Derek™ Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 32 minutes ago, dlc3172 said: I believe vinyl collectors would want first presses for the same reason that book collectors would want first editions and for the same reason that baseball card collectors want rookie cards. It's the "first" of something, so for most collectors, it's the version they want. That’s fine and all… but at the end of the day, there is music on these things. I kind of view them closer to CDs than trading cards. As far as functionality goes, anyway. This argument doesn’t apply to the (many) scenarios where a 1st press was actually handled with more love and care than a cash-grab repress. I totally get the draw there. But ultimately if I can do an A:B comparison between an OG copy from 1983 and a 2023 press, and they each sound comparable, I’m gonna’ shell out $30 for a clean copy that hasn’t been handled for 40 years. But like Randy mentioned above, superior sound quality is often tied to OG presses, especially with classic metal records… so I completely grasp that. I just think there’s a lot of cases where a record may be pressed in ‘83, then ‘85, then ‘99, and then 2023… and of those, the 2023 may be trash, but the 80s and 90s presses would all sound comparably good. If I had a ‘99 press, I wouldn’t feel like I needed an OG ‘83 copy, but I know people who don’t agree. I guess that’s all I'm getting at. I know my view on it isn’t accepted by all collectors or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillybhatesme Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 @Derek™ You also mentioned something kind of interesting earlier too, not necessarily at play in OP's scenario, but relevant when comparing first presses to represses. Sometimes represses come with additional material, like new artwork, demos, re-recorded tracks, etc. So the "first press" aspect of owning an old record becomes even more nuanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowty Dollaz Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 @Derek™ I share your take completely. But also not "completely" because I collect first presses for Against Me and The Lawrence Arms. Otherwise I only care about sound quality. (And cool splatturz!) Derek™ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowty Dollaz Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 I also think that OP had a genuine question and came to the right place to learn a little, not just collect data. Welcome new folks! esbe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostOfRandySavage Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 1 hour ago, Fowty Dollaz said: I also think that OP had a genuine question and came to the right place to learn a little, not just collect data. Welcome new folks! I'm with you. This one felt sincere to me (and it looks like most folks here) so they didn't get the snark brigade. Plus a bunch of people learned that you can search matrices on discogs, and I'm glad they did. It's the only way I search when I'm adding stuff now, especially older stuff. lexicondevil, Han Solo, Fowty Dollaz and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowty Dollaz Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 29 minutes ago, TheGhostOfRandySavage said: Plus a bunch of people learned that you can search matrices on discogs, and I'm glad they did. It's the only way I search when I'm adding stuff now, especially older stuff. Yeah, I took a shot on searching matrices one day for some classic rock hand-me-downs. I was thrilled it worked because those are nightmarish to sort through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skycriesmary Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Great topic. I'm glad someone brought it up, newbie or OG, it doesn't matter. Yeah, I've always wondered how much the difference in pressing plants and runs matter if it's from the original year as far as price goes. I'm sure it matters if there's a much larger run at one than another, but how would you find that out anyway? It's not like there's a guide out there to let you know how many were printed at each plant. I do wish there was another source besides Discogs that you could look up scarce variations, and one-offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek™ Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 2 hours ago, TheGhostOfRandySavage said: I'd definitely trade off my Baroness - Red 1st press though. Don't care much about that. Baller press of a baller record. 2 hours ago, phillybhatesme said: @Derek™ You also mentioned something kind of interesting earlier too, not necessarily at play in OP's scenario, but relevant when comparing first presses to represses. Sometimes represses come with additional material, like new artwork, demos, re-recorded tracks, etc. So the "first press" aspect of owning an old record becomes even more nuanced. Yeah, I think I called that out though. I have OG copies of stuff that I chose to not sell off or "upgrade" because the reissues contain more content (I wasn't interested in) spread across the same number of discs, or switched up the album art, and thus there's some added value in holding onto - or desiring - the 1st press. I think the best example to support where I'm coming from is Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights. As a disclaimer, I will say that I've never owned an OG press from 2002. I'm sure it sounds at least serviceable, since pressing plants gave a bit more of a shit about their product in the early 00s. Discogs reviews had been hit-or-miss for it – not that I treat those as a beaming source of truth – and subsequent represses just seemed to sound worse and worse, including Newbury's fancy splatter variant from 2017. That version was pretty desirable for collector's, but sounded like butt. Then in 2022, a whole 20 years after the album debuted on vinyl, it finally got a double LP press handled through Vinyl Me Please. 45 RPM. Beautiful, sturdy packaging. I know there's a boxset version of that record (which still features the album on 1 LP), so from a perspective of actually enjoying the music and packaging, that VMP press is the definitive one for me. But despite that, even a year later, there are people seeking OG copies. Someone paid $117 for a copy just last weekend. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but that'll never compute for me. Anyways. Hopefully no one misconstrued my tone or anything in this thread. OP was coherent and presented a fair-enough question. That's a lot more than we get from brand new accounts on VC anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 I will say, OG pressings do tend to make good bowls scottheisel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek™ Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 22 minutes ago, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said: I will say, OG pressings do tend to make good bowls When it comes to bowls there is actually no point in using anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han Solo Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 30 minutes ago, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said: I will say, OG pressings do tend to make good bowls How else am I supposed to eat my cereal ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youspinmeround Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 (edited) 11 hours ago, Han Solo said: How else am I supposed to eat my cereal ? My milk always leaked out of the spindle hole so I only eat dry cereal now Edited November 9, 2023 by youspinmeround Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillybhatesme Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 I prefer dry cereal and I'm prepared to die on this hill. mitchard and Tommy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daiei Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 I wish Discogs had a numerical rating system which would be more sophisticated than just the star ranking (or do they and I don't know about it?). This way you could sort through a title's variants by ranking and hopefully find the general consensus on the best sounding pressing. mitchard and Tommy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faaip de oiad Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 There is quite a bit of info on this subject matter in the Hoffman forums. They talk about this EVERYDAY... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardlineKid Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 I only really care about first pressings when it's a huge nostalgia record for me, and I was a fan of it on day one. I like knowing that these records have existed for about as long as I've loved the music. The two examples that come to mind are Deja Entendu and Good Mourning. It'd be nice to own those some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 1 hour ago, HardlineKid said: I only really care about first pressings when it's a huge nostalgia record for me, and I was a fan of it on day one. I like knowing that these records have existed for about as long as I've loved the music. The two examples that come to mind are Deja Entendu and Good Mourning. It'd be nice to own those some day. HardlineKid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 3 hours ago, HardlineKid said: I only really care about first pressings when it's a huge nostalgia record for me, and I was a fan of it on day one. I like knowing that these records have existed for about as long as I've loved the music. The two examples that come to mind are Deja Entendu and Good Mourning. It'd be nice to own those some day. Found one for sale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardlineKid Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 19 minutes ago, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said: Found one for sale! Do I need a special record player to play these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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