Collectors?

[Guest defone]

I have read a lot of this site as a new member and I see a lot of people here who are more interested in what their silver cd is worth that their actual interest in the music. I have an actual silver pressed japanese print of "KUNI: Looking for action" that is supposedly valued in the hunreds. But that is only if some idiot is actually willing to pay hundreds of dollars for ONE cd. Not me, I am only intersted in hearing extremely rare music that I have never heard before, no matter what format (cassette, vinyl, cd-r, etc...). I would much rather pay $5.00 for 20 cd-rs than pay $100.00 for one "Silver-Pressed" CD. I would have 20 albums in my collection in which to enjoy the music I have never heard before. I collect music for enjoyments sake, not for its monetary value. And there is a lot of indies that actually release their stuff on cd-r because it is way more cost effective than silver CD. With the way technology is advancing so fast, don't be surprised if those silver pressed cds become as archaic as 8-track tapes. Then how much will they be worth. Also, with time, the people interested in this music will start to dwindle, driving values down further. I mean, would you pay hundreds of dollars for an original, still sealed Tommy Dorsey album (Big Band Swing music)? Collectors values are meaningless unless you actually have anyone interested in paying that amount for it. So I guess my real question is "is the status of owning an original CD more important than the music"?

[blindjester]

OK

[Retrospect Records]

Man , that's a loaded question. And I must be careful on answering it since I would open a massive can of worms that has been opened quite a few times already.

 

I will say this without trying to offend anyone.

 

There are definitely people out there who care more about cd value than the music. That's the truth.

[hardrock80srule]

As a mentioned in one of my ramblings somewhere on here. I see nothing wrong with collecting for value as long as you make that clear. Its much easier to understand where your coming from when your posting or replying to a post like this or another. I hardly doubt than anyone even a non high value cd collector that got ahold of a cd that they new would sell for hundreds would just give it away. I mean your more than welcome to send me all those high dollar cds. I promise I wont sell them on ebay . Having been around awhile I kinda see it as both. Everyone here is here for this style of music. Its about the music and all that other stuff is just part of the music. I dont collect that stuff why? Obvious I dont have the money to spend on it. If I did would I Maybe?. Though I dont always agree with everything said on here... Fact is Everyone is here for the music.

[stormspell]

There are definitely people out there who care more about cd value than the music. That's the truth.

 

That's why it is called collecting man. There's areason for it. You dont really expect a stamp collector to have xeroxed photocopies of stamps in their collection, isnt it? Its the same with collecting CDs - it is just a hobby like any others I guess.

[phaffas]

ive always loved collecting things, and like a few other HH people collect a few other things besides cds.

 

But the great thing about cd collecting is that you buy "sound". Its a strange way of thinkng about it, but thats exactly what we do. We buy "sound". This sound has the power to make us feel good, to inspire us, to make us rock out, to hit all our emotions. Then the cool thing is that its kept in this cool little package with cool little booklets, with all this stuff to read and look at. I find it interesting looking through a really obscure release and finding in the additional musicians list some guy i know of who went on to great things. I look after my cds really well. Too well. My friends think its silly, but its my collection of "cool things". If i have a rare cd which i like, i look after it and make sure i dont crease it or scratch it.

 

Yet if there was a cd, even of a melodic rock band, that was really rare, it would not be worth anything to me... because that sound is not for me. I also think it is silly to spend alot on a rare cd. I mean you could spend 200 bucks on a rare cd or feed starving kids. Whats better? If you cant afford it, deal with it. Theres more to life then owning every cd.

 

So at the end of the day im from both worlds. I love the music, and i love collecting.

[melodicrockoz]

I will say this without trying to offend anyone.

 

There are definitely people out there who care more about cd value than the music. That's the truth.

 

you mean actually caring more for plastic more than the music??

[Retrospect Records]

It's collectors (who are like myself) who keep me in business , so that's just fine with me.

