Madonna, just as famous for her award-winning music as for breaking boundaries in fashion, film, and celebrity, has been a fixture in pop culture memory for decades. In just the same way that she seems to reinvent herself every few years, so too has Madonna memorabilia captured new audiences and accrued higher and higher prices over time. In fact, dedicated Madonna fans are still willing to pay thousands of dollars to own something that's directly connected to the platinum blonde - no matter how trivial that thing is, 30+ years after her biggest successes. So, you might want to check your parents' box of old concert tickets and their closets for tour t-shirts, because Madonna fans aren't going anywhere, anytime soon.
Most Valuable Madonna Memorabilia
Ever since she simultaneously electrified and shocked audiences with her sexually-charged performance of Like a Virgin at the 1984 MTV VMAs, Madonna has been a household name, and her fans aren't afraid of showing their love. In fact, they're more than happy to extoll their love for her by putting their money where their mouths are and shelling out thousands of dollars for unique and rare pieces of Madonna memorabilia. These are just a few examples of Madonna's most expensive memorabilia that's ever sold.
- 1986 Print of Madonna's True Blue covershoot - Estimated worth of $10,000-$15,000
- MTV VMAs performance white pumps worn by Madonna - Sold for $10,249
- Dress worn by Madonna in Evita- Sold for $22,500
- Print of Madonna's nude photoshoot for Playboy - Sold for $37,500
- Bettina Reims photograph of Madonna in 1994 - Sold for $38,203
- Duo of Jean Paul Gaultier's Blonde Ambition Tour cone bras - Sold for $77,000
Types of Madonna Memorabilia That You Can Collect
You don't have to have every one of her songs memorized to want to own a Madonna collectible, and there're a ton of low-cost vintage items out there for you to add to your collection. Given the music star's penchant for fashion, so much of her memorabilia is wearable, making it the perfect type of collectible for someone who isn't interested in conventional collecting and wants to get some mileage out of their purchases. Some of the memorabilia that you can find the easiest - and in the greatest abundance - online and in stores include:
- Ticket stubs
- Tour t-shirts and apparel
- Buttons and pins
- Albums and vinyls
- Posters
- Magazines
- Concert programs
Signed Madonna Memorabilia
When it comes to Madonna memorabilia, the most valuable kinds, coming just behind items actually owned by or worn by her, are items that she signed. This can be practically anything, though rare or commemorative items will always be worth the most thanks to how few of them there are. Similarly, authenticated signatures will bring in more money than those without authentication paperwork. However, Madonna wasn't shy about tossing her John Hancock onto whatever item a fan might've thrown her way, meaning that there're a lot of different kinds of things you can find that've been signed by Madonna.
Unfortunately, since Madonna was a megastar at the height of her career and has since slipped into music legend status in the 2010s, items with her signature can sell for a couple hundred dollars at the very least to thousands of dollars at the most. Here are a few of these signed collectibles that've recently been put to auction:
- BAS Certified MTV bra signed by Madonna - Listed for $5,506.99
- Signed Pink Acoustic Guitar - Listed for $7,272.99
- 1990 Madonna Blonde Ambition signed basque bodice - Listed for $9,570.80
Places to Find Madonna Collectibles
Of course, Madonna didn't drop off the face of the Earth after the peak of her popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, and there're still a ton of collectibles being released every year that you can be on the look out for. Aside from browsing through the random wares are your local consignment store or vintage shop, these are a few of the best places to find Madonna memorabilia online.
- The Madonna Store - The Madonna store is Madonna's licensed online store that carries all things Madonna. They have an incredible selection of things you can purchase like DVDS, tour books, and apparel, but their store is focused solely on modern collectibles.
- eBay - One of the easiest places online to find unique Madonna collectibles is eBay. However, with any superstar's merchandise, it's incredibly easy to falsify a listing as being rarer than it really is. Therefore, you want to make sure to check each listing for proper certification if you're purchasing items with her signature or from her personal collection to ensure that you're not being scammed.
- Etsy - Etsy is another online retailer you can check out for Madonna memorabilia and is particularly unique for the way that its inventory spans both modern and vintage collectibles, and has a huge range of prices as well.
Be Your Own Lucky Star
So long as you have a little bit of patience and a love for the Material Girl, you can be your own lucky star and collect some of the coolest Madonna memorabilia out there. You can ration out your collecting fund on rare ticket stubs to add to your book of ephemera or spend it all on just a single item that she personally wore. Either way, with the pop culture resurgence in all things vintage, Madonna memorabilia is just as cool now as it was thirty years ago.
