Breaking the Bank
Back to the insanity. There were a lot of comments on this record on the previous post, but let’s just put it in here for the record, slight pun intended: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was the one that had the New York 23 on one side, satisfying the most precise collectors of original pressings. There was definitely debate over the condition, but it seemed like the cover was at least VG++ and the vinyl was probably VG++, although not everyone would agree with that. Where everyone would agree, I presume, is that this one fetched quite a high price: $5,223.45. That’s not the highest price we’ve ever seen for this, or any other record, but it’s right up there in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.
As staggering as I find the Mobley, this one, to me, is even more telling of the state of jazz collecting in this era of eBay: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. As I noted previously, this record was in G condition. To me, G is unplayable: I Wouldn’t put it on the turntable. The cover was VG. I was certainly surprised that someone would be willing to pay $661 for a record that would probably not be played. And that was, indeed, the highest bid. I was even more surprised that the potential buyer wasn’t even allowed to buy the record at that price because it did not meet the seller’s reserve. Strange days, indeed.
BN collecting is indeed very interesting 😉
I don’t see that Caroline and Earl’s opinions are so far from another really 😉
I personally don’t think that 1568 is so much rarer than the rest of the original 1st pressings of the 1500-series (maybe with the exception of Silver and Blakey – were they not pressed in higher numbers on the first run?)
As said rarity IS a factor but rarity alone does not explain the whole price picture for 1568. I would say it is rarity + demand. The demand is depending on how much collectors/investors are willing to pay for an LP.
Also an important factor concerning demand is how much a title genrerally sells for. Now we have popsike and ebay letting us see quite transparently how much the going rate is. Why would anyone sell a EX+ 1568 for less than $5K for other reasons than ignorance. This is for example shown as when I go to my regular physical shop the manager ALWAYS consult popsike before he sets a price on a record. Popsike/eBay has done that like it or not for us collectors.
Would Caroline for instance had paid $5K if there had been no previous sales in that $-region. Don’t think so 😉
I think larry Cohn would have an advice in this debate. Were are you Larry ? We’d appreciate your contribution.
@ Caroline : i do not agree to your previous thread, for the reasons Earl wrote. Anyway, your contributions are very interesting and i praise you for that.