There are thrift shops in town with signs up, seeking to buy Michael Jackson LPs and other \u201crelated material.\u201d <\/p>\n
They do this because people have been coming in since the \u201cKing of Pop\u2019s\u201d untimely demise, asking to BUY Michael Jackson stuff. I understand. <\/p>\n
But are Michael Jackson LPs a good investment? Unless they\u2019re signed and you have some reason to believe the autograph is legitimate, no. <\/p>\n
Legitimate autographed material goes up when a celebrity dies, because the supply is now \u201cclosed-ended,\u201d and will always be far rarer than the non-autographed stuff. How much more? Depends on who it was, and how much they signed. Jimmy Carter is a signin\u2019 fool; for an ex-president, his autograph is not particularly pricey. <\/p>\n
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), on the other hand, died six months after the publication of \u201c1984.\u201d Not many signed copies of that one out there. Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith) died in 1995 immediately upon arriving home from the brief book tour for his autobiography \u201cHave Mercy!\u201d A copy of that book signed to B.B. King is probably unique; I wouldn\u2019t let it go for the price of a Happy Meal. <\/p>\n
Otherwise, LPs by an artist as popular as Mr. Jackson got pressed out by the hundreds of thousands. There were a couple of Jackson Five singles (45s) released on the \u201cSteel Town\u201d label in 1968 that are worth a bit, as are the 1981 \u201cBen\u201d soundtrack with Michael on the top half of the cover and the rats on the bottom, and the Spanish language 12-inch single version of \u201cI Just Can\u2019t Stop Loving You.\u201d But \u201cThriller\u201d and Bad\u201d basically catalog at $8 in \u201cnear mint,\u201d which means a typical \u201cvery good\u201d copy with some light surface scratching and a little wear to the cardboard belongs in the dollar rack. And always will. <\/p>\n
If you want to go out and find a piece of Michaelobilia to remember the moonwalker by, fine. Just don\u2019t be paying lots of money, figuring \u201cThis rare collectible will surely increase in value.\u201d <\/p>\n
As many of you know, The brunette sells vintage clothes at the Charleston Antique Mall. There\u2019s also a room-and-a-half of older books and LP records, where I\u2019m happy to lend a hand. In the vinyl we focus on pre-1970 jazz and rock, no \u201cEasy Listening\u201d \u2014 though in this town it\u2019s hard to keep the \u201cW\u201d bin from filling up with Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, and Tammy Wynette. We were cleaned out of anything filed under \u201cJackson\u201d within a few days. <\/p>\n
I suppose we could have jacked up the prices on the LPs, but I decided it was smarter to stick by the original business model, which is to rescue objects of value in unusually fine condition that are otherwise bound from the thrift shop or yard sale to the nearest landfill, and try to find them appreciative new homes by offering them at anywhere from one-third to two-thirds the price you\u2019d pay Online, or (in the case of a \u201950s dress or purse or Hawaiian shirt) less than a third of what you\u2019d pay at some vintage shop in Hollywood or Georgetown. <\/p>\n
It keeps folks coming back. <\/p>\n
Yes, for the record, there\u2019s a reason to collect LPs. Professionals say when a lot of that music was transferred to CDs it was \u201ccompressed.\u201d That reduced noise, but also limited the highs and lows. The sound just isn\u2019t as rich. I also believe the day will come when more folks will collect old album covers as art. As with haiku, there was even the discipline of an arbitrary restraint: everything had to be square. <\/p>\n
I mentioned catalog values, which are vital but still the bane of the business. The \u201ccatalog\u201d for vinyl, if you want something made of dead trees, is usually the \u201cGoldmine\u201d Catalog of American Records, by Tim Neely or more recently Martin Popoff. (Pricing books gets more complicated. That\u2019s another column … or three.) But be aware that even my 2009 edition of such a price guide was likely compiled two years earlier than that, using auction data that may have then dated back a decade. And such guides carefully stipulate that they price for \u201cnear mint\u201d condition. <\/p>\n
The word has gotten around \u2014 late, as usual \u2014 that Elvis records, for example, are \u201cworth a fortune.\u201d Even some local thrift stores have taken to stacking the Elvi behind the counter, charging up to $10 apiece. Is this a good buy? <\/p>\n
Only if you know what you\u2019re looking for, and if you\u2019re allowed to (carefully, please \u2014 oily thumbprints on the playing surface are very impolite) pull out the disc and examine the label. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take just one early Elvis LP: RCA\u2019s 1957 \u201cLoving You,\u201d catalog LPM-1515. Original pressings read \u201cLong Play\u201d at the bottom of the black label. This record catalogs at $300 in \u201cnear mint.\u201d But what if the copy in hand is only \u201cvery good\u201d \u2014 it\u2019ll play, because the scratches aren\u2019t deep, but there are some shallow tone-arm skid marks, and some wear to the cardboard jacket. Catalog value immediately drops to $75. <\/p>\n
