These Boots...

[big screen satellite]

ok after Llyod's suggestion, i've come up with a plan...

as you may or may not know, i am bidding on these boots:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Underworld-charity-Dr-Martens_W0QQitemZ6274578847QQcategoryZ91341QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and Lloyd suggested that some people might wanna chip in to help me acquire them... so...

if anyone does want to chip in for these boots, then well...what i propose is this:

Whoever chips in some money, i'll send the boots in a platic display container, for a short period of time, you can then take a picture of you with them, and then post it on a dedicated website - which we can all view and that way we can all share in them...

a bit like the belly photos (and a bit like the old dirty box that went around)

after their World Tour they'd come back to this happy home...and be put on display (until such time that my museum opened)

what do you reckon ya or nay?

(i have a paypal account, and the money is going to charity anyway, so what i pay, providing i win, will benefit the National Aids Trust, NAT - i suggest £5 per person - but as i'm bidding anyway i'm open to offers - but if we can all help this charity out then thats even better is it not???)

i would like to win these, but i won't pay waaay to much on my own, i have some funds but if the auction gets silly then i won't go beyond my means!!!

let me know ya thoughts, this wasn't suggested by me, but i think its quite a good idea (obviously)

Matt

[lloyd]

I'm in, ofcourse.

[the mongoose]

that's kinda pathetic in a cute way.:p

[big screen satellite]

that's kinda pathetic in a cute way.:p

thanks, i think... ;)

[the mongoose]

I mean I didn't want to hurt your feelings but that's almost obsessive!:D

[mark3]

that's almost obsessive!:D
'Obsessive' doesn't really cover it :rolleyes: I think it's quite numberonesuperfanish. :)

[BeautifulBurnout]

I mean I didn't want to hurt your feelings but that's almost obsessive!:D

This is t3h Mattval we are talking about here - of course he is obsessive! :)

Count me in for a fiver too mate.

[Jason Roth]

This is like a crack addict saying, "Look. There's this new crack that i want to get. But it's really expensive. So could you all chip in? I promise, I'll let you look at it before i smoke it. Please? Hook me up?"

:p

[big screen satellite]

This is like a crack addict saying, "Look. There's this new crack that i want to get. But it's really expensive. So could you all chip in? I promise, I'll let you look at it before i smoke it. Please? Hook me up?"

:p


no its like me saying i'll let you smoke it as well, but i get to finish it off... :p

[potatobroth]

i was getting scared when i clicked the link, half expecting to see a $1500+ pricetag. its only £50. why on earth would people want to chip in so that you could keep them for that small a price?

other than that, the sending them around and takin pics idea is pretty cool. be neat to do that with a few things items, no?

[big screen satellite]

i was getting scared when i clicked the link, half expecting to see a $1500+ pricetag. its only £50. why on earth would people want to chip in so that you could keep them for that small a price?

other than that, the sending them around and takin pics idea is pretty cool. be neat to do that with a few things items, no?

yeah its £50 now, but there are nine days left... lets see how high it goes...

but either way i might send them on a Dirty World tour...

[lloyd]

'why on earth would people want to chip in so that you could keep them for that small a price?'

My idea was/is, when underworld construct a piece of art to be sold in an auction to raise money for a good cause, then we all can donate to it by chipping in or topping up Matts bid.

[ceramic'cow]

man, i hate to be cynical, but how do you now the money actuall *is* going to the NAT? i mean, i could sign up to ebay with the username "cancerresearchuk" or whatever and auction off any old shit i might find lying around, surely . . .

[froopy seal]

man, i hate to be cynical, but how do you now the money actuall *is* going to the NAT? http://www.dirty.org/forums/showpost.php?p=38645&postcount=391

http://www.nat.org.uk/page/1691

[big screen satellite]

man, i hate to be cynical, but how do you now the money actuall *is* going to the NAT? i mean, i could sign up to ebay with the username "cancerresearchuk" or whatever and auction off any old shit i might find lying around, surely . . .

beacuse on the the official NAT website they state that an auction is up and running as from yesterday...i was too sceptical but i checked it out...

as stated here:

http://www.nat.org.uk/page/1691

i agree that the auction looks suspect and i indeed dismissed it,

and i quote "no fucking way",

mainly because of the lack of design and craft to the auction page, but it does indeed appear to be quite genuine...and after looking into it i decided to bid...

[TheBang]

So, as I understand it, this is a one-of-a-kind item?

[Malt Refund]

Absolutely not, I have the exact same pair and am wearing them now.

[TheBang]

Do you ever accidentally step on the action figure guy? :eek:

[lloyd]

Read todays UWlive :eek:
And there we are, trying to be social :(

[big screen satellite]

bid being retracted :mad:

i was certain that KH wouldn't do something this bad - but when i went to check it out it did seem genuine... but obviously this is a scamster of major proportions, i didn't like to say but the designer boots by other artists looked very dodgy too....

very mad at this...especially after initially dissing them as crap - now i know they are

thanks for KH for letting me know in time....

