list in case we decide to revise this topic.
For an overview of all available lists, please refer to the main article.
This list was created with the valuable input from the following people: Remy Hunter, Ron Formela
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