Desperate buyers plaster Chelsea with Lambert magazine requests
CHELSEA — A desperate buyer has plastered Chelsea with posters urging people to sell him copies of this month's copy of an LGBT-interest magazine featuring a cover story on gay pop star Adam Lambert.
Lambert, a runner-up in the eighth season of American Idol, has sold millions of albums worldwide and was nominated for a Grammy last year for his single, "Whataya Want From Me."
The mysterious poster is offering $20 for each "new issue," and perplexing many passersby.
"I just don't get it," said Corrine Carlotta-Mintz, who lives in Chelsea and said she first noticed the posters on Sunday. "Couldn't you just buy one in stores?"
In fact, you can't — in New York, The Advocate magazine is only available by subscription, which runs $24.95 a year.
It turns out it's hard to get the magazine in Japan as well, at least according to Rich, the man behind the posters.
"We are gathering the magazine for a fan club of Adam Lambert out in Japan," said Rich, who would not give his last name. "I'm a friend of a family member of someone in that particular club."
Rich said that he and two assistants plastered the posters around Chelsea and Union Square over the weekend.
The $20 he's offering for the magazine may be below market value. Copies of the Lambert-tastic issue for sale on eBay had last night received bids up to $63 by self-declared "Glamberts" — intense Adam Lambert fans. One auctioneer is offering the mag for the "Buy It Now" price of $125.
Mark Umbach, a spokesman for Here Media, which publishes The Advocate, said there's been huge demand for the issue since it came out.
"We've seen demand, but not like this, not to this extreme," Umbach said. "It doesn't surprise me, because [Lambert] has such a huge following."
An employee at Out, the New York-based sister magazine of the Advocate, said their office got hundreds of calls from Glamberts looking to buy a copy of the issue.
For his part, Rich claims he's only collecting the issues to help out a friend, and not to make a profit. As of Monday, he said that he had received eight copies of the magazine, and was aiming to buy a total of 20 before shipping them to Japan.
"We're just doing this (friend) a special favor," Rich said. "I'm definitely not an Adam Lambert fan."
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