Original 1964 UK Gonks Ltd Beat Gonk, large size (approx 11" x 10") made with the approval of and under a licence granted in November 1963 by NEMS Enterprises Ltd, the Beatles' management company. Still has the original Gonks Ltd label. More details below.

Condition: Very good. If you look closely, you can see that the white felt background of his face is wearing thin in places, but there are no holes or tears. And it's unusually clean for 60-year old white felt. There is some glue residue around his left eye (see pic 10), as is common: the flet features were glued in place. The back seam has been unpicked for a little extra stuffing to be added at some point. Again not untypical: the original stuffing tended to flatten out pretty quickly.

International postage quoted is for USA & Australia. For Europe it would be £18. Other territories also differ. Either ask for a revised invoice if you win or pay the full amount and I'll refund any significant overpayment when I mail the item. If I occasionally forget... remind me!

These charges reflect the actual cost of sending the item tracked and insured to starting price value. 

Details:

You'll see a lot of items on eBay described as 'gonks', most of which aren't. Gonk was a trademark belonging to Gonks Ltd of London and only applied to the items made by and with permission of that company from April 1964. Gonks were egg-shaped stuffed fabric mascot figures aimed at teenagers, and came in three different sizes, from large cushions - like this one - to small desktop ornaments around 4 inches tall.

In November 1963, while Gonks were still in the development stage, Gonks Ltd got a licence from NEMS Enterprises Ltd allowing them to make a Beatles Gonk. Designer Robert Benson came up with this Pop Art caricature of Paul McCartney mid-yeah, yeah, yeah!

Gonks were made largely of felt, a fragile material given to tearing and wearing through, and the eyes and other features were stuck on by hand with glue. That explains why so few of the larger Gonks have survived intact. Large Beat Gonks are particularly hard to find.

Pic 11 shows two Beat Gonks at the 1964 London Hilton promotional launch, pic 12 has one being offered by Santa Sid James on behalf of the Variety Club of Great Britain. There were six Gonks in the range, and before long they were turning up everywhere: Upside Down Gonk on the cover of Honey fashion magazine (pic 13) and again with Fred Gonk on the cover of the Mod's Monthly magazine (pic 14) while a mini Fred Gonk posed on George Harrison's shoulder in Fabulous pop magazine (pic 15). (Pics 11-15 are included for information only and are not part of this auction.)

See my other items for both a large and a mini Fred Gonk. I try to list vintage collectable figures and memorabilia every week or two, so if you're a collector why not add me to your saved sellers list?