IMHO, this is without a doubt one of the most collectible and hardest to come by Front 242 items: the Front 242 armband! Back in the day, before Transmission 242 there was the 242 Propaganda Unit. This was one of the "Propaganda Supports." You can see 242 sporting this armband on the Official Warfare Tour and in videos. The armband was offered for sale in the Propaganda Unit catalogue (I will post this someday as well). The cost for the 242 Armband was 50 BF in Belgium, 70 BF in Europe, and 100 BF in other countries (+ postage). Today, when they do come up for sale, expect to pay upwards of $200-$250 at times!
The armband is made of leather with beautiful "242" stitching and attaches to the arm with velcro. The Propaganda Unit logo is stamped inside and I believe they were numbered? This example happens to be #63.
Sporting this armband on the Official Warfare tour, with the black aviator shades and military garb and combat boots, 242 was quite the menacing "industrial noise terrorists" at the time!
Thank you very much for this post ! This armband is the 242 item that I have searched for years, and never found it ! I always wanted to see this armband in details, and now I can !
ReplyDeleteTransmission could re-release this item for sale today or put it in a pack with future re-re-re-releases from another CD. :-D SideLine and Alfa Matrix will appreciate this suggestion ! :-D
The Official Warfare "industrial noise terrorists" look is the most amazing that a band could put on stage. I remember that in 1988 I bought the glasses, the boots, militar clothes to imitate Jean-Luc. But I didn't find the armband and the Emulator that Patrick played.
Good times that passed away. Lucky are the people who have been there in the Official Warfare tour and could see the guys wearing this look on stage !
Stunning... This is truly an amazing object. I never knew this was available to fans at that time! 50 BEF is now... 1,25 euros.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, Charles!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehi , i was a member of 242 propoganda unit (witch was the first official fan club of 242, number 101 if I remember well) ; I ordered my armband in 1987, and unfortunatily it was out of stock; I received a portfolio in place of it ... The price was +- 500 BEF 12.50€
ReplyDelete