Comments on: Some Top Collectibles, Some Top Prices

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:30:33 +0000

Shaft, I concur. $3000 is a nice chunk of change.

By: Shaft

Shaft — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:19:51 +0000

Hello,
If I would sell a $3000 record I would find the time to play grade it 😉
/Shaft

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:18:41 +0000

Nick, I agree that I like the way Fred does it the best. It is more objective. You can’t take the subjectivity out of record grading unfortunately, but I think Goldmine is a good attempt. Most dealers just don’t use it, or don’t use it properly.
Most people don’t expect a play grade on every record, it’s just not feasible. I can play grade my own collection but any mid-size plus operation deals with too many records.
I always expect a record I shell out big bucks for to sound perfect and they never do, but that’s just me being irrational. All that can be asked from a dealer is a quality description, so that your expectations are in line with what you are getting. There are plenty good dealers out there, unfortunately there are even more bad ones.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 13:41:14 +0000

As a former dealer and a collector grading is a subject of debate for years. If you look at 78rpm dealers they seem to grade E+ E VG+ VG. Goldmine standards for lp’s is the best. When selling records I believe you should define what mint, near mint, vg++, vg+ and vg means to you in your ads. In my life I have gone thru hundreds of thousands of records.. I purchased records right out of warehouses that were sealed. And many times these records were not mint or near mint they were vg+. Most of us see what we want to>
see. Fred grades the best way, he examines the record and than lists what he see’s. Now as for listening to each record! As a collector Yes this is possible, but as a dealer this to me was impossible with all the records I had it would have taking 5 life times of non stop playing (lol)

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:40:26 +0000

My two cents worth: The seller’s records will always look better to him than to the buyer’s eyes. The buyer will take an excessively harsh view of grading. I find the truth lays somewhere in the middle…and to comprehend this you need to have been both a seller and buyer in the past…Suffice to say that record grading remains (and will always) be an excessively subjective and disputed art form!!

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:21:14 +0000

I agree Zarabeth. I would think that the splotches taking it down to VG++, and then the pressing defect with audible tick take it down to VG+. Honestly though, I would love to have it. I’m betting that besides the ticks it sounds nice for a mid-50s pressing.
Honestly, I prefer the way that Fred explains the flaws in the record as opposed to grading them. I think that many sellers overgrade. If we can have a nice neat standard that all sellers follow, I’d rather the seller just give me the info and I’ll decide for my self.

By: zarabeth47

zarabeth47 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:55:50 +0000

The seller also says there is 2 ticks to one side at opening caused by press defect on 1550(Sir Mobley) ++ or +? + in my book. It can’t be ++ with a permanent defect. BUT …. IT’S RARE! I just picked up a UA stereo 1540 (Sir Mobley man again!) for $10! Works for now I guess!

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:23:15 +0000

Completely unrelated though but are Blue Note 45s (and for that matter other jazz pressings on 45) worth anything? If so what should I be looking for? Cheers, Matt

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:05:54 +0000

Nick, I appreciate your opinion. Does anyone else have an opinion. I’ve always thought of a record with splotches and no other defects to be VG++ on the goldmine scale. I also tend to go for records with light splotches because they tend to play better than they look. Obviously this is a generality, as we all no with records it can look great and play like crap and vice versa.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:21:31 +0000

Mike
Fred Made this adjustment to this listing
My apologies to bidders. This is an early pressing with a beaded rim, not an original with a flat rim. As for splotches I would grade it as VG+