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
Isaac Hayes — Hot Buttered Soul 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
Al Green — Call Me first-press value.
What an original 1973 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 Band — Music from Big Pink 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
The Band — The Band (Brown Album) 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
Willie Nelson — Red Headed Stranger 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
Wayne Shorter — Speak No Evil first-press value.
What an original 1966 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.
Album value
Sonny Rollins — Saxophone Colossus first-press value.
What an original 1956 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 — Lady Soul 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
The Beatles — Meet the Beatles! first-press value.
What an original 1964 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 Beatles — Introducing... The Beatles first-press value.
What an original 1964 first-press is worth, how to tell it from reissues, and what pushes a clean copy to the top of its range.