Date:         Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:37:27 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: off-topic: guilty pleasure in hi-fi demo records
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Hi Blake:

There is no rationality to "collector value" -- for anything. That's why all the claims that ebay is 
a "perfect market" are total bunk. Remember that ebay's very founding proves my point. It was 
founded on the inflated collector market for ... Beanie Babies. Being someone who has less than zero 
interested in Chinese made beanbag "dolls," I can't see paying one cent for any of them, but some 
people were willing to pay dozens and even hundreds of dollars for certain "characters." I've even 
heard of people collecting certain "limited availability" Jelly Belly beans! So, I'd say that values 
for old recordings are just normal in the world of collectables -- unpredictable and all over the 
map. Just be happy if you find out you're a fan of something off the beaten path and can thus 
collect to your heart's content for very little dough.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "D. Blake Werts" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 10:39 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] off-topic: guilty pleasure in hi-fi demo records


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven C. Barr(x)" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 2:16 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] off-topic: guilty pleasure in hi-fi demo records
>
> <snip>
>
>> Well...what a given phonorecord is "worth" depends on two specific items:
>>
>> 1) How badly the buyer wants it
>>
>
> .. but Stephen you've already made the assumption that there _is_ a buyer
> for said item.  Before either of your points are valid, and I'm sure that
> you are very aware of this, you have to find someone that shows an interest
> in the item.  There is a very large gap that exists between rarity/scarcity
> and a monetary value that can be placed on an item.  For people that care
> about value and monetary worth, it is sometimes a painful exercise to accept
> that what once might have been of interest to a larger group of people (and,
> thus, likely carry more "value") may today be of interest to a very small
> percentage of the former.  The fact that this is happening is exactly what
> captured my interest in "records" initially--I can add literally dozens of
> wonderful recordings to my collection for mere pennies; items that used to
> command much more in terms of "value."
>
> The piece that puzzles me the most is trying to separate monetary value and
> historical value.  To my naive eyes, every recording has some type of
> historical value and it literally pains me to see and hear of so much
> material getting dumped.  In the short time I've been a part of this group,
> I've very quickly learned that I (we) can't save it all...
>
> How do we measure historical value of something that can easily be purchased
> for 25 cents?
>
> D. Blake Werts
>