The Velvet Forum

I'm also suspicious of everything except the item itself (which is a very interesting mispressing). If it were true, the story told in the description would rewrite the history of the VU&N album's release, but unfortunately, there is zero evidence that any of it actually happened.

I enquired about this 5 years ago on this forum to no answer.. Back then it sold for 800. Bought by User humanreptile who i asume to be ethan James. As he passed away several years ago and this is from an estate sale.. This might be it..

I was in contact with the seller of the Discogs copy about a year and a half ago. I really wanted to buy it, and negotiated the price down to about USD$8,000, but in the end, I just couldn't spend that much on a record. I was really concerned about the legitimacy of it at first, but did a little research and found out it was a legit early pressing. But the super high price (that's about 8x more than I paid for my mono torso, which is still the most I've ever paid for a slab of vinyl). Also, the seller was in Australia, and I'm in the States, so I worried about it getting damaged in shipping, or having to pay duty taxes on it once it hit customs and they saw it was insured for $8,000.

leamanc wrote:I was in contact with the seller of the Discogs copy about a year and a half ago. I really wanted to buy it, and negotiated the price down to about USD$8,000, but in the end, I just couldn't spend that much on a record.

Wow, you dodged a bullet!

I don't question the authenticity of the LP itself, but other elements of the auction (Lou's personal copy) immediately gave me pause. A mispress is interesting, but I don't see how a mispressed LP missing one of the most iconic tracks the group released should be worth more than the correctly pressed version.

MJG196 wrote:... I don't see how a mispressed LP missing one of the most iconic tracks the group released should be worth more than the correctly pressed version.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Jenny

Except in this case there's only one known copy.

Sheila Klein wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Jenny

Except in this case there's only one known copy.

Yes, and I got to see a Jenny up close at last year's International Stamp Show (F@CK YEAH!) in NYC, after it sold for a record $1,175,000.

To say that this LP is worth as much as the Scepter once was is utter nonsense, though. I'd take an original normal pressing anyday over the mispress.

I hear ya, but we all know that the value of an item of extreme scarcity is simply whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it.

I really doubt it's Lou's copy - if it was from his estate sale, where are all the other goodies? (I'd like his copy of "I heard her call my name" single; or indeed, anybody's copy )

Hey all,

I am the seller in Australia who currently owns this one. Thanks for the feedback and info regarding this one. I was hoping to find a discussion like this where it could properly be mentioned.

I appreciate everyone's input. As for the eBay listing and the criticisms of the price, I hope you would all agree that it has not been seen before and I would certainly rather start higher than lower. I certainly hadn't seen one of these before and it's sure to be currently the rarest pressing of the album, (rarer than the Sceptor acetate which we know there was more than one of). However, if you disagree with the price, then no worries at all - just keep scrolling and don't buy it. No need for harsh words. I'm a person too and always up for a chat, but I am certainly more than happy to hold onto it and would only be comfortable letting it go for the right price. I am not a dealer or a store - just a fan

The legitimacy of it, I hope, has been confirmed on this page. I have a sort-of letter of authenticity by a very well respected record dealer from Brisbane, QLD, Australia who happens to specialise in VU stuff. We talked abut it for a while and after I showed him he confirmed that it was a legitimate mispress.

If anyone has any specific questions though that they would like to clear up please let me know. I'm just a fan and always enjoy chatting about the group.

Thanks

MJG196 wrote:

leamanc wrote:I was in contact with the seller of the Discogs copy about a year and a half ago. I really wanted to buy it, and negotiated the price down to about USD$8,000, but in the end, I just couldn't spend that much on a record.

Wow, you dodged a bullet!

I don't question the authenticity of the LP itself, but other elements of the auction (Lou's personal copy) immediately gave me pause. A mispress is interesting, but I don't see how a mispressed LP missing one of the most iconic tracks the group released should be worth more than the correctly pressed version.

Sorry for responding eight months later, but what I saw today on Discogs made me have to reply.

Fist of all, I don't know what I was thinking even talking about spending that kind of money on it (USD$8,000). I guess because the seller started at USD$12,000, I thought I might be a great negotiator.

Looking at its entry on Discogs today, I see a VG+ vinyl/VG sleeve copy sold for USD$50 back in April.

At the time, I thought it may be worth thousands of dollars, but I wanted to see other sales to verify its price. So if w4toosh is still reading this thread, I mean no offense. Without any other sales at the time to verify its fair market value, I'm not going to assume anyone was trying to rip anyone else off.

Another interesting factoid from the Discogs entry is that 300 users there claim to have a copy of it. If that's true, it's not quite as rare as originally thought. For comparison's sake, 617 users say they have the 1985 US Verve reissue, and that's not hard to find at all. I got a sealed copy of it on eBay a few years back for less than $30.