Really, McCoy!

I realize it’s a long gap between posts when readers send me links to records that have sold  recently on eBay. It’s like a gentle reminder that you are still out there, which I appreciate. This link came to my in box yesterday from Aaron: McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy, Blue Note 4264. This was an original mono Liberty pressing from the seller Carolina Soul. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. I’ve never purchased from them, but based on the prices they get and their descriptions of the records, I have a sense that they are pretty conservative with the grading. Is that true? In any case, this record sold for $336, with the following note from Aaron: “Hi Al, Not sure if you saw the latest auction for an original mono McCoy Tyner The Real McCoy but it brought back memories of your post from 2014 (Really, McCoy?) when it ‘sold for $171.05, quite a high price for a later Liberty.’” To Aaron and all: In hindsight, I probably misjudged the rarity of and interest in this record back in 2014, particularly the original mono version. According to Popsike, there have been many instances of The Real McCoy selling for more than $200, with a top price of $406. Read more

Instagram????????

Glad to see the last post garnered so much interest and discussion. Not sure whether to thank Helen Merrill, the person who bought the Helen Merrill record, Strictlyheadies or Instagram itself. I realize I am missing a lot by not being active on Instagram. I actually have two accounts, AJDoctor, which is also my eBay account, mostly inactive, and Jazz.collector. I just don’t go to Instagram very often. Nor do I go to Facebook or other social media. Maybe I’m just old, but I’ve never thought of myself as a moldy fig and I have been active online since the early days of the net. In fact, I started a newspaper in 1994 called Inter@ctiveWeek, which was the first print and online publication focused on the internet and bore the tagline “The Internet’s Newspaper,” which, by  the way, I came up with. Anyway, maybe this discussion will help inspire me to participate. One of these days, when people don’t want to pay me good money to write about technology and business anymore, I will have more time to get back to selling records, and perhaps then I will be ready to expand both my horizons and my community. Until then, it’s back to watching records on eBay, starting with: Read more

A Dash of Blue Note Mania

I was away from eBay for a couple of weeks but I had put a bunch of records in my queue. Now that all of the auctions are done, and I’m looking at the queue of records all at once, it’s striking to me how the market value of Blue Note LPs just keeps escalating and escalating with no apparent limits. I think it has been this way for as long as I’ve been watching the market and collecting records, but for whatever reasons there seems to have been another quantum leap forward recently. Or perhaps I just haven’t noticed. Let me do a download of some of the records I’ve been watching, starting with Bud Powell, Bud!, Blue Note 1571. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep groove, ear, etc. The record and the cover both looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $1,230.90. Based on Popsike, this looks to be the highest price this record has sold for on eBay. Granted, the condition was great and the seller is reputable, but the price was outside of what you have considered to be the normal top range for this LP. Read more

Pandemic, Prestige, Impulse, Blue Note

How are you all doing out there in the midst of a global pandemic? I’m doing well, despite the fact that I haven’t posted here at Jazz Collector since August 3, which is one of  the longest inactive stretches for me since I started doing this as a blog site nearly 12 years ago. These are crazy times. I’m home more than ever, which would seem to be an opportunity to listen to my records more frequently. But that hasn’t been the case. I’m still working full time. My son was here for nine weeks. My wife, The Lovely Mrs. JC, is now working from home, so she is around all the time. My daughter and son-in-law just moved into a new house right near mine up here in The Berkshires. Frankly, while the music, the record collection and the blog have often served as an escape in the past, I haven’t turned to them as frequently as I would have expected throughout the course of this pandemic. Read more

For Lady, For Lee . . . and Irving?

More random jazz vinyl from recent eBay auctions starting with Webster Young and Paul Quinichette, For Lady, Esquire 32-084. This an original UK pressing of Prestige 7106. To me, this was always a Webster Young record, but the cover here has it as the Young/Quinichette Sextet. Great record and the UK cover is quite interesting, as always, and so much different than the American cover, which is really kind of weird when you look closely at it. The record was listed in excellent condition and the cover was very good. The final price was $194.25. I haven’t listened to my copy in a while, but I think it will be among the next set of records that will make it to my turntable. Read more

Catching Up (And We Mean Up!) on Rare Jazz Vinyl

Here are a couple of nice $1,000 records we were watching on eBay: Dizzy Reece, Progress Report, Tempo TAP 9. This was an original U.K. pressing that was listed in excellent condition for the vinyl and great condition for the cover and, even though those terms are not precisely Goldmine-approved, you get the sense from the description and pictures that the record was in extremely nice condition. This one sold for about $1,025. Also, Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and cover. We said “under normal circumstances” this record could set a new high water mark for the Cooker. What we meant was that we felt the pandemic would perhaps be dampening prices for high-end records. We were wrong. This record did set a new high at $1,625. So much for my theories and hypotheses—so far at least. Read more

Back on eBay: Vintage Blue Notes and a Coltrane Autograph

I just spent a little time on eBay. There are a lot of nice rare vintage records from the Jazz Collector Era and I’m not noticing much of a drop in demand or prices since the pandemic. Here are some of the items I put into my watch list, starting with a few vintage Blue Notes: Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This looks to be an original West 63rdStreet pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The auction closes in three days and there are already 37 bids and 13 bidders. The price is in the $500 range. This record is a regular in the $1,000 bin, with a top price of about $1,600, according to Popsike. Under normal circumstances I would expect to see this record easily top $1,000 and perhaps set a new standard, given the condition of the record and cover. Let’s see what happens. Read more

Miles, Morgan, Monk and More

Today we will view some random jazz vinyl from my eBay watch list, starting with Miles Davis, Volume 2, Blue Note 5022. This is an original 10-inch Lexington Avenue pressing. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. Bidding starts at around $100 and so far there is no auction action. The auction closes in about three days. This record caught my eye, even though I already own it, because it is such an awesome cover and because I recently view a collection loaded with 10-inch records. At this point I have passed on purchasing the collection because the seller has it over-priced, but I am hoping he comes back to me when he realizes I made a fair offer. Will keep you posted. Read more

Christmas Candy and Other Vinyl Treats

Back to eBay: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover are probably in VG+ condition and the listing has the now-familiar bobdjukic imprimatur, so you have to read carefully to find the relevant details through the various typefaces, colors and hyperbole, which all seem to work very well for Bob, so, I say, more power to him for getting strong interest and high prices for his listings. The bidding on this one is at $755 with more than a day left on the auction, but it has yet to meet the reserve price. Read more

Jazz Vinyl, Highs, Lows and In-Betweens

Let’s clear out some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been tracking on our eBay watch list, starting with a few from the Jazz Record Center auction that ended earlier this week, including Curtis Fuller, Bone and Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing that looked to be in M- (or close) condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,136. I thought that might be approaching a high point for this record, but it’s not even close. According to Popsike, the top price for this record was $2,550, and there have been at least four other copies that have sold for more than $1,500. It is possible to think that the buyer got a “bargain” at $1,136?

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