Phonoland

I really believe there is someone out there that can help.I have two old albums in Great shape.One of them isBuddy Holly/The Crickets 20 golden Greats 1978.The other is introducing ,The Beatles,by Vee JayLP 1062.The covers and all are in Great shape.I have heard so many tells about there worth.Does anyone out there really know what I might could sale them for? I would appreciate any info.Thanks

You tend to hear alot of stories about the value of different records. Most popular artists sold records by the mega-thousands, and usually aren't worth all that much. I'm a firm beleiver that anything is really only worth what someone will pay for it. Ebay is a good place to sell records, as its used by thousands of people who know what they're looking for. You'll probably get the best price selling on ebay-

Unfortunately, phonograph records are not like wine. The do not get more valuable with age, but with scarcity. A best-seller is never going to be valuable, because there are millions of copies around.

The notion that old records become more valuable comes from the late 1940sa and early 1950s, when people were rebuilding their record collections after World War II. The following conditions combined to cause a shortage of recordings.

1. Japan invaded the major areas where shellac is produced.

2. Shellac was needed for the war effort.

3. Rationing rules required anyone wanting to buy a new record to turn in a used record made before 1939.

4. Many record collections in England and Europe were destroyed by the war.

5. Some record companies donated old metal masters to the scrap metal drives. Thus, they couldn't make any more of their earlier releases.

6. A couple of companies went out of business, and the winners in bankruptcy court wanted their money, not assets. The masters and shellac were sold as materials, not recordings.

After the war ended, many people were trying to replace their record collections. Many titles were in short supply, because people sacrificed the records they played least. Some titles from before 1920 sold for more than $100. This is the cause of the myth that old records are worth a lot of money. They were - then.

But after the LP took off, most record companies re-issued most of their catalog on LP. This took the pressure off the prices on most old records. Classical albums on LP from the early 1950s are actually worth more than the multiple-disc 78 copies of the same album.

The only records which are worth a lot are the ones which are scarce. The rationing turn-in caused many copies of the same record to be turned in. If the masters are gone, the remaining records are scarce, and will sell for a great price.

The most I ever paid for a record was $40 in 2003. It was a European LP release from the 1970s which I really wanted, and won on eBay. But the record itself was really $10. The rest of the money was spent getting it here (packaging, postage, and customs). And then the record company released that album on a CD worldwide in 2004.

There was another record I paid $35 for, because that was the going price on eBay. I later found out that the people bidding that much didn't want the record, but the photo of a scantily-clad female on the cover. I wanted the music, because my copy of that record got broken in a move. My original 1953 cover was a record-club release with no photos.

There was an improvement over my original record, because the record club disc was filled vinylite, but the replacement I got was pure vinyl. The replacement record won't break, and the sound quality is better.

The Buddy Holly Record, Mint, would be worth $15.00, The Beatles album, if it's real, (thank God it's not a SR 1062,) would be worth anywhere from $250.00 mint to $1,000. Pick up an "Official" Beatles Collectors Guide, it's got a whole chapter on that one album. Keep in mind, value is conjecture!

The Beatles disc is is renowned to be "The most couterfeited album ever"
Read a little about it on this link

http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/beatles ... intro.html

Yeah, WAY TOO MANY FAKES of that record are out there! BUT-- the fakes are usually STEREO, not MONO. Since this record is a mono you have a better chance of having a real Vee Jay album. Look at the "Official Price Guide to The Beatles Records and Memorabilia." It's got an extensive list of what differentiates a real copy from a fake.

The typical "Introducing The Beatles" fake is in a stereo sleeve but the recording is actually mono. Typical clues for a fake include:
- the white "Stereophonic" banner at the top
- a darker brown border on the album jacket (NONE of the originals have this)
- the last track on Side One is "Love Me Do" and the first track on Side Two is "P.S. I Love You" (as far as I know, the "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" version - which was LEGITIMATELY released in January of '64 - was not faked)
- the thickness of the "rainbow" on the edge of the label varies
- also, the colors of the "rainbow" aren't as vivid as the original
There are more clues, but these were the only ones I could think of off the cuff.

wand143 wrote:The typical "Introducing The Beatles" fake is in a stereo sleeve but the recording is actually mono. Typical clues for a fake include:
- the white "Stereophonic" banner at the top
- the last track on Side One is "Love Me Do" and the first track on Side Two is "P.S. I Love You" (as far as I know, the "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" version - which was LEGITIMATELY released in January of '64 - was not faked)

-The white banner with gray "STEREOPHONIC" does exist as a legit VJ cover.
-The fake Stereo I have IS a "Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You" copy. I also have an original... and yes, I am sure it is.
I have never seen a "Please Please Me / Ask Me Why" fake.
-VJ did re-release the album in the early 70's. These might as well be called fakes. They are made SO cheap. I can't find my guide on that particular issue, but I do know the label re-issued it, along with "Hear The Beatles Tell All."

Yeah, I'd heard the 70s copies were "legitimate" re-releases, too - don't know how they could've gotten away with it, though, as Capitol Records enforced a "cease & desist" order to prevent Vee Jay from releasing the album in any further way, shape or form back in '64 (they obtained the rights to the recordings on the first album and released them as "The Early Beatles", effectively rendering the VJ copies redundant). That of course didn't prevent them from sneaking out "Songs Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles" or reissuing the album as half of "The Beatles Vs. The Four Seasons".
I'm aware that there are legitimate "white banner" stereo copies out there...they're rare as hen's teeth, though. And I'll have to take your word that the reissues were "true" stereo - the only player I had for my copy as a kid was a Voice Of Music mono player, and I ditched my bogus copy when I scored an original Jan. '64 copy (the "Please Please Me" version), so I don't have it any more to judge stereo separation. I do own a German original of the "Please Please Me" album in true stereo and it's nothing short of glorious. But I do look carefully at any "white banners" I come across and so far 100% of the ones I found were phonies.