oliverstoned wrote: There's no pb with the shipment if it's well done cause there are special enveloppe rigid enough to preserve your record during the shipment. The pb of course is that you can't check the record before buying. So, i would be very careful.

Yeah. Fortunately, I did know enough to look at feedbacks. Both of the sellers had 99s and have been on their since at least 2001. This is reassuring. Plus I looked at what they put for the conditions of the vinyl. I think it will be OK. I researched other sellers' products before choosing these sellers, however. Thanks a lot.

I use eBay a lot - with the same nickname I use here.

Sometimes you can get a really good deal, sometimes the seller leaves out bits of information you wish you'd known in advance - but you can't really penalise them for that, unfortunately.

One guy sent me a MONO first press of the Doors' first album, but negelcted to include in the auction the fact that the cover was badly torn, and had arranged the picture so the vinyl hid the tear. I complained and got my money back - but I'd rather have had a nice copy of that album.

A definite case of caveat emptor!

The First UK Pressing has a solid pink label, and the sleeve is made by E. J. Day. The second has a pink rim with palm trees on - the first is the best;

1st U.K. press (the ultimate - goes for about £50 - 500 depending on condition)

2nd Press - not bad, but don't pay more than £20.

Later press - £5 tops.

Certif1ed wrote: The First UK Pressing has a solid pink label, and the sleeve is made by E. J. Day. The second has a pink rim with palm trees on - the first is the best; 1st U.K. press (the ultimate - goes for about £50 - 500 depending on condition)   2nd Press - not bad, but don't pay more than £20.   Later press - £5 tops.

Don't forget the New Zealand issued Crimsons on Spiral Vertigo

Cert.. give some information about that for pink floyd - dark side, camel - camel, camel - mirage,  camel - moonmadness, yes - close to the edge...

sorry for asking so much.. I don't have that knowledge.. and I am very interested...!

Radioactive Toy wrote: Cert.. give some information about that for pink floyd - dark side, camel - camel, camel - mirage,  camel - moonmadness, yes - close to the edge... sorry for asking so much.. I don't have that knowledge.. and I am very interested...!

Are there any websites with this sort of thing in a large scale? If not maybe we could add "collectors information" to albums on progarchives?

goose wrote: Radioactive Toy wrote: Cert.. give some information about that for pink floyd - dark side, camel - camel, camel - mirage,  camel - moonmadness, yes - close to the edge... sorry for asking so much.. I don't have that knowledge.. and I am very interested...! Are there any websites with this sort of thing in a large scale? If not maybe we could add "collectors information" to albums on progarchives?

great idea! it's very interesting to know these things! gives an extra to some albums you have!

Pink Floyd collectables (First Presses);

The MONO seems to crop up very regularly, yet I've seen a copy go in excess of £1,000. Typically it fetches £150. The STEREO tends to appear far less, but the most I've seen it go for is £600

The MONO Saucerful fluctuates wildly between £50 - £400, but the STEREO is more consistent at around £150-250.

UMMAGUMMA is an odd one - I've seen FPs go for £10. I've also seen them go for £200!!

(Note that the EMI logo is missing from the label. The correct Harvest advertising inners should also be present for top dollar). The cover should be printed by E. J. Day.

Atom Heart also defies all expectations - FPs regularly go for less than £10 - but have been known to fetch in excess of £350.

The MFSL editions are reliably worth £50-£100, depending on whether they're still sealed or not.

Meddle, again, is totally unpredictable, but £200 isn't unusual.

NOTE: Matrix numbers MUST end -1, and sleeve must be textured. I've seen evil sellers on eBay get a large sum of money for matrix numbers ending -7... Inner should be the advertising one.

Dark Side: (Normally £150, if both posters and stickers are present, along with the black inner, and the half-sealed sleeve).

First presses of More, Obscured by Clouds, Wish You Were Here, Animals and even The Wall can fetch £50 - but that's unusual, and you need all the detail you can give and all the "bits" - e.g. WYWH was sealed in black cellophane and came with a postcard and The Wall came with a sticker and rounded edged inners.

Happy collecting!

Cert:

My ITCOTCK record has an atlantic label/logo on it, like this kind:

What does it mean? Moreover, is there some sort of book that lists the values of old records?

Happy as I were I ran down below to verify my first press... -7!

I've made photo's of everything I have a question about, hope you don't mind!

My dark side copy has everything correct cert. Just this: The label isn't an coloured prisma.. No emi, just harvest

The wall, I've got an copy with NO writings on the wall, this is the label:

Srgt. peppers, mint as hell, everythins is in great condition.. But this is not an UK pressing, I'm just curious if it's anything worth..

