LF: New, sealed Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life Original Issue (Japan or US)

[brednjam1]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new, sealed copy of the original US or Japanese pressing of Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life.

I can pay $50 including shipping to Los Angeles.

Thanks!

[Brad]

You might want to post your requests on the Hoffman forum; you’ll probably get a better response there. 

[brednjam1]

I have.  No luck so far on these titles.

[JSngry]

LPs correct?

[bresna]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

LPs correct?

Either way, this will be a tough one to find... The chances of finding someone with a sealed LP from 1975 or a sealed original release CD from 1984 are very very slim. There aren't a lot of sources for stuff like this.

BTW - buyer beware with older sealed items. Back in the old days of vinyl, unscrupulous sellers would re-seal records to sell them as new. There was growing market for shrinkwrap sealers for a while in the late 70's and i can imagine with the growing market for old vinyl, this may rise up out of the ashes.

Edited 24 Jun 2020 by bresna

[Brad]

8 hours ago, brednjam1 said:

I have.  No luck so far on these titles.

Did you look at Discogs or eBay.  Even if they don’t have them currently, you can have a saved search.

Try estate sales. You never know what you find. 

Edited 24 Jun 2020 by Brad

[bresna]

10 hours ago, brednjam1 said:

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new, sealed copy of the original US or Japanese pressing of Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life.

I can pay $50 including shipping to Los Angeles.

Thanks!

If this is for the CD set, I would think that an original 1984 release, either US or Japanese, would be in a longbox, so you should try to find a collector that is offering sealed longbox versions.

Edited 24 Jun 2020 by bresna

[Pim]

Just out pure curiosity: why?

[brednjam1]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

LPs correct?

Yes, sorry for not clarifying 

1 hour ago, Pim said:

Just out pure curiosity: why?

It’s the only all analog version of one of my favorite albums that has not been cut from a copy of the master tape

[JSngry]

Good plan in theory, hope you find it....and also hope that 70s vinyl quality was good on the day they pressed it. No guarantees there, I'm afraid.

[bresna]

44 minutes ago, brednjam1 said:

Yes, sorry for not clarifying 

It’s the only all analog version of one of my favorite albums that has not been cut from a copy of the master tape

Can I ask how you will know that a sealed LP is from the original press run? You can't see the dead wax info through the cellophane.

Do yourself a big favor and go to discogs and buy the highest graded opened copy of the pressing you want. That way, you know you have the right pressing and you also know that the record isn't warped from being stored in a shrink-wrapped LP sleeve for the past 45 years. You should also know that most (all?) sellers will not take back anything they sell sealed once it's opened. So if you open that sealed LP and find that it's a newer pressing, you won't be able to return it.

[JSngry]

You're gonna get the 45/EP, don't forget.

[brednjam1]

3 hours ago, bresna said:

Can I ask how you will know that a sealed LP is from the original press run? You can't see the dead wax info through the cellophane.

Do yourself a big favor and go to discogs and buy the highest graded opened copy of the pressing you want. That way, you know you have the right pressing and you also know that the record isn't warped from being stored in a shrink-wrapped LP sleeve for the past 45 years. You should also know that most (all?) sellers will not take back anything they sell sealed once it's opened. So if you open that sealed LP and find that it's a newer pressing, you won't be able to return it.

Unfortunately, I'll have to rely on the seller's memory and honesty.

[bresna]

51 minutes ago, brednjam1 said:

Unfortunately, I'll have to rely on the seller's memory and honesty.

What kind of seller do you think is going to remember that he or she bought a certain LP during it's first production run... 45 YEARS ago?

I think you're expecting way too much here. I was buying a lot of records in 1975 and I can't remember what records I bought much less when I bought them.

And again, with nearly all sellers, once you buy a sealed record, you own it. So if that seller's recollection is faulty, you're not getting your money back.

[CJ Shearn]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

What kind of seller do you think is going to remember that he or she bought a certain LP during it's first production run... 45 YEARS ago?

I think you're expecting way too much here. I was buying a lot of records in 1975 and I can't remember what records I bought much less when I bought them.

And again, with nearly all sellers, once you buy a sealed record, you own it. So if that seller's recollection is faulty, you're not getting your money back.

It may not be faulty memory, Kevin if there's a seller with an amazing memory for pressing details, or when t like if the seller is on the ASD, but that would be very rare though so your point makes sense.

[bresna]

32 minutes ago, CJ Shearn said:

It may not be faulty memory, Kevin if there's a seller with an amazing memory for pressing details, or when t like if the seller is on the ASD, but that would be very rare though so your point makes sense.

CJ - pressing details aren't the thing here... the original poster is asking for a sealed original pressing. "Pressing details" in this case is, "Well, I bought it new sometime near when it came out". The only way to know if it is a first pressing is to open it and look at the dead wax.

Look, I'm into pressing details as well anyone else and I do look for certain pressings. But I'd be the first one to tell you how hard it is to get a certain pressing when you crack a sealed record, particularly one that was so popular when it was released. It's a little like buying a sealed pack of 1986 Fleer basketball cards and hoping to find a Michael Jordan rookie card in there.

BTW, I've played this game before. One time I was in Stereo Jack's and he got in a batch of older sealed Blue Note LPs. He was selling them for a very reasonable price so I bought about 5 of them, hoping I might hit the "Blue Note lottery". When I got home and opened them, they were all late-70s pressings. Even worse - there was not one RVG pressing in the bunch.

[CJ Shearn]

4 minutes ago, bresna said:

CJ - pressing details aren't the thing here... the original poster is asking for a sealed original pressing. "Pressing details" in this case is, "Well, I bought it new sometime near when it came out". The only way to know if it is a first pressing is to open it and look at the dead wax.

Look, I'm into pressing details as well anyone else and I do look for certain pressings. But I'd be the first one to tell you how hard it is to get a certain pressing when you crack a sealed record, particularly one that was so popular when it was released. It's a little like buying a sealed pack of 1986 Fleer basketball cards and hoping to find a Michael Jordan rookie card in there.

I see your point... personally I don't do vinyl, it really isn't practically for me handling wise but I can see what you mean.  Wouldn't it better as you said earlier for the  OP to just find a higher graded copy of the original ish copy? That's what I'd do