Guides
For vinyl collectors.
Practical answers to the questions collectors ask before, during, and after building a catalog. New guides added as the questions come up.
Looking up a specific record?
Browse 40 album value guides.
First-press labels, catalog numbers, matrix clues, and value ranges by condition.
Comparing more than one album?
Browse vinyl values by artist.
Put collectible originals side by side and see which labels, matrices, and inserts move each record's value.
Starting with the center label?
Identify four classic pressing-label families.
Visual markers, rim text, catalog prefixes, plant clues, and records that use each design.
Staring at the dead wax?
Decode 20 matrix and runout marks.
Matrix prefixes, mastering signatures, plant codes, and the symbols that look like scratches until you know what they mean.
Album value
Michael Jackson — Bad first-press value.
What an original 1987 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Dire Straits — Brothers in Arms first-press value.
What an original 1985 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Dire Straits — Making Movies first-press value.
What an original 1980 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Billy Joel — The Stranger first-press value.
What an original 1977 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Billy Joel — 52nd Street first-press value.
What an original 1978 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Billy Joel — An Innocent Man first-press value.
What an original 1983 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Fleetwood Mac — Tusk first-press value.
What an original 1979 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Fleetwood Mac — Fleetwood Mac first-press value.
What an original 1975 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Willy and the Poor Boys first-press value.
What an original 1969 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Pendulum first-press value.
What an original 1970 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.