Sgt. peppers label..

My copy of close to the edge, the cover is an leather-like something cover.

The close to the edge label

the cover, to see the leather-like something I really coudn't describe..

My jethro tull's aqualung:

Canvas-like structure

Jethro's label:

Thank you very much!

There are published books, like the Record Collector's Guide - but I find that eBay is a pretty accurate thermometer for value, when watched over time. Another good site is Popsike.com, which basically collects eBay auctions for valuable records.

I learn about the various labels, covers, matrix numbers, etc. by watching various items and taking note of the closing price. Obviously I only watch items that interest me - but over the last couple of years or so, it's built up, as I particularly like watching prog albums in case I spot one in my local record shop .

It's important to realise that this is just a yardstick - sometimes items fetch outrageous prices simply because the dealer has a good reputation or the item itself has something unique or special about it - e.g. a mint copy of "Please Please Me" by the Beatles with a poly bag from a particular record shop in Liverpool (I forget which) can command up to £1,000 more than a similarly mint copy without the bag.

CP: I would guess that ITCOTCK on Atlantic would be an import copy. These tend to be less valuable than U.K. pressings, which are most valuable for UK bands as a rule - with the notable exception of early Japanese pressings.

RT: I can't make out the label on your DSOTM, but the layout appears wrong for a UK press. The "hollow" triangle presses tend to be low in value, with the exception of the second press, whose matrix numbers end -3, IIRC.

The Wall is very difficult to guage - again, matrix numbers are most helpful here. Late 1970s albums are much harder to value than early 1970s, because there's very little difference between the FP and later pressings.

Sgt Pepper needs to be on the Parlophone label with "Parlophone" in large yellow letters, and the LP in the "Fool on the Hill" red and white wavy innner. The Stereo is worth more than the MONO, and the "Wide Spine" sleeve is the top collectable - I've seen one fetch £1,000.

The FP of CTTE is on the Orange and Plum Atlantic label, but the MFSL pressings are worth more;

The FP of Aqualung is on the Island label - but it's high quality equivalent, the DSS press is more valuable;

There are some good articles on this site, about how records are pressed, history and general maintenance:   http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org/ - http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org/  

I was interested to read that some people (with very keen ears) can hear quality in degradation on vinyl after a mere 5 plays.

One article I'd like to see is on physical reasons why first pressings are best. I know the general outline:

A laquer disc is cut on a lathe, and a negative made (the father). Mothers (positive images) and acetates (same thing?) are made from the father, coated in metal plate, and Stampers made from each mother.

Stampers are then used to create the actual shipping discs, and each has a code identifying itself and the mother, e.g. EMI records use the code GRAMOPHNE C LTD for their stampers, and numerics for the mothers, so a very first press would carry the code 1 G.

As you make each copy, some degradation occurs - so the 2nd mother carries slightly less sound quality than the first, due to wear on the father. Similarly with the stampers.

But, to compound that, around 1,000 pressings are made from each stamper - and you've no way of knowing whether yours is #1 or #1000, to the best of my knowledge. Theoretically, pressing #1 from stamper 2 G would be better than pressing #1000 from stamper 1 G - or would it?

Er... I digress as usual

The second pressing is made from fresh mothers - so it doesn't take much to work out that #1 of the second press will be lower in quality than #1 from the first stamper made from the last mother of the first press.

When a recording is remastered - in the case of the MFSL series, the tape is played and a new father (master) cut at half speed - which significantly improves sound quality. Hence MFSL discs are highly valued.

Please note that this information comes from my personal research, and could be inaccurate (as hard as I try to learn the facts, the principle of GIGO stands firm!) - I welcome any corrections or additional detail

Radioactive Toy wrote: Ah thanks cert.. what about my version of close to the edge?

The valuable one is the MFSL edition. The first press is on this (exact coloured) label;

Certif1ed wrote: The First UK Pressing has a solid pink label, and the sleeve is made by E. J. Day. The second has a pink rim with palm trees on - the first is the best; 1st U.K. press (the ultimate - goes for about £50 - 500 depending on condition)   2nd Press - not bad, but don't pay more than £20.   Later press - £5 tops.

I've been trough an really odd and ragged collection, but I've found some stuff..

I found uriah heep demons and wizards, cool cover! Beatles - revolver well.. just great music!

AND I've found a in the court of.. I tought it wasn't worth to check the label.. did it anyway's!

It's an UK pressing with the pink I label  YEAH luck turned on my side!

SPAM ALERT

I've just listed a batch of my Vinyl on there..they are el minto no worries.