Is it financially reckless to purchase original pressings of Blue Notes, Beatles albums, etc.?

Thank you! Study up, my friend. You'll get there. The subjects make it easy, peasy................

 

Bought my M- LPM-1254 for $5 at an indoor flea market. 3s/3s.

 

Man does that 88 cent sticker take me back!

 

Very difficult to say. My gut tells me there will always be buyers at the high end for original 60's Vee Jay and Capitol items, but if worldwide focus shifts to UK pressings I could be wrong.

 

My investment counselor Tom Port has most of my money tied up in hot stampers at this time.

 

Is that Press Information copy yours? That's pretty sweet. $1700 seems high for a copy with "the Beatles are coming" sticker. I thought that Capitol distributed the stickers pretty promiscuously and that they could turn up on anything. The Press Information stickers, by contrast, were not only used in very small numbers, they were on the copies that were actually distributed at the first US press conference.

 

Admittedly, I am lucky because I go to a local used record store whose owner prices his items much more realistically, and affordably. He wants his patrons to be able to buy them and they're priced to sell, not sit on the shelf or hang on the walls forever.

Yes, some of the items you mention are bigger bucks... but aspiring newbie Beatle fans need not own all (or any) of those. I believe this part of the discussion began because it was being suggested that younger fans can't really get into The Beatles because it's too expensive. Then again, there are some dealers who think that just because the name "Beatles" is on a product, they must charge too much, even when the condition is so-so, and the title is common.

 

Rockaway Records, Fab4Collectibles, Tracks UK and Beatles4Me seem to get top dollar for their Beatles rarities. So it's not just Perry Cox who gets big bucks for truly rare Beatles items. I was just referring to his price guide to show what's worth $1000+. Rarity and top condition of a particular Beatles item, is what ultimately brings the mega bucks.

These dealers seem to always offer the very best in "true" Beatles rarities......but at a premium price. Those "top dollar" rare Beatles records aren't meant for everyone......myself included.

 

You've listed some of the aforementioned "usual suspects."

 

I agree completely that newbies should not go anywhere near a $1000 record. The LPs I listed go for big money for purely nonmusical reasons (rarity, historical appeal, unusual origin, unique sleeve/label/track list). A $1000 ad back ITB doesn't sound 50 times better than a $20 rainbow brackets ITB. Another consideration is that there are sharks in those waters so taking the time to acquire a little expertise is pretty useful. You are less likely to pay a hype premium if you know that the same LP has sold for a lot less several times in the past year. You are also less likely to buy a fake.

In terms of getting into the music, it is possible to acquire really nice playing copies for a reasonable price. Reissues from the 1970s are often the best combination of condition, price, and pressing quality.

 

Yes....and for many years they have successfully specialized in buying/selling very rare Beatles items. Many of which most dealers/collectors never come across and can only dream about owning. I'm not implying they're the only Beatles dealers to purchase hard to find Beatles items from. But they sure seem to consistently have some of the best and rarest Beatles items for sale!

I admit their prices can seem extreme. But good luck trying to find some of the "mega rare" Beatles items they usually stock. Unless by chance you get lucky or roll the dice on eBay. If you're happy with what Beatles stuff your local record shops stock fine! Like I said before......"high end" Beatles collecting isn't for everyone and probably never will be. That said....just because some collectors aren't willing or can't afford to spend that kind of money, doesn't mean others won't be willing to do so. Financially reckless? Perhaps. But it's their money to do what they wish with it.

 

whatever gets you through the night

 

First off collecting music is not supposed to be a money making hobby! Sure you can demand thousands but a very small niche market will pay that much. Music and what you pay for it is a very personal thing. Who cares what it is worth in 50 years baby boomers will be long gone.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the original Blue Note jazz records will hold their value after the Boomers have gone. They appealed at least partially to a pre-Boomer audience, more than half of whom are probably already dead, and that doesn't seem to have affected their value or the degree to which they are sought after. Like pre-war blues 78s, the music has retained a cult appeal beyond its original audience.

