This is one of interest to me: Fred Astaire, the Astaire Story on Mercury. This is the original 1952 limited edition boxed set, number 224 out of 1,384, signed by Fred Astaire. The seller has listed the entire package in M- condition. The start price is $700 and the auction closes a few hours from whence I am typing this. There is a buy-it-now price of $1,000. So far there are no bidders. When I first started collecting jazz, this was a highly desired piece, often selling for more than $1,000 back when $1,000 could have bought you several rare Blue Notes. Times change. Fred Astaire was once an icon. Now, who knows, is there any name recognization for a star whose career peaked in the 1930-to-1950 time frame? And the music on this package is not going to wow anyone interested in the 1960s Blue Note catalog. Ah, well. I have my copy and I intend to keep it.

Finally, below we have a cartoon, courtesy of my friend Danny (he didn’t do it, he just sent it):

When I first started collecting, this boxed set was considered one of the top jazz collectibles: The Astaire Story on the Mercury label issued by Norman Granz. It is truly a beautiful, limited edition set, with original photos, original drawings by David Stone Martin, 4 records and a genuine Fred Astaire signature. Of course, we are now in a time when anyone under 30 probably never heard of Fred Astaire, and the jazz musicians who accompanied him on this record in 1952 are also mostly out of vogue even among aficionados like us. Guys like Flip Phillips and Charlie Shavers. The seller of this copy put a start price of $799 on the record, but there were no bids. If you look at Popsike, the highest price recorded for this record was $1,826, back in 2005. The prices have been going down since. As a point of reference, you may want to look at this post we did back in 2017: Is There a “50-Year Rule” for Jazz Vinyl? That post generated more than 40 comments and I imagine this one will generate some discussion as well.

This used to be an item that would regularly sell for more than $1,000 and often more than $2,000, but its value seemed to have been dropping in the past few years: Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story. This is the beautiful bound set that includes the four records, David Stone Martin Prints, photos, booklet and, of course, the original Astaire signature. This one looked to be in beautiful condition and sold for $1,009.

One more that we don’t often track here at Jazz Collector:

Oscar Pettiford, My Little Cello, Debut 132. This looks to be an original Danish pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+.  The price was $153.50.

I was keeping on eye on this record on eBay: Charlie Parker, Dial 202. It struck me that there are few of the Bird records that have the same cachet as collectibles, and perhaps even as music, as they did when I started getting into jazz 4o or so years ago. At that time, Bird was, well, Bird, and there was nobody more important. Finding an original Bird Savoy or an original Bird Mercury or Clef was a nice score. Not so much anymore. Anyway, this particular record, a 10-incher, has been bid up to more than $150, so somewhere there is still strong interest, which, to me, is a good thing.

Blue Mitchell, Blue Soul, Riverside 309. This was one of the ones from the recent bobdjukic auction. It was listed in VG++ condition for both the vinyl and the cover and it looked to be an original deep groove, blue label pressing. It sold for $275. One of the reasons I was watching this is that I just bought another small collection and a nice original mint copy of this record was in the batch. There were also a few original Blue Notes so, if I ever get back to selling records on eBay, I’ll have some nice items to start with . . . . or if I have Jazz Collector readers come to the house, as previously proposed.

Harry Carney With Strings, Clef 640. This looked to be an original pressing, although there was no picture of the label, with a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and sold for $110.50. You have to wonder how much longer there will be a market for Harry Carney LPs. Case in point: The Astaire Story. This was the original Mercury boxed set in beautiful condition, signed by Astaire, with the Stone Martin illustrations and the exclusive photos. In M- condition, this would have sold for somewhere in the range of $2,000 just a few years ago. Now, the seller had a start price of $800 and there were no bidders.

Bill Perkins, Just Friends, Pacific Jazz 401. This was an original pressing, featuring Art Pepper and Richie Kamuca. The record looked to be M- and the cover was VG+. The price was $113.50.

Zoot Sims and Bob Brookmeyer, Whooeeee, Storyville 914. This was an original pressing that was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $170.27.

Jackie McLean, Lights Out, Prestige 7035. This was an original New York pressing with the deep groove and heavy vinyl. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. It did not have a flat edge, according to an answer to a questioner, but I’m not sure that doesn’t mean it wasn’t original. Anyway, the price was $639.49.

Phil Woods, Warm Woods, Epic 3436. This was an original pressing and it was listed in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. The price was $495.

Zoot Sims, Zoot, Riverside 228. This was an original white label pressing and it was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price was $413.

Here are a few we were watching the other day:

The Astaire Story. This was the boxed set on Mercury that was almost-but-not-quite complete. It had a start price of $899 and wound up not getting any bids. I still have my nice original complete set if anyone is interested. . . Kenny Drew, This Is New, Riverside 236. This was an original white label pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $152.50, right in the previous price range for this record. It’s one of those that’s like a Blue Note but not a Blue Note so it doesn’t fetch Blue Note prices. Finally, this is one that did not reach its reserve price: George Wallington, Jazz For the Carriage Trade, Prestige 7032. The vinyl was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The top bid was $211.10 but there was no sale.

Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story, Mercury 1001 1004. Most of you are probably familiar with this set, produced by Norman Granz in the early 1950s.  There were 1,384 copies produced, all autographed by Astaire, and the set came with four LPs, a booklet with exclusive photos and a set of drawings by David Stone Martin. The music is all jazz even though Astaire was not a “jazz singer,” and the sidemen include many of the greats within the Granz stable, such as Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Ray Brown, Barney Kessel, Charlie Shavers. Anyway, it is quite a nice set and used to regularly sell in the $2,000 range. Our top price in the Jazz Collector Price Guide is

$2,025. Anyway, I noticed this one sitting out there on eBay with a start price of $899 and I’ve been watching it. I also noticed that one of the drawings seems to be missing, so that would definitely impact the price, not having the complete set. I do have a nice copy of this set — complete — and would consider selling it for the right price, which would be in the aforementioned $2,000 range. If anyone is interested, just send me an emal, al@jazzcollector.com.

Here’s another one that, surprisingly, has no bids: Kenny Drew, This is New, Riverside 236. This is an original white label pressing and the vinyl is in M- condition. The cover has a few flaws and looks to be at least VG+. The start price is around $150. We’d expect someone to grab it at that price, but you never know — that’s about the price range at which we’ve tracked the record in the past.

I was away with hardly any access to the Internet and I wasn’t on eBay all of last week. Just for the fun of it, and to see if I missed anything significant, this morning I did a search through completed jazz auctions for all items that sold for more than $1,000. To my surprise, there wasn’t that much. Here’s what I found:

Tina Brooks, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing in what looked like very nice condition. Price: $1,703.30

Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story, Clef 1001. This is the complete boxed set, signed and autographed by Astaire. Price: $1,826. It so happens, I also have a copy of this, in comparable condition. If anyone is interested I’d sell it for $1,750. Contact me alperlman@hotmail.com.

 The final $1,000-plus item was this:  The Jacques Pelzer Quartet in Italy, on the Italian Centra label. I had never seen or heard of this record and, according to the dealer, there were only 200 or so copies pressed. This one received a top bid of $1,226, but still failed to meet the seller’s reserve price. Perhaps it will appear again.