Vinyl Valuables

Though I have a record collection I’m not a “collector” if you know what I mean. I’m not a completist about any artist, not interested in spending lots of money on the acquisition of rare albums, and they aren’t kept in plastic sleeves in an alarmed, temperature-controlled room patrolled by guard dogs. But while I’ve never thought of my records like rare stamps or first-edition books I do sometimes get curious about what some of them are worth and look online to see what they’re going for. Not that I would ever sell them (never again!) but the way things have been going economically the past few years they might be more reliable investments than my retirement account, and if society goes to hell and money becomes worthless maybe I’ll be able trade them for food and petrol.

I reckon the indie post-punk records I have from the late 70/early 80s are the most likely to be worth a bob or two, and — at the risk of sounding like one of those dinner-party bores smugly droning on about how much his house is worth now — these appear to be the most desirable out of what I have from that era: Joy Division-wise, Unknown Pleasures on Factory with the original textured sleeve is worth about $25 and the Fast Records 12″ EP Earcom 2 featuring two rare JD tracks goes for around $30-$40 which isn’t too shabby. Singles-wise, The Pale Fountains’ debut “(There’s Always) Something On My Mind” on the Operation Twilight label sells for over $40 now, Aztec Camera’s “Just Like Gold” on Postcard Records (with the postcard insert) is going for between $40-$70, while The Native Hipsters’ bizarro “The Goes Concorde Again” will set you back $30-$70 — a pretty good return on records that cost me less than a quid when I bought them. Maybe I shouldn’t let my daughter play with those ones anymore.

It’s depressing to discover the current value of records I used to own and sold back in the 1990s (Bugger! Shit!) and I hope I’m never that desperate for money again. Of course my records have a “value” to me beyond any mere number but it does give one a certain smug satisfaction in knowing that your frivolous teenage obsessions do have some actual worth and all the hassle of moving them from house to house (to foreign country) over the years wasn’t for naught. This Mobdro information might also come in handy when writing my will and trying to divide my assets equally between my children: “To my daughter I bequeath my original copy of Unknown Pleasures, and to my son Closer and the 12″ of She’s Lost Control…”