Mobley Blue Note 1568: And the winner is . . .
Ok, we have a final price on that copy of Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568 from the Jazz Record Center. The final price was $4,619. And the winner of the contest was: GST with a bet of $4,600. Pretty damn close GST. Congratulations. I actually came in second with a guess of $4,444. For those of you betting the over/under line of $4,300, the winning bet was over, although I’m not sure anyone was counting on the under, especially after the early bidding seemed to indicate a much higher price. Nor do I think anyone was actually betting. In any case, GST, I owe you a prize. Tomorrow I am heading up to my home in The Berkshires, where my duplicate records reside. Send me your email address to alatjazzcollectordotcom and I will offer you a few options. Once we have an arrangement, I’ll put a comment here on this post.
Why do you think this copy of 1568 sold for “only” $4619 ? Described as pristine and sold by a known high end seller.
I believe the over exposed photos had a negative effect on the bidding. The BLP 1568 cover and several others look like they have yellow aging/staining but this is not stated in the text descriptions. If you didn’t know what a straight shooter Fred is you might assume that since the covers look worse than described then maybe the record conditions may follow suit and be over graded. I really expected Mobley to go for over $5500…..
Well I kind of agree with Woody about the pictures not being good at all ( as I said in previous post). Heck my iPhone could do better. Anyway this “low” price is for a “2nd press” without the 23 and regardless what anyone is trying to say about labels the 23 is an earlier label. And furthermore at the end of the day $+4000 is a respectable handful of dough for an originally $3.98 record – right?
On a personal note I as a music lover and collector think that we all would be better off – if the market had not gone haywire with these obscene prices. It would certainly have been nicer to still have a chance at these fine items 😉 I really don’t care about if the value of the collectible items I have already purchased not going up – since I have no plans to sell them. So for me it is just getting harder and harder to get the goodies….
maybe 1568 is on it’s way down…haha…i think not !!
And also $643 for an United Artist re-pressing of Mobley is pretty good yes!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hank-Mobley-on-10-Blue-Note-/302294345938?hash=item466225a8d2:g:6K0AAOSw53NY~j2a
Thanks Al! E-mail sent.
I really wish I could have won that Moanin’ test pressing JRC had up for sale. I was way off on my guess on what that would go for. Perhaps test pressing are on the rise?
Hey, has anyone noticed that George Wallington lp on New Jazz. Made a jump this morning from $450 to $1150! One hour to go.
Obscene amount for a UA re-pressing, but as the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats (maybe yachts in the case of Blue Notes). May be the case here. Or an uninformed bidder.
that test pressing of BLP 4003 also seemed to go excessively high, unless I’m missing something.
More crazy prices for United Artist re-pressings:
Kenny Dorham – Afro Cuban: $425
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kenny-Dorham-Afro-Cuban-UA-Blue-Note-1535-Mono-Microgroove-NearMint-Hank-Mobley-/302280579564?hash=item46615399ec%3Ag%3A4Z0AAOSw%7ECFY7X9Q&nma=true&si=On1S0ziYsxDAdn%252B9svEFxPun1M4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Duke Pearson – Profile: $494
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duke-Pearson-Profile-UA-Blue-Note-4022-Mono-Microgroove-Near-Mint-/292083434320?hash=item4401878350%3Ag%3AhS4AAOSw4CFY7YDH&nma=true&si=On1S0ziYsxDAdn%252B9svEFxPun1M4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
And last but not least… $1850 for a “fake” Lex pressing – no DG and no ear, so in fact a Liberty pressing – of BN 1540 (Hank Mobley with Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan) !!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hank-Mobley-With-Donald-Byrd-amp-Lee-Morgan-NM-BLUE-NOTE-1540-LEX-RVG-MONO-SHRINK-/122434504180?hash=item1c81aa45f4%3Ag%3AVJIAAOSww3tY5r8P&nma=true&si=On1S0ziYsxDAdn%252B9svEFxPun1M4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
I must say, Fred typically gets great prices, and deservedly so. I’m surprised this didn’t break $5k, even with the label nonsense. Still, perhaps prices are falling a bit. Fred didn’t sell a nice 10” Tal Farlow blue note recently either, if a I recall, and the price was fairly reasonable.
Euclid has a run on 10 inch Blue Notes. Has 6 days to go on their auction, and the bidding hasn’t really started yet. Wonder if there are any “steals” to be had?
Woody made a great point about the overexposure of the photos keeping the price down. You need to take decent photos when selling an expensive lp. The photo of the label is severly overexposed and unacceptable. Another problem with the photos is… why aren’t the edges shown on the photo of the jacket? If I’m going to bid thousands of dollars on a record, I want to see those edges! Taking a photo of the entire jacket and having proper exposure isn’t brain surgery, it’s just common sense.
Yeah, as much as I like Fred and Bonnie I would agree that their eBay auctions aren’t all that visually enticing… or at least could be tweaked in order to get the “right” prices. But whatever, it’s their ship and can be steered however they want!
Besides the bad photos (I think they’re scans), I mentioned in another post that not having the album title, catalog number or other keywords in the auction title often prevents Fred’s auctions from coming up searches. Here are two copies of 1568 (no NY 23 label) that closed for nearly $1k more, I think largely due to better photos and keyword searchable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hank-Mobley-Hank-Mobley-Sublime-US-First-Press-Blue-Note-BLP-1568-RVG-Mono-/302235466953?hash=item465ea33cc9%3Ag%3AvLUAAOSwtfhYsjQA&nma=true&si=wX1mV%252FnabUiRkHcT5%252B6zFL8nWAA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HANK-MOBLEY-039-SELF-TITLE-039-BLUE-NOTE-1568-63RD-NYC-NO-039-R-039-/132127670541?hash=item1ec36c410d%3Ag%3AbrkAAOSw4A5YyHi-&nma=true&si=wX1mV%252FnabUiRkHcT5%252B6zFL8nWAA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
they certainly aren’t doing too bad for themselves. that office they rent for their store is not cheap, and they get nice prices pretty regularly.
