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Expensive early vinyl reissues, worth the cost ?

fegs

fegs

pfm Member
I was looking at a 1981 reissue of Iggy Pop’s , The Idiot yesterday in a S/H record shop in Brighton, The vinyl looked good, the sleeve less so, there was a decent sized tear where a sticker had been removed, he wanted £35 for it which I thought was a bit steep

I made him a cheeky offer which he declined and then showed me on Discogs what others were asking for the same record.

I left it at that because despite the price, the condition wasn’t good enough for me (subjective I know)

I did start to think that if I’m paying for a reissue, I may as well look for a better more recent version (providing it’s a good pressing).

Just wondered what others thoughts were on this?

I’m happy to be educated but couldn’t quite see the value in that particular reissue.

Thanks
 
Reissues can be excellent but also appalling, just like new releases.
I have about 50 percent of recent purchases that are not perfectly flat. Others are intolerably noisy – too many pressings from the same stamper I guess.

Regarding covers, most reissues use an awful scan of the original cover. Terrible job.

Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t buy the CD.
 
I’m very wary indeed of paying good money for anything less than a strong EX/EX. I’d also argue he was trying to charge orange label prices for the green label reissue! A tear in the cover drops it to VG at best and IME makes it a tough sell. The potential price difference between M/M, EX/EX and VG is pretty much exponential to my mind. If I was selling a copy of that reissue with a tear in the sleeve, even with strong EX vinyl, I’d top-out at about £10.00, maybe £15 if the tear was minor and the vinyl mint.

If you are patient and hunt round you should be able to find a nice orange label original for around £35 I’d have thought. I picked up a pretty much mint copy of TV Eye for a tenner a couple of years back to make up the set (I bought Lust For Life and The Idiot way back in the ‘80s, all orange labels).

I don’t know the reissue market well on these, the only one I’ve ever compared is Lust For Life against a Simply Vinyl copy and the orange label original just killed it.
 
Discogs is a mixed blessing. I use it a lot, but the problem is that people take the prices on there as being the actual value, whereas of course, is mostly just ordinary punters being greedy.

I recently bought a compilation 2 x cassette release L'Esprit de Nyege 2020 and L'Esprit de Nyege 2020. Excellent music but very limited release, so I paid double the original price on Discogs. Annoyingly, it was still wrapped, so the buyer obviously didn't want it, he only wanted to make a few bob.
 
Tony L said:
I’m very wary indeed of paying good money for anything less than a strong EX/EX. I’d also argue he was trying to charge orange label prices for the green label reissue! A tear in the cover drops it to VG at best and IME makes it a tough sell. The potential price difference between M/M, EX/EX and VG is pretty much exponential to my mind. If I was selling a copy of that reissue with a tear in the sleeve, even with strong EX vinyl, I’d top-out at about £10.00, maybe £15 if the tear was minor and the vinyl mint.

If you are patient and hunt round you should be able to find a nice orange label original for around £35 I’d have thought. I picked up a pretty much mint copy of TV Eye for a tenner a couple of years back to make up the set (I bought Lust For Life and The Idiot way back in the ‘80s, all orange labels).

I don’t know the reissue market well on these, the only one I’ve ever compared is Lust For Life against a Simply Vinyl copy and the orange label original just killed it.
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thanks for that Tony, thankfully pretty much confirms what I thought on the day.
I think I’m going to hold out for a orange label original.
 
Just as bad are some charity shops. I have one near me with the occasional album I would like but not at their inflated prices. When I have queried these or made an offer they just pull out a copy of the annual "Record Collectors Guide" and quote that - despite being ignorant of condition, release details etc. There is also a used vinyl / CD store that uses the same approach but is very knowledgeable and asks for an "offer" which, if sensible and not too greedy, will generally be accepted especially if several purchases are involved.
 
I always go for vinyl condition over cover but it is so hard to tell how a record will play on appearance. I have a really tatty looking copy of the LAs, plays really well & other records which are the opposite.

I am a bit believer in finding a dealer you trust & go with them. Ultimately you can afford to wait as music is so accessible.
 
fegs said:
Just wondered what others thoughts were on this?
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When using Discogs I only ever use sellers with 100% rating, and I check buyer's comments on that seller. Most decent sellers will also provide photographs when requested.

Find a second hand dealer whose price structure and grading you trust. I like Jazzhouse for this reason.
 
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RBrinsdon said:
Just as bad are some charity shops. I have one near me with the occasional album I would like but not at their inflated prices. When I have queried these or made an offer they just pull out a copy of the annual "Record Collectors Guide" and quote that - despite being ignorant of condition, release details etc.
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I’ve given up trying to correct them. One example that sticks in the mind is one Oxfam had a late ‘Hatter’ copy of Genesis Trespass in truly battered condition in a display cabinet as “Ultra rare ‘pink scroll’ first issue” and a price tag of £30 (this was about 20 years ago). I politely pointed out that it wasn’t the ‘pink scroll’, explained that I wasn’t interested in buying it regardless (i.e. had no motive) and was just trying to help, but it stayed there for months.

