I started this trading site with the sole intention of amassing one of the largest Helloween bootleg collections on the net. I am about two-thirds of the way there, and one of the reasons is because I have taken great care to keep my list free of mp3-sourced material. It's more important to me that I offer the BEST bootlegs rather than the most bootlegs. Quality, not quantity, is what counts!!! Not to mention, some of the shows that are known to exist are currently not even in circulation (Gang '86, Berlin '87, Manchester '88, etc, etc, etc).
A massive thank you goes out to Alex De La Cuesta for partnering with me to expand our Helloween collections and provide the Helloween trading community with information about this incredible band. Another massive thank you goes out to Jason Feltner (the BEST U.S. trader and a master audio-editor) for providing me ample opportunity to obtain the rare and incredible shows in his list. Last, but certainly not least, my other great traders and new friends Ken Wirantana, Ainhoa Gutierrez, Jakob Kouznetsov (thanks for the great advice!!) and Jaroslaw Nowakowski (FINALLY another "dedicated to Helloween" bootleg trader who offers quality material!)
Much of my non-metal collection is made up of bootlegs that my brother, a retired trader, collected over 3-4 years. The first bootleg I ever got was Helloween - Pumpkin Fly Free Tour '89. I bought it on eBay about 4 years ago not knowing what a bootleg was. I THOUGHT IT WAS AN OFFICIAL RELEASE! To my surprise, the quality was nothing like I Want Out: Live. Angry, and feeling like I was ripped off, I never bought, or even thought about, bootlegs again.
My brother gave me some bootlegs one day as a gift, but the thought of bootlegs reminded me of my past experience and I didn't even listen to them until a month or so before I opened this site (Sorry, Dan!). When I listened to them, the quality amazed me and I decided that I was going to see if there were similar quality Helloween bootlegs in existence. To my surprise, there were more than I thought! So, in 2004 I decided to make my first website and make Helloween bootlegs my top priority.
As I opened this site, I sent out many emails asking other traders for help. I received one reply from a trader in Brazil: Leo Ziemer. I must have contacted at least twenty people. How pathetic! I'm still in shock at how unwilling people are to help a newbie trader get started. Anyway, I never considered asking my brother for some of his bootlegs, because they are mostly non-metal. I never thought that Helloween fans might also listen to The Black Crowes or Radiohead, but I was wrong. So, I am busy picking up where my brother left off and making sure that his trading legacy lives on. A big THANK YOU goes out to my brother for turning this pathetic 4-bootleg-site into something half-way decent. Another big thank you also goes out to Ingo-Fly-Free from the Helloween message boards for sending me some of his Helloween bootlegs...even though I have better versions of them now...hehehe...(just ask...I'll send them to you if you want).
Well, if you have read this far, you are very patient. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope to do a trade with you, whoever you are, soon.