What was the most expensive record that you ever bought ?

Single record would be a pair, both UK first pressings, both unopened never played and both bought from the same collector. $250 each. Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here and Supertramp's Crime of the Century.

After a good deep clean they sounded spectacular best recordings I've heard yet.  There is something about the originals that were so good and new originals sound even better. 

Most of the high value (in terms of price) records I have are a large collection of UK Vertigo Swirls of the more obscure prog acts, private label and small label post bop jazz from the early '70s, a few real outliers-- De De Lind Io Non So Da Dove (which came to me with tattered shrink put on when somebody imported it, with old price stickers from US record outlets, the record had never been pulled from the sleeve). I have many Island UK pink labels, some of which fetch a price these days. (I'm not a completist in the case of full catalogs). 

I did a rough list when we moved for insurance purposes and kept that rider in place thereafter. 

I've slowed down in buying, not only b/c of price inflation, but the rare records are much harder to find, and the ones on offer are usually not M-. (Overgrading is now common, given the surge in record prices for old pressings). 

I agree with Mike that the cost in today's dollars of the media typically exceeds the cost of the gear. 

@mikelavigne I collected almost all of the Classic Record sets but passed on the 45 LZ suitcase because I had all the other LZ editions.... What a mistake!

How does the 45 LZII rate against the LZII RL SS? 

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that eventually, Chad at Acoustic Sounds will get the rights from Jimmy to reissue the Classic 45’s of Zep.

After buying Classic Records, Chad probably has all the Classic master tapes.

@vinylshadow

I think Classic Records dirtying the water with Led Zeppelin has muddied the water for any future thing like that. and when those tapes came over from the UK they came with a security guard to make sure Bernie did not keep a dub or any other nefarious thing happened. Hobson never had his hands on those tapes, so Chad never got them either. that is what I understand happened. but I could be wrong.

time will tell.......everyone will be watching.

and now 18 years after the 45 box set, the tapes are 18 years older, whereas my vinyl is still pristine.

I have three grey market LZ early album tapes and they are very good, but as my vinyl front end has improved, plus my LZ box set, the vinyl is now better than my quite fine tapes. even with my much improved (over my Studer A-820's) hot rodded ATR-102 + MR70 decks.

I hope you have a serious relationship with your insurance agent. 

@noromance not as good as my kids. 😀 they make sure my stuff is covered. and I have guard elk, and guard hummingbirds to help.

a point I do want to make is that with vinyl, the media is more important than the gear. we fall in love with gear, but it's great pressings that sound great. certainly your gear needs to exceed a baseline of performance, but the quality of the pressing does the heavy lifting.

let's say someone is a Led Zeppelin fanatic. and they are contemplating a $70k to $80k vinyl front end. that is certainly expensive, but many here are in that realm when it comes to turntable, arm, cartridge, and phono stage. it's the upper end, but not the top, or tip top. my case would be that buying this Led Zeppelin box set for $20k, and lowering the gear by $20k, would net you a higher musical result. and 10 years from now, likely more resale value.

not saying that is the correct approach. but not wrong either. depends on how seriously you want Led Zeppelin at their very best.

and one big issue about collecting best pressings is the effort it takes to hunt them down. many times that is the bigger challenge than the investment. how many records must you buy to get that gem? 

lot's of ways to view it.

@mikelavigne I hope you have a serious relationship with your insurance agent. 

What??? No high dollar Yoko Ono pressings?  I’m shocked I tel you, shocked!

The Velvet Underground Banana original pressing with an unpeeled sticker. Mint condition too! These are listed on Discogs for around $1200. I found mine in a bunch of LP's I paid $10 for!

`Tears for Fears Elemental, MINT, about $162 two months ago.

I’d seen one for sale for around $500 not long ago and thought “pfft, NFW.”

Worth every cent of $162.

Also bought YES, the Steven Wilson remixes box set for $289 last year… still haven’t opened it.

@mikelavigne I have a sneaking suspicion that eventually, Chad at Acoustic Sounds will get the rights from Jimmy to reissue the Classic 45's of Zep. 

After buying Classic Records, Chad probably has all the Classic master tapes. 

Criminal record by far the most expensive.

I have to cheat a bit and say $450 for the 250th Anniversary CD box set of the complete recordings of Beethoven on the D.G. lable.  

None of the records that I bought on ebay from Japan were over graded, though I mostly bought from three or four particular people. Often the condition was better than promised and the records had been cleaned.

I paid $110 for this Japanese, Steely Dan compilation.

It was in much worse condition than I was expecting.

Like the cover art and the obie, but the scratches and popsake this purchase quite meh for me.

Steely Dan Japanese Compilation

I remember when many of the Classic Records archives were hawked on eBay, maybe ten years back, a test press 45 set of the Zeppelin BBC sessions went up. I forget how much it ended on - it wasn’t cheap but I was a little surprised it didn’t go higher. Silly listed prices on Discogs and similar can train people to think stuff is much more “stupid valuable” than it actually is.

But $750 for the whole catalogue is cool!! 😎

I recorded myself and thought I sounded like million dollars.  On the other hand, my wife thought that the cat died!

Paid $75 for a British release of Jimi Hendrix Electricladyland with the nudes on the cover.

And they say that equipment is expensive, $26k for a reissue set.

Led Zepplin recordings are very good, and Led Zepplin fans are hard core. LZ being likely among the top 3 or 4 all time rock groups. #1 for many. epic even. considering all that.....how many complete studio catalogues have been given that level of treatment mastered by Ernie Grundman?

none. this set pegs all the meters.

so these are unicorns of Rock fan vinyl choices.

those who have heard this set in my room understand it.

And they say that equipment is expensive, $26k for a reissue set.

$135 used , CLASSIC RECORDS 4 single sided 45rpm 200 gram

David Crosby's  " If I Could Only Remember My Name " 

$165 cantate domino step one made in Germany .

my most expensive record? it’s actually a box set, the Classic Records LZ 45 box set. the Holy Grail for LZ fans.

cost me $750 in 2006. Currently Discog shows 5 for sale. from $10,645 in Greece, $14k from Italy, $18k from the UK, $20k in the US, and $26k in the US.

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/5882431?ev=rb

mine is not for sale, even at $26k.