 

And Stormy , I'll take a "Xeroxed" copy of something for $5 over buying such an irrelevant "thing" for $500....ANY day of the week. There are more important things to spend my $$$ on.

 

Let's see...a Mona Lisa replica for $10,000 or the real thing for 10 million.....ummm no contest there.

 

Hence why Friction and Rock Boulevard did so well. Who the hell wants to spend $800-$1000 on a single disc?? (+ahem+ Staryder +ahem+) I made them available at a very reasonable fraction of the cost.

 

I happen to know of at least three people who frequent this forum who would sell their own mother just to have a cd nobody else has. WTF?

 

DUDE - IT'S A COMPACT DISC!!!!

[Guest defone]

OK. But I think a lot of people here are going to be surprised when they find out in a few years their "collectors" cds won't be worth anything. I would never bid more than $20.00 for any cd, no matter how rare. It is just not worth it. And I don't really understand the obsession over artwork. I have thousands of cds, cassettes, and vinyl, and I hardly even look at the artwork. I copy them to cd-r to play in my car (so that if they get stolen it doesn't matter). Somebody asked a question in an earlier post that I think I can answer here. They asked why record companies do not go after those who duplicate out of print material. The reason is, it is not feasible, nor cost effective. They are no longer vested in the material and are no longer generating revenue from it. Therefore, they would be spending a high amount of legal fees to get back next to nothing for their effort. Their main focus is to go after pirateers who are duplicating the current chart topping cds because that directly affects their revenue and the time and money spent would recoup a lot of their losses. Same with DVDs. Also, most of them sold the rights to Japan a decade ago. I hope that answers your question.

[Fat Freddy]

I don't really give a sh*t how much any of my individual CDs are "worth" because I'm not a buying/selling wheeler-dealer. Do I own some CDs that are worth some coin? Yeah. Am I going to sell them because they're worth some coin? No, because I'd rather listen to the music contained on them.

 

And that's all I'm EVER going to say on this topic cuz it's a hot button...

[eaglesfan3000]

Oh no not again.

[Jez]

I don't really give a sh*t how much any of my individual CDs are "worth" because I'm not a buying/selling wheeler-dealer. Do I own some CDs that are worth some coin? Yeah. Am I going to sell them because they're worth some coin? No, because I'd rather listen to the music contained on them.

 

And that's all I'm EVER going to say on this topic cuz it's a hot button...

 

 

My sentiments summed up very nicely in one paragraph!! I thank you.

[Fat Freddy]

I don't really give a sh*t how much any of my individual CDs are "worth" because I'm not a buying/selling wheeler-dealer. Do I own some CDs that are worth some coin? Yeah. Am I going to sell them because they're worth some coin? No, because I'd rather listen to the music contained on them.

 

And that's all I'm EVER going to say on this topic cuz it's a hot button...

 

 

My sentiments summed up very nicely in one paragraph!! I thank you.

 

What can I say, I'm a cut-to-the-chase kinda guy.

[hardrock80srule]

OK. But I think a lot of people here are going to be surprised when they find out in a few years their "collectors" cds won't be worth anything. I would never bid more than $20.00 for any cd, no matter how rare. It is just not worth it. And I don't really understand the obsession over artwork. I have thousands of cds, cassettes, and vinyl, and I hardly even look at the artwork. I copy them to cd-r to play in my car (so that if they get stolen it doesn't matter). Somebody asked a question in an earlier post that I think I can answer here. They asked why record companies do not go after those who duplicate out of print material. The reason is, it is not feasible, nor cost effective. They are no longer vested in the material and are no longer generating revenue from it. Therefore, they would be spending a high amount of legal fees to get back next to nothing for their effort. Their main focus is to go after pirateers who are duplicating the current chart topping cds because that directly affects their revenue and the time and money spent would recoup a lot of their losses. Same with DVDs. Also, most of them sold the rights to Japan a decade ago. I hope that answers your question.

