Just wanted to pick up on one element of
this post because it is something that has perplexed us for a few months now…
As a long-time and one-time avid collector
of KLF & Related music, artwork and memorabilia I know how easy it is to
become obsessively completeist about picking up that rare gem that appears on eBay
or back in the day in Record Collector.
Some of the prices asked and paid for what
in reality were no more than hard to find or uncommon items would today make my
eyes water but at the time all I saw was a missing piece I had to buy before
someone else pipped me to it.
When we released the Helter Skelter CDEP
last March we deliberately decided that we would only charge a realistic and
fair price… Yes we knew there were only 100 copies being made and the musical
material had only been heard once before in a field near Chipping Norton by
those lucky rave go-ers some 20 years earlier… but all the same we weren’t
going to get greedy about it.
At the time we probably knew that there
would be a few copies find their way onto eBay and that the market being the
market they would find their own price but there were also a few individuals
who made volume purchases with a clear intent to make a quick killing from the
rarity value.
We have already moved to make any PVC release
strictly via our “Friends” mailing list and so as to reduce the
risk of blatant profiteering we will be restricting the maximum number of CDs /
DVDs that can be purchased by any purchaser to two items (thus still allowing
for those completeist collectors still out there to acquire one copy to open
and play and another to keep as mint in their collection).
Sadly this will not remove the risk of
possible disappointment completely as we already have 176 listed friends
internationally and the list continues to grow, but it will mean that a few
more fans that still enjoy collecting those rare gems will be able to do so
without having to part with silly money.
In the spirit of Mu
Liberate & Communicate
Love Peace & Happiness
From:
klf-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:klf-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of klfboy _
Sent: 19 September 2010 21:12
To: All
bound for Mu-Mu Land.
Subject: Re: [KLF] Why so
expensive?
In 1993, I've paid a hefty sum (my whole summer earnings!) for TIWTKIA I-II,
which would count around 45 USD in today's currency - it was a fair price,
considering that now you'd get only one box for that :D And this included
BOTH boxes, AND the shipping... Unfortunately,
it must have been opened, since the stickers were stolen - in fact I
never knew there were any stickers until I came across that fact on
the web around 1997.
What soured the whole K collecting experience for me is when I saw a limited
edition CD or something, offered on the list in a moderate price (which would
be unaffordable for me right now), then resurfacing on Ebay for a hugely
inflated amount - like the Helter Skelter gig.
Sure it IS rare, but is it worth it? Not for me, and that conclusion is the
result of a long thinking. I had to choose my priorities. I don't have
endless account for collecting, I could be buying and buying but I'd end up
broken (both inside and commercially), and that's the bottom line. Buying music
should be pleasure, not like buying stocks...
That's where I drew a line in collecting (not just music) - I won't buy
something just for the elitism for it. The memories are important, not the
price tag, leave that to Damien Hirst. I won't replace my original copies of
the Japan
box for a "mint" version (with stickers) either.
> Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:49:55 +0100
> From: jarvmeister@gmail.com
> To: klf@mailman.xmission.com
> Subject: [KLF] Why so expensive?
>
>
> I've seen the Jap import This Is What KLF Is About 3 x CD set floating
> around in various shops, I've never really understood why it's so
> expensive:
>
>
http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=7056&From=EIL_KLF-COL-04092010-1230.STT.-KLF-Sat-TEAIS
>
> I don't suppose it's ultra rare (or is it?) and it's not like it's an
> official KLF Comms release, so why the high price tag? None of the
> mixes are hard to get hold of, and most feature in the 'lower price
> bracket' of what were available as official KLF 12 inch releases. You
> could probably spend the same today, and obtain nearly all of these
> tracks on KLF Comms vinyl, perhaps not the Pure Trance LTTT.
>
> When I used to collect KLF stuff from 1990 to 1995, unless it was a
> KLF Comms release I tended to move on, Arista and Wax Trax releases
> didn't really interest me that much. I admit to being a little
> blinkered back in those days though.
>
> Having stood back from the list for about 10 years I'm interested to
> hear other people's views on what they believe to be worth collecting,
> and why. Perhaps the fact that many of the super rare KLF releases of
> the early nineties have now gone into collectors boxes and are very
> unlikely to ever change hands again, thereby pushing the unofficial
> releases to the top of the collectible pile?
>
> All the best.
>
> Ross
>
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