 

Several years ago I set about to collect NM first or second pressings of Parlophone mono Beatles albums. I did it for me and not for my children or grandchildren and I'm not really worried about what will happen to them value wise in 50 or 150 years. I didn't pay thousands of dollars for any of the albums, maybe hundreds in some cases. I also bought the recent mono box and the records are great but I'm still glad I own the originals.

 

In the worst case scenario, you've put your money into something that will hold its value, I suspect, even if prices don't go up forever.

 

I've bought only a handful of records from the "usual suspects," for two reasons.

First, I am cheap. This has not prevented me from buying expensive records, but it has prevented me from paying the prices the usual suspects get for true rarities.

Second, the usual suspects tend to specialize in US or UK records that are rare and/or in immaculate condition. To pick a random example, I love the LPs from Venezuela. I bet the usual suspects virtually never handle records from Venezuela. They are basically impossible to find in immaculate condition, and LPs from Venezuela have a low price ceiling relative to comparably rare LPs from the US or UK.

Third, part of what the usual suspects offer is their expertise. I'm willing to bet that Perry Cox knows a decent amount about Venezuela LPs, but is not the acknowledged authority that he is on the US LPs. By contrast, the relative strength of my knowledge is far greater for Venezuela than the US. Thus, for most of the stuff I really like, the usual suspects provide less expertise, and I need it less.

 

Sounds like it's a wide open and affordable market for most Venezuela Beatles LP's if that's your thing. Do the Parlophone label copies approach the UK's in sound quality? I've never owned any.

 

You forgot eil.com/Esprit.

 

South American records are often pressed on inferior,noisy vinyl.The real sleepers for sound quality are LPs that used UK metals,like New Zeland after 1964 (blue labels),Australia,Denmark,and such.

 

The 70's (bootleg) press is worse in the QC dept. since it used a mastertape that was well chewed up.
Every time I hear "A Taste Of Honey", I would anticipate the dropouts when Paul sang "Upon".
I had one of those that I played into the ground, a thick vinyl brackets label with blurry print.

Here is my old original copy of ITB, VG+++. Not a mark, just a few rubs from the inner sleeve.
Got it cheap, sounds like crap (since it has very little bass and top end, forget hearing the ride cymbal on "Boys"),
mediocre pressing, "Audio Matrix" in the dead wax, standard cover.
It does have a coolness factor since it was a 1963 press.



I turned around and sold it for $500 a while back, it was a nice piece but I needed the cash.

 

I've never bought anything from eil, but I'm not impressed by their listings. First, they have a vast number of listings for LPs that they do not have in stock (I bump onto them all the time when I am doing general web searches). Second, they generally only show the front of the sleeve. In my book, that flunks online record selling 101.

 

I've bought multiple items from eil, mostly of my favorite band, R.E.M., but also for other artists as well. I feel that a lot of their items are overpriced (in my personal opinion, nothing else), but they do also have good deals if you sort through their listings, and they have frequent sales and will e-mail regular customers promo codes that make shopping there worthwhile for me. I will say this: everything I've bought from them has been fairly graded and arrived in excellent condition. I had one minor quibble with a slight edge warp on a record that was otherwise NM-, but, considering that I've probably bought 20+ items from them, I can live with that, and it was the least of the issues I've experienced buying records online. With few exceptions, mostly ultra-rare 60s stuff, eil don't deal in anything less than NM-/VG++ items.

Overall, I like them.

 

That Press Information copy isn't mine but I saw one once at the Austin Record Show for $2G.
I heard about "the Beatles are coming" decal but I seen the counter display.

It just amazes me that that Press Information sticker makes the album jump up $500 in value.
While were on the subject of welcome stickers on LP covers, has anyone seen the Elvis "Aloha From Hawaii" LP with the Chicken Of The Sea sticker. This is the sneak preview copy given out to Chicken Of The Sea employees.



That sticker makes that LP jump from a common $25 album to $1500 and up status.

Let's go forge a couple

 

I got Jackie Mclean Bluesnik original press for $20 today.....


so STOKED!