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
Keith Whitley — L.A. to Miami 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
Alan Jackson — Here in the Real World first-press value.
What an original 1990 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Uncle Tupelo — Anodyne first-press value.
What an original 1993 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
The Blue Nile — Hats first-press value.
What an original 1989 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Taylor Swift — Taylor Swift first-press value.
What an original 2006 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Taylor Swift — Reputation first-press value.
What an original 2017 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Frank Ocean — Blond first-press value.
What an original 2016 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Junko Ohashi — Magical first-press value.
What an original 1984 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.