 

 

Actually the statement above "But I think a lot of people here are going to be surprised when they find out in a few years their "collectors" cds won't be worth anything." is not true. I too thought why in the world would anyone pay that much and 20 years down the road find its worth nothing? Having sold many different items on ebay related to music I found out real quick how high rare unknown music can go for. 2 Examples of that Jazz Records & Hillbilly rock. All Old and HIGHLY sought after due to rariety. Your talking 100s to 1000s of dollars each for this stuff.

 

Take a look at old Jazz records or Hillbilly Rock on ebay and see what you think. It sure will change your mind real quick on whether or not Rare hard to find music will hold value. Compare that to a Rare Elvis Record and Elvis will lose.

My thinking always was that 20+ years from now no one will care about this kind of music. We(not me of course:) will all be super old( Geoff, Dan, T-Bone) Ha!, that people will be only into the music of there time. Obviously that is not how it works.

 

I think these threads get started due to the shock we go through when we realize people pay this much for cds and the fact we have grown tired of listening to the mainstream stuff and want a change only to find that we cant afford to buy this stuff becuase of the prices it sells for.

[Swazi]

I don't really give a sh*t how much any of my individual CDs are "worth" because I'm not a buying/selling wheeler-dealer. Do I own some CDs that are worth some coin? Yeah. Am I going to sell them because they're worth some coin? No, because I'd rather listen to the music contained on them.

 

And that's all I'm EVER going to say on this topic cuz it's a hot button...

 

 

My sentiments summed up very nicely in one paragraph!! I thank you.

 

Same here ! Thank you !!

[heavyharmonies]

People "collect" for different reasons. Period. Just because YOU are only interested in the music and are content with downloaded mp3s, copied CD-Rs, or bootlegs, doesn't mean other people are. By the same token, because some people want original pressings of actual CD releases doesn't mean you have to be.

 

You are making assumptions about why people collect, and are trying to pigeonhole people based on YOUR negative opinion of collectors. Value and authenticity are not necessarily connected in the collector's mind. You don't have to be concerned about the value of a CD (or any other collectible) to still want an original example instead of a copy.

 

I don't do as much CD scrounging as I used to, due to the high price of gasoline as well as slim pickings in the region, but when I did, when I found a rare CD, my first thought wasn't "Wow, this is worth a lot!" or "Wow, I'll be able to make a lot on this one!" It was "Wow, I can't believe I finally found one of these!" or "Wow! I've never heard this one before!"

 

You (and others) assume that it's all about the money. It isn't.

 

Reasons some people might want original discs rather than CD-Rs or boots (not all apply to everyone):

1. Aesthetics. Inkjet printed artwork or a sharpy-written CD-R just isn't the same. It's still hard to duplicate the quality of commercially printed artwork; makes a difference if you actually read liner notes. A collection of CD-Rs really isn't that impressive.
   
2. Completeness. Usually when you get a boot, CD-R, or download, you get just the front/back cover of the booklet rather than the whole thing.
   
3. Challenge. Trying to put together a complete original discography of an artist.
   
4. Bragging Rights. As with any type of collector, whether it be guitars, motorcycles, muscle cars, whatever, there's a certain "one-upping the next guy" factor that exists.
   
5. Resale potential. CD-Rs and downloads have zilch. Then again I find that those people who are ONLY interested in CD-Rs or downloads expect everything to be free (including the music from the artists to begin with) so only want to trade. Their aversion to the fiscal aspect of collecting is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from those collectors that are obsessed with value. Two extremes; 90% of people fall in the middle.
   
6. History. CDs, as with vintage vinyl, 78-RPM records, 8-tracks, laserdiscs, vintage audio equipment, etc. are a tangible part of the landscape of music history. Some of those nuances are lost when all you have is a CD-R. Also, depending on your mindset, many people find something "offensive" about owning a knock-off or copy; there's something that doesn't feel "authentic" about it.
   
