Updating the $1,000 Bin (And Then Some)
Some of you have beaten me to the punch on this, but let’s all catch up on some of those heavy-duty auctions that closed yesterday, starting with Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was the one from the Leon Leavitt collection, in unplayed condition for the vinyl and pristine condition for the cover. It was sort of a first press, with the deep grooves, West 63rd address but not the NY 23 on side two. Read the comments on the earlier post for details and opinions. Anyway, at one point this one had a buy-it-now price of $5,000 and I suggested someone should just jump in and take it, but then the buy-it-now option disappeared from the listing. Good decision by the seller. This one sold for $5,600. There were 20 bids but, incredibly, nearly 1,900 page views, which to my recollection is the most I’ve ever seen for any jazz record. This is also the highest price for a jazz record we’ve ever recorded at the Jazz Collector Price Guide.
This seller did quite well last week with stuff from Leon Leavitt’s collection don’t you think? Here are a few more:
Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. It was also described as unplayed condition for the vinyl and pristine for the cover. It sold for $3,650. Wow. Also, Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. The description on this was somewhat hyperbolic, perhaps: “A perfect copy, undoubtedly the best in the world.” Perhaps there’s a cleaner copy on Mars. This one sold for $2,948. One more: This one was also unplayed, pristine an a one in a million copy, although, again, if there were a million of these pressed in the first place, it wouldn’t be worth so much money. Perhaps a one in 2,000 would be more accurate. Just kidding, you know: Dizzy Reece, Blues In Trinity, Blue Note 4006. This one sold for a mere $1,350.
Incredible prices!
The seller did everything right I guess and the items are probably pristine. But personally I’m not too keen on the descriptions that states for instance that the albums are handpicked from 14 examples based on sound quality and at the same time the item is “unplayed”. Hmmm….a bit contradictionary…
But at the end of the day I’m just a bit sad that fine records sell for so much these days. It is more about money than musical taste and interest. I wonder if not investment people already has entered the market?
There were 240 watchers for the Mobley. Only 116 for the Hipp.
Hi,
you are right. Amazing auction.
Would be interested to know how much worths HM 1568 in the same condition with NY 23 on side 2?
I don’t know about this Colossus3 seller. If you look at his feedback left for others (read: comments he left after he himself bought something), then you can see that he is buying crop loads of classic 78rpm records, 2nd world war military clothes and an occasional jazz, soul or Beatles record. And then he owns all these jazz holy grails from Leon Levitt, that he just sells. I just don’t get it. Or he’s just simply making money to buy more classic 78s and world war outfits. Am I the only one who feels weird about it? Or am I still just too much of a rookie here? I know my gut feeling ain’t rookie and although he’s selling the cream of the crop, I just think it’s strange to know that he claims to have ‘taken’ records from Levitt for almost two decades, while at the same time his only interest is in buying tons of classic 78s from, mostly, the German Telefunken label. Why take so many jazz holy grails from Levitt’s collection if you’re only interested in classic 78s?
by further investigating (I know, I know I should feel bad !), it appears that the seller was involved in the greatest jazz records swindle in ebay. Remember our brazilian friend Nautiluso ?
I do have most original pressings he offered, but not picked from Levitt’s. Anyway I keep them, they’re my 401k I can listen to !
Good night.
Ok, criticize me folks, but why would you pay $5,600 for a record you could never play without decreasing the value? To me, the joy in records is playing them, not filing them away as some kind of investment. Paying this much for a record is stupid. Give me a 92 cent record from Record Surplus in LA any day (like the 1958 Cannonball Adderley “Things Are Getting Better” Riverside disc I picked up there 2 weeks ago)……
Mattyman, you bring up a good point, why would a seller as “savvy” as this pay $177 for a second pressing of Al Green’s Call Me from our friend bobdjukic no less?
Aaron: my thoughts indeed. Look, it’s clear that he’s selling top dollar jazz LPs and he’s obviously making a profit here. But that whole Levitt story is just a crock if you ask me. If it’s true that Levitt allowed him to simply flip through his best of the best copies, then it’s clear this guy just took what would sell big sometime in the future without any interest in the music and/or the records in question. And @ Jazzaficionado above: if you are right, then I’d like to ask you to elaborate on that swindle/nautiloso story! 😉
Hey,folks-my feeling is that it doesn’t matter at ALL as to the “why” of this particular seller. The only thing that matters is whether or not we feel the record is worth it($$)to US,and if we plan on bidding on it as a consequence. Face it,if I had some of that stash,I’d hold out for the big bucks,too! My 70’s clipped corner,mono,blue/white UA issue of Dizzy Reece “Starbight” sounds pretty darn good. If I came across an original tommorrow,you better believe it would be ‘ebayed’ pronto. All the speculation about “why would he” and “how COULD he” sounds at times like sour grapes(sour gripes?). I should be so lucky..
That Al Green is just comical–$177! I love those records too—but, $10, maybe $20 (stretch) for a super clean copy, right?
Who knows what the guy had into the Mobley. Either way he had a goldmine that, to me anyway, is too pristine and valuable too really enjoy. I can totally understand why someone cash out on it. Unless you’re going to keep every LP forever you need to do it eventually. I would figure that anyone spending anything over $100, let alone thousands, is looking at it (at least partially) as an investment.
I agree that $5,600 is a large amount of money but I bet the collectors bidding on these records make a good but more than me. Whether they listen to it or not is another matter, but I don’t judge. Some people live in a world of jets, boats, and unplayed Blue Note first pressings. It sounds nice to me.
Maybe y’all are right. Maybe I just shouldn’t bother trying to figure sellers out in the first place 😉