Those are great examples posted by Aaron of how proper presentation equates to higher sales.
Bill W. – The ending price for the George Wallington kills me. I found a mint copy of New York Scene without a cover almost 20 years ago and thought I’d be able to find an off condition copy lp and by it for the cover…….still waiting. Only about 25 original copies vs over 250 1568’s show up on popsike so there must not be too many copies floating around.
A few years ago Fred published a monograph on how to identify first press Blue Notes. As I recall, he wrote that a first press of 1568 requires a NY23 on one label. So what happens next? He finds a clean example of what he formerly would have called a second press, and (conveniently) rewrites the rules just in time for the auction! In my opinion, this kind of ‘truthiness’ (thank you Mr Colbert), devalues jazz record collecting.
In Fred’s defense he did say this in an earlier post https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/sonny-clark-dexter-and-an-overunder-proposition-for-mobleys-blue-note-1568/
“You are correct that an up-coming auction will have 1568 with the early promo stamps on both W63 (no NY23) labels. Of course, knowing how little regard there was for consistency at the pressing plant, it may very well be a ridiculous and unanswerable question as to which pressing came first. But for those who stand by the NY23 as an “original” it may be time to reconsider their assumptions.
If there are any further printings of my book I will probably retain the NY23 as original, since I premised these designations on the presence of the earliest details, and the NY23 label fits that requirement.
Cordially,
Fred”
oh come on, paul. how many mobley’s have been seen on either label? data collection and historical archivism must be willing to change as new information come to light. fred is one of the most highly respected and trusted in the business. go look at bob djukic’s auctions if you want “truthiness”.
I’ve always felt 1568 comes up in top condition ‘too’ often for what is regarded as one of the
most collectable and ‘rarest’ LPs..
1568 with the NY23, (which no longer exclusively is the 1st pressing, probably never was, one run, different labels, all 1st pressings), is probably rarer than the W63 version. But Jackie Mclean on Ad Lib seems rarer than both 1568 versions. Almost never comes up for sale in great condition.
I have a Toshiko Mariano album on the Japanese Victor label from 1963 that has never even been on eBay…at least it can’t be found on Popsike or collectors frenzy. So probably “rarer” then 1568 but it’s not Hank Mobley on Blue Note so the crowd is not interested…
@Mark, exactly. It’s truly about hype rather than actual scarcity. Certainly the Mobley is a quality date with a beautiful cover but there are a lot of records that get my curiosity juices flowing more, uh, turgidly.
There are so many other Blue Notes just as rare or even more rare it seems. How often do you see Sonny’s Crib both sides NY23 for example?
i think it’s confirmation bias. we all take notice when 1568 comes up, but we don’t have a big thread like this for cool struttin’, usually.
On the subject of Blue Note rarities and Fredrik’s comment about a double NY23 copy of 1576 – in addition to a double NY23 of 1576, how often do you see for sale: (1) a deep groove 47 West 63rd copy of 1597, or (2) a flat edge pressing of 1555 (which is not even included in Fred’s book, but does exist), or (3) a copy of 1575 with a Side 2 New York 23 label, or (4) a copy of 1577 with a Side 2 New York 23?
Those are four Blue Note LP pressing/label variations that seemingly come up for sale far less frequently than a New York 23 copy of 1568, but 1568 is still king from a hype standpoint, which certainly drives the price (along with its relative rarity). What makes 1568 worth more than these four or five very rare LPs (at least by Blue Note standards)? Nothing, other than the fact that there are collectors willing to pay more, which is simply the reality of the market.
BTW, GST opted for a book as his prize, Listen to the Stories by Nat Hentoff. A worthy choice, IMHO. I put it in the mail yesterday.
The Euclid 10 inch Blue Notes are still in the $50-$130 range today on EBAY. Got about 2-3 hours left.
Thanks Al! Can wait to read it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hank-Mobley-on-10-Blue-Note-/302294345938?hash=item466225a8d2:g:6K0AAOSw53NY~j2a
$643 for a United Artists Hank 10? on the May 1st Jazz Record Center auction –
what a record !
I cannot remember any Blue Note UA pressing soars so high !!
Dear JRock1675 (and all): I own EX copies of 1568 NY23, 1575 w/Side 1 NY23, 1576/double NY23, and 1577 w/Side 1 NY23. But I would *kill* for a nice condition 1597 deep groove 47 West 63 – does *anyone* out there in Jazz Collector Land have any ideas where I might find one?…
@caroline – I have a NM deep groove copy of 1597. If I locate another or decide to sell it, I will let you know. My gmail is just my handle here plus gmail dot com.
I meant “can’t wait” of course.
Also I’m I the only one here that can’t remember a title just based on catalogue number?
Jrock1675: It’s a deal! Please let me know 🙂 caroline dot somerset at hotmail dot com
dang, caroline. i know jrock has a really nice collection and you must have one too.
Regarding the finding 1568 with two promo stamps and no NY23: It’s not relevant in deciding the matter of the earliest first press. As many of us are well aware, BN sometimes released promos considerably later than when the first press run hit the record shops.
I’ve owned both label variations, and I’ve always assumed they were from the same press run. I commend Fred for his scholarly efforts. My main point is that scholarship needs to be separated from commerce. Witness our current situation at the White House.
speaking of Mobley. I have a 1544 for sale and have it listed for 750 on ebay. I have played the album there are no skips some slight warping in the vinyl but no affect on the sound. I would love to have some input of whether this is priced correctly??
Thank you in advance!!
Sam