PunBB

Hey everyone,

So this is my first post here, and I promise it to be a pretty good one.

I was recently able to obtain a sealed copy of Trouble at the Henhouse on vinyl. I paid a lot for it, but significantly less than what I would have off of the bay.

But my issue is that I'm scared to open it! I know how extremely rare it is opened, never mind sealed. So my question is if I should just open and spin it, offer it up to trade for, say, an opened TATH plus some credit towards an opened Live Between Us or Day For Night, or to just hold onto it and leave as-is. :thumb:

The caveat is that the cover is not in mint condition. There is a three-inch bend/fold in the lower right corner of the cover, some very minor corner damage to the upper right corner where the plastic seal has come off slightly, a very minor spine bend about three inches from the bottom, and what appears to be very minor ring wear (hard to tell if it's the plastic or the cover itself). The cover is otherwise in excellent shape. And of course, I assume the vinyl to be mint.

I will post photos on request.

Are there any collectors interested in trading for this? Even if you are not, what is your opinion?

Cheers!

Also, I should mention that since I am too new here to receive any private messages (I cannot view my PM inbox), please send any inquiries or questions to:

zoso990 -at- gmail.com

Thanks!

I am interested in buying this off you. How much are you asking for, opened or unopeded, does not matter to me other than the fact, im thinking its gotta be cheaper opened.

Unfortunately, I'm not looking to sell it since I don't know if I'll ever get my hands on another copy again.

I am only willing to trade it, preferably in one of the following two circumstances (whether or not they are fair is another matter :thumb: ):

1. My sealed TATH for an opened TATH AND credit towards Day For Night or Live Between Us (preferably DFN).
2. My sealed TATH (+ cash?) for Day For Night AND Live Between Us.

I will also consider other rare '90s vinyl (Silverchair's Frogstomp on green vinyl comes to mind), but in the ideal situation I want to end up with a TATH in some form.

A sealed copy is useless to me because I want to spin it, so this is why I'm looking to trade for an opened copy, if possible.

zoso990 Wrote:My sealed TATH (+ cash?) for Day For Night AND Live Between Us.

I'm sure you will figure this out as you gain experience in collecting Hip vinyl, however DFN and LBU are worth around $500+ together. I recently sold a sealed (perfect condition...4 sharp corners, no ring wear, etc) copy of TATH here for $350. If we are talking SEALED...a significant corner bend will lower the value quite a bit. TATH is quite rare, but not worth $500 to $600 in the condition that you have described...IMO.

Like I said, I'm not entirely sure what's fair or what's not because it seems like the value of Hip vinyl grows exponentially on a daily basis. :thumb:

If it helps, I have a few 12" Locked in the Trunk of a Car singles and German pressings of Road Apples kicking around (or some rare Pearl Jam records, for that matter) I'd throw in to sweeten the deal. I'm willing to negotiate. Let me know what you need, and I might just have it.

If not, I'll probably end up opening my TATH and keeping it.

I should probably post some photos, since there seems to be at least some mild interest. Here they are:

So, after much debating, I decided to open my sealed TATH up this evening. And I was rather surprised when I did.

The sleeve of the record was severely wrinkled on the upper left corner when I pulled it out! I couldn't believe it. Also, the fold in the corner of the cover must have weakened the glue holding the cover together, because as soon as I took the record and sleeve out, the cover split on the bottom. I had to get some white glue, paint sticks and hand clamps to repair it.

The record itself was basically mint, but the wrinkles in the sleeve must have loosened some fibres in the paper, because side 2 of the record had white smudges all over it! Hopefully nothing a run through my Spin Clean won't fix.

But it just goes to show why it's sometimes better to buy a near-mint opened copy than a sealed copy of a record: at least you know that everything is in good shape when you get it. :nooooo

I'm not complaining too much, though. I spun side 1, and it sounds absolutely incredible. :music :mrgreen:

I have a similar predicament, a sealed Live Between Us vinyl (bought it on a lark when it was released, long before i even got into vinyls or even had a turntable). I do plan on opening it some day, just waiting for the right moment. I wouldn't sell it, but would consider trading it for a opened copy and something else if someone else really wanted a sealed copy.

If it's not in mint condition, open 'er up! I have no regrets about opening my TATH since it wasn't in perfect shape to begin with.

If it is in mint condition, then you have some soul-searching to do before you decide. :thumb:

There shouldn't even be a debate! Play the damn things! I own them all on vinyl and they sound so much better under a needle. Besides if you are ever crazy enough to sell it, the minimal amount of $ you may lose for an opened copy vs an unopened copy is worth it since you got to listen to it on vinyl! Of course, this is coming from a guy who payed considerably less for my hip records since I buy all of my music on vinyl before transferring it to iTunes.