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
Marvin Gaye — What's Going On first-press value.
What an original 1971 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Stevie Wonder — Songs in the Key of Life first-press value.
What an original 1976 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Otis Redding — Otis Blue first-press value.
What an original 1965 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Aretha Franklin — I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You first-press value.
What an original 1967 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Bob Dylan — Highway 61 Revisited first-press value.
What an original 1965 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Johnny Cash — At Folsom Prison first-press value.
What an original 1968 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Eagles — Hotel California first-press value.
What an original 1976 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Carole King — Tapestry first-press value.
What an original 1971 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Pink Floyd — Wish You Were Here 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
Led Zeppelin — Untitled (IV) first-press value.
What an original 1971 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.