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

How does he compare to Gorlock?

 

That Greek RS sure looks cheesy.



Was that stopped?

I seen a German issue with a beach cover but not Australian



The only Australian issue I seen has the Shell Oil logo in the backround since they sponsored the televised concert.

 

It's all about supply and demand. If demand exceeds supply, then prices will rise. Paintings by a competent, but not exceptional painter do not command high prices. However, because their items are unique, they only need one sale.

 

I thought that was a Dutch/European pressing?

 

The Beach cover Help was made in Germany for sale in Switzerland via the Ex Libris record club. With its unique cover and labels, its scarcity, and the number of deep pocket German collectors, it always sells for huge money.

The Greek gatefold Champagne sleeve Rubber Soul was pretty quickly replaced with a single sleeve, with the standard front cover art and a basic track list on the back. I assume it was because the gategold sleeve was more expense to print. I have a pretty beat up copy of the champagne sleeve, and a nicer copy of the single sleeve. I imagine that a copy in the condition of the one pictured would pretty easily break the $1000 barrier.

The Shell Help was Dutch (although some of the discs were pressed in Sweden). It was distributed as a promotional item by Dutch Royal Shell oil company. The mythology is that it was made in tiny numbers for distribution to top executives and business partners. A highly knowledgeable Dutch collector friend informed me, however, that it is not nearly that scarce. He say that they were handed out as a promo to customers at some Dutch Shell gas stations in 1979. I think it is a cool item, but it doesn't command near the price that the champagne cover and the beach cover do.

 

Have not looked at their site in years,but they used to price stuff much like Perry Cox or Rockaway.I have bought exactly one record from them,a lacquer (acetate) of 19-2000 by Gorillaz,not long after it came out.It was priced in Pounds,but I paid $72 and change for it.

 

Their prices are high, I agree. I keep an eye on stuff and wait until they have a sale or send me a promo code that makes it worthwhile to me. But they do have some ordinary listings that I find very fair as well.

 

I think its a great time to sell because the generations that grew up collecting Blue Notes/Beatles etc will give way to generations not interested in these as much...I would be nervous having too much "invested" in these things...

 

This whole hobby is financially reckless.

 

Buy records you want to listen to. Invest the rest of your money in Vanugard index funds.

 

If you sell in bulk, your return is pennies on the dollar.

 

if one can afford it or it doesn't take food off the table or interfere with paying bills...why not?

 

been there never want to be in that position again...I still have a bitter taste of regret!

 

How large does the base of Billy Nicholls fans have to be to keep the cost of Would You Believe up there?

 

Forgot about eil.com. I purchased some nice UK 1st press Beatles 45's and EP's from them. A bit on the pricey side, but condition was excellent and their shipping cost is very reasonable....probably absorbed in the sale price actually.

 

I concur!

 

I highly recommend that all of you spend your time and money hunting down original Blue Note LPs, and I will be happy to pick up the reissue LPs and CDs that you pass up.

 

There are a lot of later pressings I will gladly seek out now,that I never would have in the past.70s and 80s pressings of 60s LPs where the originals are now insanely rare,or impossible to find in high end condition when they do turn up.Reading here about too many $25-35 modern reissues that are either sourced from digital,on very noisy vinyl,have pressing flaws,or all of the above made me see these later pressings in a whole new light.

 

How rare were the Elvis records that the market has crashed for? Were a lot pressed or not really?

 

Maybe the Elvis market has passed its peak, I don't know, but records outside of what most would consider to be his artistic peak still fetch big bucks:

http://collectorsfrenzy.com/details...D_RECORDS__VOLUME_4__MONO__RCA_Victor_LPM3921

 

This looks financially reckless being the buyer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/391001989123?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

Those original Blue Note LPs have a cachet that will never go away, in my opinion.

 

I've bought some records from eil. It's interesting to note their approach to grading:

"All items are in excellent to mint condition unless stated otherwise. "

Anyone who has bought numerous records from UK sellers tends to find that vinyl graded just "Excellent" is likely to be in mediocre condition. UK "Excellent" is comparable to US Goldmine VG to VG+, in my experience. Only when a UK seller grades a record EX+ or better does the vinyl have a chance of being in really nice, audiophile grade condition.

So basically eil tells you up front that the buyer is gambling on condition, like a Vegas slot machine. Sometimes, the copy you get might actually be EX++ or Near Mint. But, based on the records I've received from them, the odds seem to heavily favor the seller, so you can bet that most of the records listed are no better than UK "Excellent".

 

Didn't Tefteller get into a bidding war with another collector over an old Paramount 78 that ended up going for $30,000? The lesson there was that it only takes two people with interest in a rare item. I think that in the future, there will be many more collectors of Beatles records than there are today of old blues 78's. Thus, there will always be enough collectors to support prices for the rarest Beatles items (or the best quality items). I agree that prices of first pressings in less than pristine condition are likely to fall at some point.

 

Some of those old blues 78s are intrinsically more valuable than pretty much any Beatles record in that there are no master tapes for that music, so the surviving 78s are it as far as that music goes, and some of them only survive in single-digit numbers of copies. The flip side of that is, as you note, that 50 years from now, there will probably be more serious collectors of Beatles records than of blues 78s, although, again, early blues and jazz have a cachet that I doubt will ever go away, and all it will take is a few Tefteller-level collectors to sustain the insanely high prices for the insanely rare and historically important pre-war blues 78s.