Iconic Horror Prop Set To Shine In Scotland’s Largest Pop Culture Auction

An original prop axe from iconic horror movie The Shining, Bob Dylan’s stage used guitar, and rare Beatles archives will headline a landmark pop culture auction in our Glasgow galleries next month.

McTear’s is set to host the largest entertainment memorabilia sale ever staged in Scotland on 3^rd June, bringing together an extraordinary collection of film, music, television and pop culture artefacts spanning more than six decades of global entertainment history.

Among the headline items are an original special effects axe created for Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece The Shining – complete with blood stains from the movie - which has an estimate of £50,000 to £100,000, and a stage-used guitar personally owned and played by Bob Dylan during his 1984 UK and European tour with Carlos Santana, which is estimated at £30,000 to £60,000.  

A remarkable archive of Beatles reel-to-reel tapes and recording equipment linked to the band’s first historic visit to the United States in 1964, could fetch tens of thousands of pounds, while an RIAA Gold Record award presented directly to Ozzy Osbourne for Black Sabbath’s seminal album Master of Reality has an estimate of £5,000 to £10,000.

The auction will also feature one of the rarest Beatles vinyl groupings ever to come to market.  The collection of three consecutively numbered early White Album pressings numbered 007, 008 and 009 has an estimate of £40,000 to £80,000. 

Additional highlights include original James Bond posters and props, Batman Dark Knight stunt batarangs, vintage Pokémon cards, first appearance Marvel and DC comic books, David Bowie design collaborations, Oasis memorabilia, Joy Division and Factory Records rarities, and Scottish music history connected to Glasgow’s legendary Apollo Theatre.

Auction organisers say the scale and international importance of the sale marks a major moment for Scotland’s growing profile within the global entertainment memorabilia market.

Our film and pop culture specialist, Sean Bruce Gillies, said: “This is without question one of the most important and wide ranging entertainment memorabilia sales ever held in Scotland. The auction brings together culturally significant material from across music, cinema, television, comics and popular culture, with many items carrying extraordinary provenance and historical importance.

“What makes the sale particularly exciting is the breadth of material on offer, from Beatles history and Bob Dylan’s touring equipment to iconic horror cinema props and rare comic book first appearances. It is a sale with genuine international appeal, but also one with strong Scottish connections throughout.”

One of the most anticipated items in the auction is the original special effects axe used during the filming of The Shining’s famous Hallorann death scene. According to production history, only three of the specially engineered axes were created for the film, with this example believed to be the only privately held specimen known to exist.

Music collectors are also expected to show strong interest in the Bob Dylan Takamine electro-acoustic guitar, personally owned and stage used by Dylan before being gifted to his guitar technician Cesar Diaz. The instrument represents an important period in Dylan’s evolving live sound during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Beatles archive featured in the sale includes 64 original reel-to-reel tapes recorded by American journalist Ed Rudy during the band’s groundbreaking first US tour, alongside the original recording devices and microphones used to capture interviews with the group during the height of Beatlemania.

Further music highlights include memorabilia connected to Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Queen, The Smiths, Joy Division, Oasis, U2, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles.

The Music, Film/TV & Pop Culture Auction will take place at our Glasgow galleries on 3 June 2026. 

For a complimentary, no-obligation valuation, visit our Glasgow Galleries or contact a specialist on 0141 810 2880 or [email protected].