[King of Snake]

seeing that auction, i would have been VERY sceptical about it from the start. But that's just me talking after the fact of course ;)

[big screen satellite]

i have more news....on these 'GENUINE' boots...

my bid is being maintained....

details following shortly....

[big screen satellite]

ok then this is the reply i got back from the guy running the auction:

Dear Matt,

To give you a bit of background on the boots - they were part of a joint venture between Doc Martens Airwair and the National AIDS Trust (NAT), which took place between 1998 and the present day. They were done to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in the UK. Doc Martens handled all the celebrity side of the project, including approaching celebrities and asking them to customise a pair of boots. The boots were then donated to NAT, and we are now giving people the opportunity to buy the boots on Ebay while at the same time raising money for the important work we do.

Sadly, Doc Marten's legal department have misplaced all the certificates of authenticity. However, I can assure you that the boots were genuinely signed by Underworld. Since then, they have been displayed at the opening of the new Doc Marten store in The Triangle in Manchester and in a museum in Northampton (the home of Doc Martens in the UK). I have included a photo of the Underworld boots from the time they were first displayed in 1998 at the DM store in Covent Garden.

I also have a press cutting from 1998 which details Underworld's participation in the project, in which band members give some explanations of why they decorated the boots in the way they did - mainly the boots are decorated with allusions to lyrics in "Born Slippy". It seems that the local press, particularly around the Romford area where the band are from, were very interested in the story, and this cutting ran in several local newspapers between 2 and 4 December 1998. I have sent you the cutting if you would like to see it. I have also sent you the official press release from DM - if you look down the list of celebrities involved, you will see Underworld mentioned.

see cuttings via links below

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/Mattval1/Ben-press-cutting1web.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/Mattval1/Ben-press-cutting2web.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i295/Mattval1/Steve1.jpg


it appears that Darren Emmerson may have been the instigator in 'designing' these boots rather than R&K, but nonetheless at the time he was in Underworld and these are the genuine artile after all, so i am maintaining my bid, on these Underworld Designed boots...

Matt

[Stephen]

"Three cans of lager were tied to the back of the boots, which had been painted white to represent 'mega mega white things'"

No they're fucking not.

[holden]

Not too interested in this sort of item, but i finally had a look for myself, esp. after Karl writing today that he's never seen the things...

Sorry, but those boots are tacky as hell. Save your dough for something you can use or at least enjoy looking at, imho!:p

[potatobroth]

'why on earth would people want to chip in so that you could keep them for that small a price?'

My idea was/is, when underworld construct a piece of art to be sold in an auction to raise money for a good cause, then we all can donate to it by chipping in or topping up Matts bid.

oh, THAT IS a cool idea, lloyd, and id be totally down for that.

but helping someone buy an item for their collection is kinda weird.

[stimpee]

oh, THAT IS a cool idea, lloyd, and id be totally down for that.

but helping someone buy an item for their collection is kinda weird.i thought potatobroth would be complaining that there was only a limited amount of these boots and that they should be available via underworldlive.com ;)

[BeautifulBurnout]

Matt

Great minds think alike ;)

I too emailed the Fundraiser from the NAT charity to find out what his take was on this and got an almost identical reply. Makes me feel a bit better to say the least, as i was the one inferring that this was a pukka deal.

Anyway, I'm still in.

[potatobroth]

i thought potatobroth would be complaining that there was only a limited amount of these boots and that they should be available via underworldlive.com ;)

:D

at least the laces should be >:|

[TheBang]

Yup, I contacted the seller also, and got pretty much the same reply as you guys. He stated that he would like to get in touch with Underworld to sort it out, so I pointed him in the direction of some of the e-mails listed on underworldlive.com.

[lloyd]

oh, THAT IS a cool idea, lloyd, and id be totally down for that.

but helping someone buy an item for their collection is kinda weird.

Yeah ok, but since it's for charity and there's only one item and we have a numberonesupercollectorbuyingitall-withtheintentiontobuildamuseum etc etc..
I admit my/our explenation of what was the intention could have been a little more informing I guess

[patrick]

i don't like the look of these, but i think the idea that buying stuff for charaties is a good idea!

[Malt Refund]

Tell him to just post on here, they're reading and are just as interested in the origin of these boots as we are. ^__^

[big screen satellite]

well

i won these boots...

£50 - which was the only bid...and well i expected to pay more...

but it looks like most of the other auctions didn't go that well...still i've raised £50 for the charity...which kinda makes me feel better for parting with the cash too...anyway - as they finished relatively cheaply - i think i can safely say that i can cover the cost of these, but thanks Lloyd and some others for the offer...

still when i get them i'll take some nice pics and post them up for you - i'll try and get the authenticity sent with these...also waiting to hear back from Darren re- his involvement in these...

anyhow - in terms of my collection of UW stuff this is another 'unique one off' item, rather than the run of the mill stuff such as a 3 x CD set from Japan ;)

[TheBang]

congrats! :)

[froopy seal]

anyhow - in terms of my collection of UW stuff this is another 'unique one off' item, rather than the run of the mill stuff such as a 3 x CD set from Japan ;) True, it's far too common to be anything special. I dropped mine into the bin. *heavily nods to Rez (live from Tokyo 2005)*