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Early pressing vs Special edition w/ limited quantity?


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A buddy of mine has been helping me a great deal with the purchase of my new house. He's collecting colored vinyl and I wish to get him something for his collection but I don't know much about vinyl.

As the title says, this is where I'm stuck. What matters the most to a collector: A first pressing, or a special edition with limited quantity? Or is there no good answer, as it'll vary from one collector to the next?

Concretely, this is the choice I need to make for the specific record I'd like to get him:
A> 1st pressing - QTY: 2110
B> 3rd pressing - Holiday Exclusive (different colors) - QTY: 336
C> 5th pressing - 10th Anniversary (different color) - QTY: 100

I appreciate your expertise on this.

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I'd say it varies from person to person; I personally don't put too much stock in first pressings or anything like that, but I know that some hold them in higher regard, considering they become more and more rare as time goes on. How that stacks against something that is much more limited and newer is a personal preference. 

 

If I was in your shoes, I agree with the post above: B or C. bonus points if the packaging/artwork is non-standard

Edited by Coast
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I value a first pressing more than a limited one only if I have fond memories of the record on its release. Something about knowing that this particular item was in circulation when I loved the album adds value for me.

 

Also,  take into account the color. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Does it go with the album cover? It's really up to personal preference. Maybe slyly ask these questions and see what they value.

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7 minutes ago, Arkofthewild said:

If you didn't happen to already have the Blue/Yellow or the Red/Green, would you still go with Teal for your own collection?

If I had to spend money, I would still go with the teal.  But if I didn't have to spend the money, I would buy the cheapest or, more likely, I would wait for the next press.

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22 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Great question, and I wish I had a friend like you that put that much thought into buying me a gift! I'd also go with B or C, leaning towards C just because of the smaller quantity.

lol Thanks! I happen to be a collector as well, just not vinyl. I greatly value the details of what I collect, such as condition, editions, rarity, or even history/context. I guess that's why I want to do the research, to find the best option available :)

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To me it depends on how modern the LP is. Something form lets say the 1980s, I want a first pressing over a recent reissue (colored or not). Deluxe copies with EXTRAS are the only exception were a reissue becomes more desirable for older LPs. But something say that came out 3 years ago, I could care less about 1st, 2nd, 3rd....

 

this is likely of much help, but I am sure they will be happy with any of those. But I echo, in this case go with the latter two, with last option being best, and likely most expensive...

Edited by nelso330
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I'll toss in my 2 cents. I will seek out the best sounding pressing first, seeing if there is a 45rpm cut, a pressing mastered from the original tapes, or if it's an album not that old, a pressing specifically mastered for vinyl. If nothing like that exists, and all pressings are coming off the same plate, then I'll look for most limited next. However, if one of the variants goes perfectly with the artwork, then I'll prioritize that over rarity. 

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I thought about this some more and I think I would go for the teal. The teal will likely be the most difficult to find, it's the special Dine Alone exclusive with the obistrip, and will likely be the most limited variant.  The Christmas would be my last choice because it was kind of part of a series where DA released all of the C&C records on the holiday colors. 

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1 hour ago, Buffbloom said:

I thought about this some more and I think I would go for the teal. The teal will likely be the most difficult to find, it's the special Dine Alone exclusive with the obistrip, and will likely be the most limited variant.  The Christmas would be my last choice because it was kind of part of a series where DA released all of the C&C records on the holiday colors. 

Agreed for the teal, it does sound appealing. My only reservation about it was that, as the 10th Anniversary name implies, it was obviously produced at a later time than the original pressings (heck, that 5th pressing isn't even on the City and Colour's pressing history for Sometimes. I'm assuming it just was never updated with this pressing, years later). I wasn't sure if this would affect its desirability upwards or downwards.

Thanks for the extra info on the Holiday colors, I didn't know that. The fact that every record was re-released under that theme makes it a bit less unique I suppose.

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Thanks everyone for your input!

 

I can fully appreciate the argument that for older records (~80's), first pressing may be more sought after.
Same goes for the plates used, although with this particular music group, I can't speculate about sound quality among the different pressings, nor do I have any information regarding the plates used so I can't really put this in the equation.


With that said, I was already leaning with most comments that the limited variants are more appealing and you guys pretty much validated that, so I've gone with option C> the 10th Anniversary variant (Dine Alone exclusive, teal colored, limited to 100). :)

 

Thank you again, this meant a great deal to me.

I've created this account for the sole purpose of this request. I wasn't sure I was going to get any replies but you guys seem to have an active and respectful community. It almost makes me want to start a vinyl collection... ;)

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For Sometimes you want option D

 

https://www.discogs.com/City-And-Colour-Sometimes/release/2832918

 

This was the initial pressing released on Record Store Day, hand numbered out of 500, has a unique cover. May be black but it is still pretty cool with the hand numbering and different cover.  I remember Sunrise Records had tons of them on that RSD way back in 2011.

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