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Music
Lot 145

Queen: A Promotional Display Model of 'Frank the Robot' from the Album News of the World,
1977,

26 May – 4 June 2025, 13:00 BST
Online, London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £4,352 inc. premium

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Queen: A Promotional Display Model of 'Frank the Robot' from the Album News of the World,

1977,
freestanding model of plastic construction, comprising two moulded halves secured by screws, the body painted silver, the palms open, originally holding a wire basket displaying a copy of the album (basket not present),
approx. 55in x 34in x 22in (140cm x 86cm x 56cm)

Footnotes

As part of the promotional campaign for Queen's sixth studio album 'News of the World', a small number of display models were produced to advertise the new LP in select flagship record stores across the UK.

On the album cover sleeve and inner gatefold, 'Frank' carries the bodies of Brian May and Freddie Mercury in one hand, as John Deacon and Roger Taylor tumble from his grasp. The original artwork was painted by American Sci-Fi artist Frank Kelly Freas (1922-2005), after whom the robot was likely named. Freas had previously painted an identical anthropomorphic robot for the October 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine.

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