Comments on: Sealed Records: To Bid Or Not To Bid?

By: Henrik

Henrik — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:19:02 +0000

During a couple of years in the 70’s I visited, on a weekly basis, this particular shop selling HIFI and records. This was in Uppsala in Sweden. They had bougt a BIG stock of mainly cut outs from the US. Once every week they went to their ware house and brought a new bunch of records to the store – every time several thousands. These records was to 95% sealed (and often cut outs). Records was mostley from the 60s and 70s but also a few from the 50s, such as original Savoys. But in some cases when I opened a sealed record it was used. I am convinced that some record distributors (or record companies) actually re-sealed some of the records that came back in return (unsold) from the stores around the US. So I guess you could actually find a few still tight sealed original 50’s record. But they have been re-sealed.
This shop by the way was a record collectors dream. Every Wednesday – the day they had new records from the ware house – a small que was standing in line outside the door waiting for opening. You could find anything! And they charged approx 60 cent per lp. I just wish I had had more money at the time. Records was unpacked and you had to unpack the boxes your self. One time the guy standing next to me got lucky when he opened a full box of sealed Velvet Underground Lps – with the banana cover. My best find was 10 copies of Tripsichord, special priced at 25 cents.

By: Rudolf A. Flinterman

Rudolf A. Flinterman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:29:24 +0000

Al: what you are saying is true too. I have bought first pressing Riversides in New York in the late sixties in shink wraps. They were authentic first pressings. So the question is “who wrapped them?”. Most probably a dealer.

By: Al

Al — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:17:52 +0000

Yes, Rudolf, I see what you are saying. I understand that the seals are not authentic or original. However, I have seen situations where, even with factory seals of a later vintage, the records within them have been original pressings. I just sold a Jimmy Heath on Riverside that was like that, and I recently bought a sealed Herb Ellis on Verve that was like that as well.

By: Rudolf A. Flinterman

Rudolf A. Flinterman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:14:30 +0000

Al: I am 100 % sure that Prestige, Blue Note, Riverside and Verve came originally without factory seals. Savoy came with baggy plastic seals. The cellophane shrink wrappings did not exist. They only came later in the sixties/seventies. So the tight seals which you bought are later wrappings of original material done by a dealer or even the factory. But these seals are not authentic.

By: Al

Al — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:43:35 +0000

A lot of people seem fairly confident that the ones with the tight seals could not have been originals, but I have purchased many records in my time, on Riverside, Verve, Savoy and even Prestige, that were original 1960 or even 1950s pressings in a tight seal. Perhaps they were released by the record label at a later time — would they hold back and keep some original pressings? But I’ve definitely had the experience. It would have been nice to have won one of these records — I actually bid on two of them, but didn’t win — to find out. I’ve always been a bit of a gambler.

By: michel

michel — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:52:19 +0000

Well, 203 $ was a fair eventually a big price for this “sealed but what’s inside ?” record. It is actually the price of the bet…

By: Geraint

Geraint — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:42:32 +0000

The seller of the above makes much noise about his great feedback in his listings and yet has only 4 feedback ratings as a seller (the most recent from more than a year ago!). “Breathtakingly mint”, “luminous and glowing”, “shiny gorgeous vinyl” – methinks he doth over-puff his wares; another seller to be skeptical about?

By: Rudolf A. Flinterman

Rudolf A. Flinterman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:12:15 +0000

interesting bunch of records. However, apart from the “Nightingale” vocal record, which looks original with its “baggy” wrap, these records in their “original shrink wrap” are not original first pressings. They may be original second pressings, but no guarantee.

By: Jason Sweet

Jason Sweet — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:31:05 +0000

Whenever I see a an lp pre-1970s labeled as shrink-wrapped a red flag goes up. Mostly because I was under the impression that lps, especially from the 1950s were not wrapped. Also, I find it hard to believe that the seller has so many wrapped lps that survived 50+ years without any damage to the wrap (i.e. tears, yeallowing, etc.). These must be recent repros.