Star-struck and Internet-savvy

Gretchen Hoffman

During his years of touring with the rock band Orgy, drummer Bobby

Hewitt amassed quite a collection of memorabilia.

But with limited options for celebrities to divest themselves of

CDs, concert props and posters without a lot of bother, the odds and

ends kept piling up.

Hewitt, along with co-founder Skip McNevin, came up with the idea

for www.startrader.com, a Montrose-based Web site that gives

musicians and celebrities a place to auction off their belongings and

donate the proceeds to charity.

“We recognized that we really had a unique niche,” McNevin said.

“A really cool thing about it is the people who have bought items

have ended up meeting these artists.”

Auctions have included a couch owned by Korn’s Jonathan Davis,

Tommy Lee concert tickets and a No Doubt guitar.

“It’s not a hassle for [celebrities] to put things up on the

site,” Hewitt said. “They get publicity and they’re doing something

for charity.”

The site’s appeal goes beyond star-struck fans: In addition to the

charity auctions, Startrader is adding sports items, electronics, No

Fear clothing and more. Startrader charges a fee for auctions that do

not benefit charity.

Partner Pete Connolly, who owned Montrose Baseball Cards,

contributes the know-how related to sports collectibles such as

trading cards, Joe Namath Wheaties boxes and bobble-head figurines.

They plan to add about 3,000 items from the former Honolulu Avenue

shop by early December.

“One of our challenges was obviously getting cool stuff,” McNevin

said. “The stuff that’s up there is authentic. It has some value.

It’s not just a receipt we found from some actress.”

The company has its roots firmly in the community. Hewitt is a

Glendale High School grad; McNevin and partner Tim Brice both went to

Crescenta Valley High School. Connolly, who is McNevin’s cousin, has

lived in the area for 37 years.

They’ve raised about $3,000 for charity since the site launched in

December. Recipients include the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater

Los Angeles and the Child Educational Center in La Canada Flintridge.

They do not charge a commission on any of the charity sales.

“We started working with some of the fairly high-profile

organizations, then also realized that we didn’t want to get too far

from home,” McNevin said. “I think it’s important that we really do

try to help some of the local organizations.”