Charity shops so often used price the crap up to crazy levels but leave the real collectables in the £1 bins. There was a time 20 years or more ago when I couldn’t walk down any high st without buying as much as I could physically carry. Sadly those days are long gone! It is years since I found anything valuable in a charity shop. eBay has just killed them.
 
fegs said:
I was looking at a 1981 reissue of Iggy Pop’s , The Idiot yesterday in a S/H record shop in Brighton
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I wonder if this was the problem. I was in a S/H record shop in Brighton mebbe five years ago when some teenagers wandered in asking if there was any Elliott Smith vinyl in stock. The proprietor just scoffed at them. If I was the sort of person who Speaks Up I would have suggested they visit Resident Records nearby.
 
MotelBlues said:
I wonder if this was the problem. I was in a S/H record shop in Brighton mebbe five years ago when some teenagers wandered in asking if there was any Elliott Smith vinyl in stock. The proprietor just scoffed at them. If I was the sort of person who Speaks Up I would have suggested they visit Resident Records nearby.
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I think u might be right, being in Brighton might’ve upped the price a bit
I’m a big believer in spending what money I can with the small independent shops if the price is something like though
 
Tony L said:
It is years since I found anything valuable in a charity shop. eBay has just killed them.
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Found Two Lone Swordsman - From The Double Gone Chapel for a quid in a charity shop the other week - £50 in VG+. Everything else in the box was the usual scratched James Last so I'm guessing it hadn't been in there long!
 
paulfromcamden said:
Found Two Lone Swordsman - From The Double Gone Chapel for a quid in a charity shop the other week - £50 in VG+. Everything else in the box was the usual scratched James Last so I'm guessing it hadn't been in there long!
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There’s usually an abundance of Leo Sayer classics in the charity shops near me :D
 
Always intrigues me when certain big name acts of yore just never become collectible. I’ve picked up mint copies of Gerry Rafferty (Night Owl & City to City) for example just £4.
 
Woodface said:
Always intrigues me when certain big name acts of yore just never become collectible. I’ve picked up mint copies of Gerry Rafferty (Night Owl & City to City) for example just £4.
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I don’t think I’ve ever bought-in at over £1 for that one! I always buy EX or better copies when I see them. As with everything it is supply and demand, that record likely sold in millions and is currently largely forgotten, but that obviously doesn’t make it bad. The stuff that goes through the roof price-wise is either the really cool stuff that only a few bought at the time (psych, Krautrock, obscure prog, new-wave etc), or stuff that did sell well and later finds a huge new market (e.g. Bowie). I’d cite say Joan Armatrading as another example of an undervalued artist. She made some great albums, but those who know about her tend to have them, and she sold to a fairly mature audience so they likely have them in great condition too.
 
Tony L said:
I don’t think I’ve ever bought-in at over £1 for that one! I always buy EX or better copies when I see them. As with everything it is supply and demand, that record likely sold in millions and is currently largely forgotten, but that obviously doesn’t make it bad. The stuff that goes through the roof price-wise is either the really cool stuff that only a few bought at the time (psych, Krautrock, obscure prog, new-wave etc), or stuff that did sell well and later finds a huge new market (e.g. Bowie). I’d cite say Joan Armatrading as another example of an undervalued artist. She made some great albums, but those who know about her tend to have them, and she sold to a fairly mature audience so they likely have them in great condition too.
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Yes both albums have really great covers & I reckon they languish on shelves for a while before being sold. It’s a no brainier for me to pick up such gems at a price cheaper than CD re-issue. I was chatting with the dealer when I bought it & he said “great album, great cover, worth next to nothing”. Graham Parker is similar but he never really sold in the same numbers to start with.

Whenever I pop into a second hand record shop I don’t think I’ve ever not seen a copy of ‘Atlantic Crossing’; it has become a trope;)
 
We don’t have charity shops in France, when seem to be everywhere in the UK!
I buy used CD’s and records from bookshops, usually € 1 or two.
The classical stuff is usually mint, with historical recordings, original pressings being very frequent and often like new, with a protective cover even.
The other day I found a Heifetz original RCA pressing of incredible quality – where’s the progress I wonder?
But the rest is often in so-so or poor condition, and Des O’Connor (you get the picture).

How come classical people are/were so meticulous?
 
Woodface said:
Whenever I pop into a second hand record shop I don’t think I’ve ever not seen a copy of ‘Atlantic Crossing’; it has become a trope;)
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Again I’ll buy absolutely mint original issues as they will eventually sell and they are another record with a hard card inner, so are destroying themselves as time goes on. As I stated upthread I view condition as being close to exponential with regard to pricing, a genuinely mint copy of pretty much anything has value to someone somewhere and it doesn’t matter if I like it myself or not. I obviously don’t buy the James Last or brass band type junk that festoons charity shops as that will never come back, but a mint Rod Stewart album will sell at a fiver given enough time, especially if it is a first press.

chartz said:
How come classical people are/were so meticulous?
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The general assumption is classical listeners are older, better off, and have better audio equipment. This assumption exists at every stage, e.g. classical has always been mastered assuming the listener has a system with a wider dynamic range and frequency response than pop/rock. It tends to be better packaged too with virgin vinyl, poly inners etc. It was a premium product for a premium market and very little ever got hammered on Dansettes etc.
 
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