Now consider, again, that your catalog is partially based on 10-year-old auction data. Most of the first generation of Elvis fans are in their 60s or 70s, some are dead. These people aren\u2019t buying; their collections are being dumped on the market by grandchildren who might not be able to figure out how to make a turntable work if they had one. More supply at a time when the collector base is dwindling could explain why some collectors tell me fancy Elvis boxed sets that \u201ccatalog\u201d at $5,000 have gone for as little as $500, of late. <\/p>\n
The very best and rarest Elvis material may hold its value, as Sinatra material has. Time will tell. <\/p>\n
Today, I might start an Elvis LP that \u201ccatalogs\u201d $75 at $30 to $40 retail, eventually marking it down to $20 or even lower if it doesn\u2019t move within a few months. <\/p>\n
But wait. What if your copy of \u201cLoving You\u201d says \u201cMono\u201d at the bottom of the label, instead of \u201cLong Play\u201d? That one was released in 1963 (no need to invent the term \u201cmono\u201d till someone invented \u201cstereo); its catalog value is $100. <\/p>\n
What if it says \u201cMonaural\u201d? Those came along in 1964; catalog value $50 … in \u201cnear mint.\u201d <\/p>\n
The first version of this LP \u201cStereo Electronically Reprocessed\u201d with the new catalog number LSP-1515(e) came out in 1962 and catalogs at $150. By 1964 the words \u201cRCA Victor\u201d on the label had changed from silver to white and your catalog value has dropped to $50. Stereo versions were released as late as 1976, with catalog values of $12. The tell-tale label changes are too numerous to list here. And all this is for ONE LP, all of whose versions can look pretty much the same at first glance. <\/p>\n
Even in \u201cnear mint,\u201d an Elvis LP with a \u201ccatalog value\u201d of $12 might merit a $6 or $7 retail price, today. If well-worn, it\u2019s a black Frisbee. <\/p>\n
A catalog is highly useful for determining RELATIVE values. If you can only afford one, do you buy the Beach Boys\u2019 \u201dGood Vibrations,\u201d or the Surfers\u2019 \u201cChristmas from Hawaii,\u201d with the odd cover of four Hawaiian lads paddling around with a little pink Christmas tree on the prow of their outrigger canoe? <\/p>\n
The Beach Boys album catalogs at $20. The Surfers: $200. <\/p>\n
More up-to-date prices can often be found Online at the \u201cMusicstack\u201d Web site … assuming the individual sellers are grading their discs reliably. <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t mean to sound overly negative. There are treasures out there, as long as you don\u2019t think the record shop is going to pay you anything near \u201cfull catalog.\u201d I\u2019ve found early Beatles and Ronettes albums (again, look for mono) that really are worth tidy sums — though I suspect even those values will drop, as hoarded Baby Boomer collections come back on the market. Signed albums can be very cool, somewhat more valuable, and are more likely to be authentic if found in a thrift shop or garage sale. I can\u2019t keep Troggs albums or Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Janis Joplin’s “Cheap Thrills” on the shelf. <\/p>\n
Stop and look at these things. <\/p>\n
There are some Hawaiian music LPs featuring distinctly Anglo-appearing women in skimpy Hawaiian dresses who look like they\u2019re about to have an orgasm in a pile of melons. You stop and wonder, \u201cWhat must that photo session have been like?\u201d I\u2019ve even found recordings of generic \u201cLatin Rhythms\u201d from the mid-1950s where they hired a little-known brunette to swirl around in ruffles and a flower in her hair for the cover photo \u2014 and it\u2019s Mary Tyler Moore. <\/p>\n
On the other hand, it doesn\u2019t matter what the catalog says your old Harry Belafontes and Jim Reeves and Perry Comos are worth, if no one\u2019s buying. <\/p>\n
Though there IS an early Belafonte album which has some value as Bob Dylan\u2019s first appearance on vinyl; he plays harmonica on \u201cThe Midnight Special.\u201d Now, who knew THAT?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are thrift shops in town with signs up, seeking to buy Michael Jackson LPs and other \u201crelated material.\u201d They do this because people have been coming in since the \u201cKing of Pop\u2019s\u201d untimely demise, asking to BUY Michael Jackson stuff. I understand. But are Michael Jackson LPs a good investment? Unless they\u2019re signed and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectibles","category-music-lps"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pWqFl-4H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2966,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/2966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vinsuprynowicz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}