Shades of a Dilemma
Here is one of the dilemmas in doing Jazz Collector and being a jazz collector at the same time. In the course of perusing eBay for the site, I sometimes run into records that I may want myself. Do I write about them or do I watch them in silence, place my bid and pray like everyone else? Here’s a case in point: Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This seems to be an original pressing and it looks to be in very nice condition, at least VG++ and perhaps even better. The current price is just $70. The only copy I own of this record is a Japanese pressing. Actually, I own two Japanese pressings because it is one of my favorite records. I also own the Mosaic CD, but that is beside the point. The point is I would like to own an original pressing. I mean, that is why we’re here, isn’t it? Anyway, I’m sure this will
eventually get up in the $500-plus range and I will lose interest, but what if I saw this item and wanted to take a risk and bid. Should I write about it? Should I be silent? Hmmmm. We’ll see what happens in the future. For this record once I push the “Publish” button it’s too late, isn’t it?
Maybe the Thailand seller location could explain the low price?
Al: I have sympathy for your reluctance to bid, but I encourage you to do so, you cannot be a prisoner of the system you created yourself.
I see your point, and in fact had mused a few weeks back that this was the very reason we didn’t hear about that jazz auction you phoned into until after it ended! I say go ahead and bid on Redd; competition from the band of fanatics here is miniscule compared to what you’re facing from the world at large. Good luck!
The price won’t be so low, in the end. It’s already over $200 and there are still more than two days left, so it will slip out of my price range anyway. The real dilemma is not whether I should bid but why do I even consider bidding when (1) I am trying to reduce the size of my collection (2) I already have two copies of this on LP and another on CD, all of which sound perfectly fine. But, of course, we all know the answer to that question because we have all been there many times before.
Hope some of the folks reading this have a chance to catch Redd at Small’s this weekend!