7. Reference. Especially with rare and/or obscure discs, a collection of CDs is in effect a reference library. HH only encompasses a small portion of the information that can be gleaned from discs. From reading comments in liner notes, to who the artists thank, to seeing pictures, one can often glean an insight into the lives of musicians, bands, etc. Believe it or not, this actually can be important decades down the road, when you're trying to reconstruct information about an artist that hasn't been seen or heard from in years. Sometimes all we have as to the existence of a certain band, is what we can figure out from an original pressing.
   
8. Money is relative. Some people aren't working stiffs like me. Some people have enough discretionary income to afford CDs regardless of price. To them, the idea of spending $100-300 on a CD is like you or I spending $15. The idea of simply getting a CD-R rather than the real thing doesn't even occur to them.
   

I'll admit, I have the "packrat" gene. I collect many different things. Part of the reason I do it is to compile and share information. That's how HH was born.

 

When I get into a "groove" on a particular collectible I'll start compiling information, pictures, etc. and create a web site for others to use to do research. I find that enjoyable. I've made countless connections with people all over the world, in numerous collecting circles, due entirely to the information I've made available about things I collect:

 

www.cdvideo.info - A reference web site devoted to the obsolete analog video/digital audio format.

 

www.revenue-collector.com - Photographic reference and gallery for Civil War-era revenue stamps.

 

www.polksda.com - Reference for 1980s vintage Polk Audio speakers (you would be amazed how large of a collector base there is for these!)

 

www.coinpictures.com - Photo gallery for coins I collect.

 

www.vintagetrumpets.com - Some information pages about some vintage horns, as well as trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.

 

http://www.cdsniper.com/soundtracks/soundtracks.html - Reference for '80s/'90s movie soundtracks that have cool hard rock or heavy metal tunes, complete with extensive photographs.

 

http://www.cdsniper.com/cgi-bin/cdsingles.cgi - Reference page for my collection of CD singles. Many of these contain interesting edits, remixes, demos, and live tracks not found on the albums.

 

http://www.cdsniper.com/cgi-bin/withintemptation.cgi - My Within Temptation Collection gallery. I was impressed enough by this band, that I figured I'd put together a showcase of some of their CDs and DVDs I have.

 

Sharing information is fun. Sometimes collecting has nothing to do with money or investment.

 

Heck, sometimes I'll start collecting something for the sole purpose of creating a web site for it, because I don't find any information out on the Internet. A prime example are those batches of sealed cassingles I posted pictures of a few months back. When I happened to be in a position to buy large quantities for relatively little money, my thought wasn't that I could resell them, but rather "Hey, I'll bet there isn't an Internet reference for these!" I've since found another store where I was able to buy about 100 more. Instant collection, just add water.

 

Sure, it's an obsolete format with minimal interest, but it's still part of the history of music, so I feel like putting together a site for them. Now, if I hadn't been able to buy a whole bunch in one fell swoop, I never would have done it... the last thing I have time or interest in doing is tracking down cassingles. But when I can buy a whole bunch for a buck or less, well there's an information opportunity there.

 

People do stuff for different reasons...

 

-Dan

 

P.S. Because the music that we here at HH lean towards is "out of vogue" and/or difficult to obtain (most of it being out of print), most people have to resort to places like eBay or half.com or other "collectible" resources to obtain the music. Any time you are dealing primarily with aftermarket sources as opposed to buying retail, people are going to question how much to pay for something. So we inevitably see more discussion here involving prices of CDs than you would find on other types of forums. It's not that fans of '80s hard rock and AOR are more obsessed with the "value" of their CDs, but people want to find out going rates so they're not overpaying... this leads into the whole bootleg discussion: "If I have to spend $XXX for CD YYY, I want to make sure I'm buying a real one, not someone's copy."

[Fat Freddy]

A collection of CD-Rs really isn't that impressive.

