New Tom Port - Hot Stamper Article In Wired

Well, if they can't tell the difference, then why on earth do they care what pressing they have? That is just stupid beyond belief. And by the way, I'm not saying there aren't also people frequenting this forum who are the same way with recommendations they find here. The difference is, I think people here are honest and trustworthy about what they report.

 

These are not investments. They're indulgences. And indulgences are fine--so long as you understand that that's what they are.

 

Okay, but what does he do with the other 90%? It's not like he owns a brick and mortar store. Maybe he sells them on ebay/discogs?

 

David Bowie said it best ;

Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress
Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess
Rebel Rebel, how could they know?
Hot Stamp, I love you so!

 

Yeah passionate about $$$.

 

In photo, negatives don't wear theorically...only if you are careful. But can fade or be chemically damaged if they were not rinsed enough and depending on conservation conditions. Two photo prints from the same negatives could look different, depending of the person who made the print, the enlarger and its quality lens, the paper used, chemical products used and their freshness ... the same with digital photography.
In any case, a photo collector would prefer a vintage print (print made by the artist from the original negative some days after the shot), even if it doesn't look good, over a later print (print made later from the original negative by the artist or his death). As with records, each print is unique, with sutble differences. And nobody is gonna pay X 100 the price of a vintage print for a reprint just because it looks better than the original ... very bad way to invest money.
TP has found his business, more power to him.

 

Ha! Good point.

 

Pretty funny stuff...and likely true. That would sure drive you crazy, and probably put an end to paying top dollar and them some, for his stuff.

 

Priorities. Some value the experience more than the object. My wife is highly supportive of my music obsession/hobby, but she places a greater value on a nice dinner out or a vacation than a music purchase. I like all of it.

 

It's the same in any comments section on any web site on any topic. The comments section is the sphincter of the interwebs.

 

This is true, but in most cases I just imagine that the participants are 13 year old boys. It's hard to maintain that illusion when one of them is a so-called expert in the field and, by all accounts, not in his angry teens anymore.

 

Ever check out the comments on Yahoo?

They don't necessarily come off as 13-year-old boys....more like 35-year-old inbred morons.

 

I don't think that most people consider eating or drinking an investment.

 

I'll say this - Tom Port has created a niche market and a good job for himself. He spends his days buying and selling records, and listening to music. Good for him. He offers a money-back guarantee. I have never bought from him, but power to him.

I will say - and I posted this a while back in a different thread - I had three copies of The Beach Boys Today! Album on original Capitol pressings, all with identical stamper information, all NM. Two sounded dull, the other brilliant and alive.

It started when I heard a copy at a friend's house and decided I wanted one myself. I bought the first copy, but it wasn't doing it for me. "Do You Wanna Dance?" was used in the Broadway show Contact, and there was a brilliance to the harmonies and orchestration that was startlingly impressive. When I heard the song at my friend's house, I heard that same brilliance.

Which made the first copy I bought disappointing. I located another and tried it, and it, too, sounded dull. These were costing me $10-15 a piece. I tried a third copy and, BAM, it sounded beautiful - brilliant, engaging, alive, a pleasure to listen to.

I sold the other two back to a record store, getting $6 each for being originals in NM condition.

So while I don't believe that there are necessarily "hot stampers", there are "hot copies", and each copy can vary in sound for a myriad of not obvious reasons.

If you get a copy of a record which sounds dull, there is a possibility that another copy off of that same stamper could sound really good.

So Tom Port finds the great copies. I ended up spending about $28, including the trading back to the store, for my brilliant copy of The Beach Boys record. Perhaps I would have lucked out getting one on the first try another time (my VG+ copy of Shut Down vol.2 is really good).

How much does Port charge for a great copy? How much time did I spend getting a great copy? For me, it's part of the fun of collecting. For others, they'd rather pay someone else to do the legwork.

 

We certainly were. Someone here mentioned hot stampers as an investment. The article specifically mentions a $500 copy of Fleetwood Mac.

 

In your case, you saved about $272 by doing the legwork yourself. I would bet Hot Stamper money that Port's "warm and tubey" copy sounds no better than yours.

The guy annoys me by being disingenuous about very well-done reissues. He's grading AP 45 RPMs or the Grey/Hoffman Rumours as "D-" records... Not because of their actual sound, but because his whole business model falls apart if his customers realize they can pick up the best pressing of a particular record for $35 at SSD, Acoustic Sounds, or even Amazon.

 

Couldn't he just extend his business model to AP 45 RPMs. Surely, there must be hot stampers of those records.

 

Timeshare holidays.

 

I am going to guess he only heard one copy of that AP, Mofi etc that he disses on. If I'm right, his own logic needs to be played back to him. He can't go around touting that there is legwork to finding the best sounding records of the the same album/plant/pressing but then listen to one example and diss it.

 

oh the irony

 

As far as monetary value is concerned, no. But the people spending $100,000 on these records must be earning at least 7 figures. And they must be happy with the product. As far as they are concerned, the "hot stamper" will provide a lifetime's listening enjoyment.

 

You could be right in this case but people spending stupid money on records doesn't necessarily imply wealth.

 

True. I suspect there are a few people around here who spend a much higher proportion of their income on records (although probably getting better value for their buck).

 

Yeah, but you don't have to hear Rhiannon. So it's close.

 

Post of the day.