Imagine a wide variety of Beatles possessions

Paul Costanzo has more than a piece of Beatles history.

The Muskego resident has collected photographs, posters and an array of other memorabilia from the Fab Four ever since he was 8 years old. He shares it with casual followers and aficionados.

He'll do again so at the Oct. 8 performance of Liverpool '64 at the Greenfield Performing Arts Center.

He said it has been a journey.

"I grew up in Kenosha and we had all gone through the confusion and sorrow of President Kennedy's assassination in 1963," Costanzo said. "So here it is the next year and these four guys come to America and take it by storm."

Mesmerized as much as distracted from a national tragedy, Costanzo began collecting everything he could. Over the years, he has traded and sold numerous items.

"I did this because these guys were iconic," he said. "They defined the era with their music, their clothes and their hair."

His current collection is a combination of photographic negatives depicting the band's 1964 trip to Milwaukee (where they played the Arena), a life-size statue of John Lennon and other items he is reluctant to detail because of their value.

"I go to a Beatles convention in Chicago every year," Costanzo said. "I'm not in it to make money. I trade, I sell and if a few dollars come my way, that's great."

A photographer and wedding reverend (he got that status online), Costanzo has a few cherished memories as well.

In a rare lucrative exchange, he bought a signed poster for $100 and then sold it 20 years later to a friend. His friend asked him how much he wanted, and Costanzo, who was putting his daughters through college at the time, used the cost of tuition to come up with the "ridiculous" price of $6,000.

He got it.

The other memory is meeting Ringo Starr after he played Summerfest in 1995. A friend tipped off Costanzo that Ringo would be leaving Milwaukee the next day from Mitchell and he correctly guessed the drummer's departure area and time.

"He signed an album ("Good Night, Vienna") and could not have been more gracious," Costanzo said. "I felt like a little kid again."