 

I bet that "Bob From Wisconsin" and the PLEASE REPLY NOW! guy would disagree with ya on that point, Dan.

 

"U are so wrong dan because I have 65,000 cdrs and i am very proud of them it is a lot of work ok do you have any idea how long it took me to download all 65,000 of them on a dial up connection one of these days i hope to get a satillite for internet so it won't take so long"

 

[metalhead4life]

And Stormy , I'll take a "Xeroxed" copy of something for $5 over buying such an irrelevant "thing" for $500....ANY day of the week. There are more important things to spend my $$$ on.

 

DUDE - IT'S A COMPACT DISC!!!!

 

I agree 99%. The most I've spent on a CD is $70 and that's kind of nuts. The only way I'd spend $50+ for a CD is if I really love it and have to have it. You can find most rare CD's you want for $50 or under and of course your not rare CD's used for $5 or less or new for about $15. It's the rare indies (rare because the bands only made hundreds of copies and never made it) that fetch $50+ up to $1000 and that is ridiculous to me. You wanna buy a CD for hundreds or sometimes thousands of $$ that has lower production and lets face it, sometimes lower quality of musicians than go for it if it makes you happy. There's nothing wrong with it if you like it and it makes you happy. I understand you are in it for the rarity, one of a kind aspect of it and that's fine (like I said, whatever turns you on) but just not my cup of tea when it comes to a CD. Being a musician, some rare CD's I hear that go for hundreds made me cringe as far as musicianship and I would never pay $1 for it let alone hundreds. I feel sorry for the people who shelled out hundreds to thousands of dollars for the Surrender CD and it has been reissued for $15 or the Hot Boy that people paid hundreds for and was then issued by the band for $40 ORIGINAL to boot (which was worth it for me). Those extremely high prices are not worth it when you can find an official reissue or even a CD-R in some cases. Not really trying to brag, I know other people on here have many more CD's than me but I am very proud of my 600 (maybe a little less but probably more) CD's in my collection - 99% silver pressed CD's and about 75% are originals and the rest silver pressed official reissues with maybe a handful that are possibly unofficial. I have a few CD-R's, one of which is the Laurence Archer CD because I was curious to hear it and you may as well hit the gong and put your head in sewage because the disc (mainly his singing) is awful. But, nevertheless it's a cool one to have in my collection and a CD-R of it is just fine. I traded a Cirith Ungol King of The Dead CD for it to a gentleman on here who was kind enough to make me the CD-R copy and artwork of the Laurence Archer (thanks delmfate - it's a cool addition to my collection!). It was better than buying the original for several hundred dollars without a doubt.

But, make no mistake about it - originals are usually the best quality. It's when they fetch ridiculous amounts that make me wave the red flag and buy an official reissue or a CD-R in more rare cases.

 

 

I don't really give a sh*t how much any of my individual CDs are "worth" because I'm not a buying/selling wheeler-dealer. Do I own some CDs that are worth some coin? Yeah. Am I going to sell them because they're worth some coin? No, because I'd rather listen to the music contained on them.

 

I agree!

[Nick C]

OK. But I think a lot of people here are going to be surprised when they find out in a few years their "collectors" cds won't be worth anything. I would never bid more than $20.00 for any cd, no matter how rare. It is just not worth it. And I don't really understand the obsession over artwork.

 

$20...wow that isn't much to pay for a CD over here even in a shop never mind eBay and bidding on "rare" stuff, maybe a chart one is a little less (£9 or around $20) a lesser known / non chart band CD can be anything between £12.99 to £16.99 ($27 - $35).

 

I echo Keefs, Jez's and Bernds sentiments.

 

I have a few CD's that are worth some money but I really couldn't give a toss if they lost their value overnight, they're my CD's I wanna listen to them not sell them. I think if you view collecting CDs to simply sit on and hope they gain value then your wasting ya time, there are better ways to build a pension fund hahaha!

