Collection Update - ABBA Dolls

After many of years hunting them down this week I managed to finally get a set of all four ABBA dolls in their original packaging.

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Metro Newspaper Mentions ABBA Auction

Today's edition on the Metro Newspaper in the UK mentioned the recent auction of ABBA memorabilia...

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ABBA Auction On Billboard.com

Billboard.com has an article mentioning the auction of ABBA memorabilia...

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Collection Update - Rice Krispies 7"

The latest 7" single I have added to my collection is ABBA's "In Have A Dream". This version was part of a promotion by Kellogg's Rice Krispies - from what I have read it looks like you had to collect tokens from the cereal boxes then send these off to receive the record.

From the writing on the record it was produced in 1984 and included the Shakin' Stevens "Oh Julie" (which had previously been a number 1 hit in the UK and Sweden) on the flip side.

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ABBA Magazine Number 33

Issue number 33 of the ABBA Magazine was published in March 1981 - not a huge amount of content in this issue - probably as all of the "Super Trouper" promotion work was complete by this point.

As with issue 32 the magazine is still trying to work out whether the next single will be "Happy New Year" (a few months too late!) or "On And On And On".

There are some interesting sales figures - in the UK on the Wednesday before Christmas the "Super Trouper" album sold 116,000 copies in a single day - pretty impressive !

Collection Update - "Fernando" Import Single

The most recent addition to my collection is a 7" single of ABBA's "Fernando" from Japan. As with other imports from Japan the cover is a double sided page (see the second picture below) with the single held in a separate blank cover.

On the back of the single cover the lyrics are produced including those for the b-side "Tropical Loveland" - in the bottom left hand corner there are also two adverts for ABBA albums.

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ABBA Magazine Number 32

Another look back at one of the ABBA Magazines - this time issue number 32 which was published in February 1981 and has a stunning picture of Agnetha on the cover from the Super Trouper photo shoots.

The initial news section ponders what single ABBA were planning to release after "Super Trouper" - in issue 30 they had predicted it would be "Happy New Year" however in this issue they were betting on "On And On And On" - of course in most countries this turned out to be "Lay All Your Love On Me".

The first main article discusses the plan which ABBA had in place for December 1980 where they were due to visit France, Germany and the UK to record various Christmas specials to promote the "Super Trouper" album. Due to a security threat these visits were cancelled at the last minute and instead a German film crew flew to Sweden to film ABBA's appearance on "Show Express" where they recorded six songs including "The Winner Takes It All", "Super Trouper" and "Me And I".

The magazine then goes on to document on a number of reports where individuals have been selling record company promotional singles at inflated prices - although as this was 1981 the writer expressed concern that no ABBA fan would pay £11 for a single.

The next article then provides a track by track review of the "Super Trouper" album which had been released a few months earlier. The review concludes that "On And On And On" is the catchiest song but that overall the album is much more low-key than "Voulez-Vous" with a focus on ballads.