I recently acquired around 20 sealed albums that I believe are from the 70's. Is there anyway to nail down a date without being able to access the runouts? I've checked Discogs to the best of my abilities but there are so many variants. I can post pictures if it's helpful.
EDIT: Pictures of some of the albums. https://imgur.com/a/pVdG4
Posted Sep 22, 2017, 1:14 AM UTC · edited
Possibly, but not likely. You'll probably have to open them to get the exact pressing details in a lot of cases. Which isn't a bad thing. In doing so, you'll be able to verify the condition.
I won't be opening them, these are factory sealed so condition shouldn't be an issue. If it comes down to it I'll just get as close as I can.
I won't be opening them, these are factory sealed so condition shouldn't be an issue.
Famous last words. Two things:
(1) Sealed records can be warped.
(2) Unsealed (ie used or defective) records can be resealed.
I'm not saying you should open them ... just be ready to give out some refunds.
Do these records happen to have a notch or hole in the cover? Those are called cutouts. They were deleted overstock, sold in bulk at a discount price. They'll be originals, but see the list above (especially the bit about defectives). If the shrink is OVER the notch or hole, that's a cause for concern.
Got photos? I'll be glad to pontificate on them.
You're right ... not cutouts. Evidence suggests they're probably from 1980-ish, give or take a couple years.
(1) The "A" designation on the Musicland price stickers indicated lower-priced catalog items.
(2) The "Nice Price" stickers and "Platinum Plus" stamp (from the record companies) indicated the same.
(3) The two Warner Bros. albums were full price (marked "C") but I suspect that's just a Warner Bros. thing - ie they didn't mark down their old catalog stuff as enthusiastically as the other labels.
So, are they original pressings or not? Hard to say. They may be redistributed leftovers or they may be represses. The two "Nice Price" albums are definitely represses -b/c the catalog number doesn't have letters in front of it. The others don't have any strong indicators one way or the other, but I have my doubts that originals would still be in circulation by the time the "Nice Price" line was introduced. (OK, maybe the Rush?)
Here's the thing though: Those suckers are moldy. So you ain't gonna get much for them.
Sometime the place where they were printed can tell you the time frame within 1 or 2 pressings. I had to do that with some beatles albums recently
Thanks for the idea, I'll look into that.
Well, pictures sure wouldnt hurt. My "expertise" is kind of limited to Pink Floyd, and even then it is kind of tricky to nail down precise issue from cover alone (but not impossible in some cases), but Im sure there are others in here would be good at giving it a go as well.
Any barcodes? I know the Discogs app allows you to scan them so you could maybe start there to help narrow it down.
records didn't have barcodes in the 70s
If the albums are definitely from the 70s they would not have any barcodes which did not start to have a mainstream uptake till 80s
Unfortunately not, most of them seem to be pre barcode.
They aren't cutouts. They have the record store where they were purchased sticker still on the plastic so I don't believe they were overstock. I'll upload so pictures tonight, I'll be spending all day studying for an exam. I appreciate the help!
Are you planning to sell them?
Yes, I own a store.