 

On ocassion I do pay a little more than what I wanted to, I think the most I paid was £65 for the Godz - Mongolians CD on the Grudge label (the price was easily offset twice over by selling Childs Play - Long Way and Winters Reign - The Beginning neither of which I got into). But I ABSOLUTELY love the band so for me it was worth it...but as my wife says I'm not going to sell it so it's worth......nothing!

If there is something I'm after I tend to wait and wait until I find a copy at a decent price ... case in point I just picked up Tobruk - Recaptured for under a tenner off an Amazon (Germany) seller, The cheapest I'd seen it available to the UK before that was around £40 ...fergedddddit!

 

With regards to artwork I personally love it...for me its all part of the listening experience, checking out the artwork, who plays what, the lyrics even the band thanks list lol. I think the people who may sympathise more with this point of view are the ones who first started listening to music when only vinyl was available. What great sleeves. some works of art in themselves - Yessongs, Brain Salad Surgery, In Search of Space, Dark Side of the Moon, posters...stickers....and that certain smell the U.S. imports had that the UK vinyl pressings didn't hahaha....seriously!! I would bang an album on and just pour over the sleeve for ages.

 

Whereas CDR's with a bit of writing on just don't do it for me, it feels disembodied, clinical...part of the ether, not that I have many. But someone from another site I visited did me a great copy of Ray Gomez - Volume and did a nice little sleeve to go with it...and that made all the difference... I was well chuffed with it - I tend to try and track down artwork if I have a CDR of something OOP anyway ... sad aren't I lol!

 

Same with downloading, I can't really get my head around it.....the difference in price to buying a shop bought CD is minimal so the companies must be rolling in the cash as the overheads of providing this service are lower. You pay a pittance less for a few 1's and 0's written to a disc that YOU provide, YOU can print the artwork with YOUR ink, on YOUR printer and it doesn't compare to something professionally printed. Or maybe just leave it on your hard drive or personal player until the hard drive crashes or your player gets flushed .... and you have to buy it again. It just seems a rip off to me, you pay slightly less (actually you pay a lot more if you look aound and pick the CD up cheaper than the retail price) and get...well even less. Nothing physical, nothing you can interact with or look at just something without any character.

 

By the way...how do you go insuring downloads, my CD/Vinyl is insured so I will get something back if the house hit by a meteorite but what if you lose your hard drive ... can you insure your downloads? This is a serious question by the way and aside from my little rant.

 

 

But I'm an old fart anyway and I love the artwork the music the whole damn package ....plus I'm Cancerian...materialistic hahahaha ... but I still rock...a little.....nurse ...nurse the screens!

 

EDIT.....ya know what...it took me so long to write this ....then I lost it and had to re write it...not as good as the 1st time by the way....only to find that Dan and Metalhead4life added pretty much what I wanted to say but more betterer lol...jeeeeeez technology...f*ck it!!

[Nick C]

So I guess my real question is "is the status of owning an original CD more important than the music"?

 

 

In summary

 

 

No .... but it's nice to have the CD OR vinyl.

[Dead Planet]

Well I've never bought a cd for investment purposes but I do collect music. I don't like cdrs but I'll take them if its the only source for the music, I much prefer silver pressed cds...I'm very happy to see Sam switching to silver pressed cds....I have never paid more than $20 for a cd on Ebay although I used to pay much more at the brick and mortar music stores before Ebay came along....But I buy much more music today than I did then.

 

The bottom line for me is I pay what I can afford to pay and I can't afford hundreds of $$ for a cd. Also with the high quality of silver pressed boots coming out these days you need an 'expert' to tell the difference between boot and original. Anyone who pays a small fortune for rare cds today has entirely too much $$$ or too little sense IMO considering the odds that the cd won't be original.

