Customer Reviews

Goldmine 45 RPM Picture Sleeve Price Guide

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I found this book to be a valuable source of information for the novice as well as the experienced record collector. This book encompasses many musical generes and I find it invaluable source before heading off for those record collecting shows. This book is layed out well, nice to look at, and has almost anything you could think of in it. A must have!

One of the few good things MTV did for music was that it encouraged record companies to put out more 45 r.p.m. singles with picture sleeves. So for the same price as 45's that just came in standard sleeves (like the black one that just says "Columbia" at the top in thick white letters for example), you'd get a color (usually) picture of the artist (usually). Sometimes they were less interesting, maybe only showing the logo for a movie the song was from, like the hits from `Xanadu'. Often the records were only issued with a sleeve regionally or for just a fraction of the single's general release. Which of course, makes those sleeves rare and the object of irrational collectors' desire. This book shows, however, that picture sleeves were around since the beginning of the "Rock Era" (circa 1955) and before. Plenty are pictured, some rare and many not so rare.

Who knew that the sleeve to Bob Seger's tacky "Horizontal Bop" from 1980 is worth $80 bucks to some people? Or that people are actually looking for the sleeve to "Nightbird" by Stevie Nicks even though the song itself isn't hard to find? Yet I remember having trouble finding Huey Lewis' "The Power Of Love" from "Back To The Future", and it's hardly worth anything. Ditto for "The Lady In Red" by Chris DeBurgh.

There are several guides to records that include information on picture sleeves, but this is the only one I know of that focuses exclusively on sleeves. Great for those with general interest in record collecting, or to see if you've managed to save something that's actually worth something ("Gee, I wonder if this sleeve for the Stones' `Street Fighting Man' is worth anything?"). Obviously of more interest to collectors, but enough pictures to entertain a more general audience.

Pricing guides are great fun to have, yet they are so negligible since they become outdated within a year or so. This 45 record sleeve price guide bears the Goldmine name and boasts more than 10,000 entries, but having been released in 1998, one can't help wondering where the next edition is (*update: revised edition is in the works!). Compiled by Charles Szabla, the book does have some minor errors (the punk group Courtney Love has nothing to do with Hole's lead singer, nor does the semi-Satanic group Coven have anything to do with Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath) and some of the entries are suspect. Still, there are great pic-reproductions here and information you can't get anywhere else (the Seeds put out a plastic sleeve?! in 1968?!). Very useful still to this day. B+

I enjoyed the large amount of illustrations and the nice color section. A broad range of musical genres is covered and is the most complete and detailed cataloging of sleeves to date.

Great for collectors.Good to see what you have & don't have.Guide lists Mint grade.Seller A+.Quick delivery.

".....EASY TO USE AND FUN TO BROWSE, THIS BOOK COVERS 40 YEARS OF POPULAR MUSIC:
* Pop
* Rock
* Alternative
* Country
* R & B
* Jazz
* Blues
* Comedy
* Movie & TV Soundtracks
* And much more!....."
[from the book of the back cover]