Collectors, what condition of CD will you allow into your collection?

[Bayesian 1,358]

My CD collection increasingly consists of discs I buy on the second hand market. I try to get the best deal I can on amazon or eBay or Discogs, but that sometimes means I receive discs that don’t quite hit the mark for collectibility.

 

This got me wondering what other collectors’ red lines are for allowing a disc into their collections. For me, the only unacceptable conditions are club editions, sun and water damage, and handwriting.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

Only nerds buy CD’s anymore. You’re not a nerd...are you? 

 

 

[John 2,032]

Vinyl’s where the real money’s at!

[Bayesian 1,358]

5 minutes ago, Kasey Kockroach said:

Only nerds buy CD’s anymore. You’re not a nerd...are you? 

 

 

When it comes to this one thing, I am a nerd! Well, this and data.

6 minutes ago, John said:

Vinyl’s where the real money’s at!

Where the money’s at now. Which means it’ll be CDs’ time in the limelight in 15 years or so. CDs are where the future is (and they haven’t even fully died out yet!)

[Arpy 4,145]

Yeah, the Great CD Renaissance will be a thing to marvel and a giant middle finger to the Vinyl hipsters.

[mstrox 6,637]

For top tier stuff like albums from my favorite bands or composers, I generally prefer new or fairly well taken care of used copies. For everything else, I don’t really care at all. I have ripped and stickered library copies. I’ve bought used discs where the digipck was thrown away and the seller printed out a new cover on their inkjet to go with the legit CDs. I got my copy of The World is Not Enough from a used CD store for $0.99 because it didn’t have a booklet. As long as the CD is rippable, I’m happy.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I'm a bit pedantic about early 80s jewel cases because they have smooth ends, which identifies their authenticity. The rest I picksd acceptable.

[Ollie 1,059]

There’s very few discs I buy on the second hand market but as long as it’s in good shape I’m ok with it. I don’t mind slight scratches or a home drilled through the case or barcode.

[King Mark 3,624]

water damage

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

When I still had a physical collection, I went through and replaced all old jewel cases. I also put the Star Wars original 2CD OST, The Lost World and Episode One Ultimate Recording in slimmer or actual jewel cases.

[Bespin 8,472]

It must pass the EAC test.

[1977 1,743]

It really depends on which title it is, but generally the rarer and more sought after, the more forgiving I tend to be of these issues. Price is also a factor.

 

I bought the RCA/SLC issue of SpaceCamp in excellent condition but without its obi strip, because it was something I had missed out on and really wanted. I also traded for a copy of the 1st Silva issue of Jane Eyre that has some very minor markings on the printed side of the CD, again because it represented a gap in my collection. Would I prefer absolute mint copies? Of course I would, but I'm not going to split hairs about it.

 

Regarding jewel cases, stickers and so on, I generally replace jewel cases with nice new unscratched ones, scratched cases are a pet peeve of mine. I'm not bothered by marketing blurbs and whether the cases are period authentic. At any rate, 30% of my CDs arrive in the mail with cracks or broken hinges so replacement is a often a necessity.