 

I have a certain amount of sympathy for those who have paid out the $$$ and who will probably have a very hard time recouping their costs if they ever try to resell their cds. This may not be the case today but for sure it will be in the future with so many sources of boots popping up all over.

 

On the positive side people like myself will be able to listen to these rare releases because the cost will drop to reasonable levels.

[Uncle saxon]

Long time listener - First time caller...

 

Hey everybody. Nice forum.

 

I have been collecting cds for about 20 years. It's really a passion, more than a hobby. 20 years ago, there were no cdr', mp3's, bootlegs, free digital rain falling from the sky, etc. So, my analness about collecting has just stuck with the way I have DONE collecting for all that time.

 

But it is kinda cool to know I have certain pieces to the worlds musical history, that only a handful of others also possess. And true collectors are a community of people that respect each other. Whenever I find an extra copy of something rare or unique, I'll put it on my tradelist to help out other collectors. If there is no interest, then I throw it on ebay (always start my auctions at 1 cent) and, hopefully, it will fill a hole in someone else's collection.

 

Anyways, cool board - Thanks to Nelson for inviting me.

[Captain Howdy]

A lot of stuff has already been said, but I just think its a case of horses for courses!

To some it is just about having expensive CDs.

There have been quite a few times I have seen people here going ape shit over a certain indy CD or other, saying how much they must have it but admit they have no idea what the band sound like.

Thats just a case of wanting the CD because of its rarity.

 

Some people though collect CDs, but will not pay big money for them, no matter what hole it fills in a collection.

I tend to fit into that category.

I love the music, and am a stickler for having original CDs only, but will not pay stupid money for a CD.

It doesnt bother me what label its on, or whether its an original release or a re-issue (in fact if a re-issue has extra tracks, thats the one I want).

 

I have bought CDs purely on the basis of completism though.

For instance I have liked Metallica for years but what I heard of St Anger, I did not want to hear it!

I waited til I could pick it up for next to nothing, so it could just fill that hole in my collection.

This is one of the few times I dont buy a CD for the music (mainly beacuse there was no music on that particular album).

 

Is the CD more important than the music?

Not really, but for me its a package deal.

A Ferrari engine is nice, but it belongs in a Ferrari, not in a Ford!

[Delbert]

and then....there's many of us that have been at this collecting for ages and bought those titles that many of you label as "rarities" back when they came out for $7 to about $12 each. I've got tons of them in my collection. Someone starting out does not have that luxury. If they want that disc that I got for cheap when it was first released, they now have to pay dearly for some of them.....it seems there are more people wanting those titles than there are legit copies available!!

 

Some people buying CDs are just listening to and collecting music......some are serious collectors of CDs......others love the music and collect the CDs (I fall into that catagory). That said, there really are people who collect CDs and who also love the music. Often times to me, it becomes the thrill of the hunt....tracking down a CD for my collection.

 

You see, some people don't quite understand exactly what a collector is.....he has a drive....an addiction so to speak to get out and find certain things for his collection whether it be a baseball card, stamp, coin, bottle, magazine or whatever he collects......

 

 

As far as reissues go....I love to grab those reissues with bonus tracks (only legit copies though...Sorry, but, I'm not into collecting bootlegs or counterfeits, maybe that's some other folks' bag, but, not mine - to each his own). And yes....before you start labeling me a hypocrite, I do have some bootlegs in my collection....they do manage to get there, but I am not actively collecting them as some do. I also have traded some obscure titles on CDR with other collectors, but I don't buy CDRs. When I buy from CD Baby and they send me a CDR (even the perfectly legit ones), I pack them up and send them back......I've now gotten into the habit of calling them before I order just to ask if the title is on a CDR or pressed disc. They will check and tell me on the phone. If you like CDRs...that's fine....some people like foreign cars, some don't.....that's why they make them all.....

 

I love the music and I love collecting CDs.....

[Retrospect Records]

Delbert - do you burn those cdr's before sending back to CdBaby? - and be HONEST.